L’Envol
Off the Ground and High as a Kite
Thematic exhibitions don’t teach visitors much about an artist or an art movement, but they are often amusing and/or thought-provoking. “L’Envol” (“Flight”) is both as it explores humankind’s eternal dream of flight. This is the last exhibition to be held … Read More
Impressionists in London
French Painters in Exile
Don’t be surprised, as I was, if you don’t see any Impressionist paintings until the very end of the exhibition “Impressionists in London.” The title is misleading – it would more accurate to use its subtitle, “French Artists in Exile, 1870-1904,” … Read More
The Water Lilies: American Abstract Painting and the Last Monet
Monet the Revolutionary and the American Abstractionists
The exhibition “The Water Lilies: American Abstract Painting and the Last Monet” at the Musée de l’Orangerie is an uplifting look at the influence of Monet’s late work – which progressively veered toward pure abstraction – on American abstract painting. … Read More
Peinture et Poésie
Words for Images
Just as Parisians are contemplating their annual summer break by the sea, we thought it appropriate to travel ahead of them and offer a glimpse of one exhibition that might merit time away from the beach The most famous native … Read More
Abbaye Royale de L’Epau
The Queen's Abbey Repurposed
The Cistercian Abbaye Royale de l’Épau was founded in the 13th century to ensure the salvation of its founder, the Spanish-born Berengaria of Navarre, queen consort of England (although she never set foot in the country while actually queen) as the wife of … Read More
Delacroix (1798-1863)
Romantic or Scandal-monger?
In a letter covered in daubs of paint of many colors, the 29-year-old Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) asked his art supplier to urgently send him paints that were “more liquid than the colors prepared for everyone else,” revealing both his passion for his … Read More
Soulages: A Retrospective
Freeing the Light
When a friend heard that I was going to see a retrospective of the work of Pierre Soulages at the Fondation Gianadda in Martigny, Switzerland, she said, “But it’s all just black, isn’t it?” Well, no. First of all, Soulages has used … Read More
Jan Fabre: Sexual Belgian Folklore & Sexual Belgian North Sea
Sexy Belgium
Warning: this is an X-rated exhibition, with representations of penises and vaginas galore, but never has “porn” been so sparkly and glamorous – so much fun! For the first show to be held in contemporary art dealer Daniel Templon’s second Paris … Read More
Cécile Raynal: Petites Histoires en Réserve
Evanescence Captured in Clay
The magical Musée des Arts and Métiers is one of Paris’s neglected treasures. While hordes of visitors are trying to get a snapshot of Mona at the Louvre, only a handful are marveling at the early flying machines hanging from … Read More
Junya Ishigami: Freeing Architecture
Lyrical Architecture
The Fondation Cartier has just extended the end date of the exhibition “Junya Ishigami: Freeing Architecture” to September 9, and I am very grateful. Otherwise, I might have missed this superb exhibition of the work of a rather madly creative … Read More