Contemporary Religious Art: Blasphemy or Blessing? The Chapelle St Gildas in Bieuzy-les-Eaux. If Puff the Magic Dragon ever joined the cast of “Sesame Street,” he might look like the mop-headed multipede by the artist Virginie Barré in the Chapel of … Read More
Tracing the Origins of Modernity in Art “Canotiers à Argenteuil” (1874) by Claude Monet. David and Ezra Nahmad Collection. Anyone vacationing in the South of France this summer would do well to visit the pretty port town of Sète and, … Read More
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Shark? A blacktip reef shark. Photo: T. Ameller. Musée Océanographic de Monaco. Sharks have a seriously bad rep, but just because they chomp on an occasional surfer doesn’t mean that they are truly vicious … Read More
Tadashi Kawamata’s wooden bridge and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster’s film installation, works presented in Bordeaux during the Evento festival. Every French city seems to be promoting itself these days by holding a big contemporary art festival. Lille had its Lille 3000 in … Read More
Sarah Sze’s “Untitled (Portable Planetarium)” at the Biennale de Lyon.Photo: Blaise Adilon It would be difficult for any Biennale d’Art Contemporain de Lyon to live up to the wow power of the first one I attended, in 2000. The enormous … Read More
Angora goats at the Mohair du Pays du Corlay farm in Brittany. Here’s a great vacation or weekend idea for those who like to get up close and personal with animals: a stay on a farm. On a recent visit … Read More
No-Stress Strissel Strasbourg’s picturesque Old Town is located on an island. From time to time, a friend who is an art market insider and I avail ourselves of France’s wonderful and hugely subsidized high-speed trains to go and see an … Read More
For a weekend escape not too far from Paris but far enough to offer a total change of scenery, it would be hard to find better value for money than the Château des Ormeaux, a small, hillside castle overlooking the … Read More
Pont, Popes and Plays Tourists admiring the architecture of Avignon. Avignon, dominated by the imposing 14th-century Gothic fortress of the Palais des Papes and the adjacent golden-statue-topped Notre-Dame des Doms Cathedral next to it, is best known to the world … Read More
Making Sens of Burgundy The very first bridge over the mighty Seine, just a trickle at its source. There are umpteen options for a weekend getaway from Paris, but how many take you to places nobody goes to, French or … Read More
