Otto Freundlich: La Révélation de l’Abstraction
The Cosmic Bridge of Art
Imagine that you are an artist arriving in Paris for the first time in 1908. Right away, you are offered a studio in the Bateau Lavoir in Montmartre, where you immediately meet and befriend Pablo Picasso, followed by many of … Read More
Les Parisiens dans l’Exode
Refugees Without Refuge
Of all the horrors that occurred during World War II, the mass exodus from Paris in 1940 as the Germans approached the city may not have been the most horrendous, which may explain why the story has been so seldom … Read More
National Therapy by Peter Johansson
Demolishing National and Personal Demons
There are only a few days left to see “National Therapy by Peter Johansson” at the Institut Suédois. Dark yet very funny, the show, like all of Johansson’s work, casts a bemused eye on traditional Swedish symbols and stars the … Read More
Fluidités: L’Humain qui Vient
Far-out Visions for Humanity
Le Fresnoy–Studio National des Arts Contemporains, in the small city of Tourcoing just outside of Lille, is a hotspot where art and technology meet and merge. Its current exhibition, “Fluidités: L’Humain qui Vient,” gives 16 artists a chance to explore … Read More
The Strange Tales of Niels Hansen Jacobsen, a Dane in Paris
Scary Fairy Tales
The variety and quality of the temporary exhibitions at the Musée Bourdelle in Montparnasse are always impressive, as they look not just at the work of the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle himself but also what was happening around him in other … Read More
Corneille: Un CoBrA dans le Sillage de Gauguin
Channeling Gauguin
Paul Gauguin was the best-known member of the late-19th-century Pont-Aven School, centered in the Breton fishing town of the same, but the current exhibition at the Musée de Pont-Aven, “Corneille: Un CoBrA dans le Sillage de Gauguin,” features a 20th-century … Read More
Drapé
Let It Flow
The depiction of drapery has been a constant in art since Antiquity and is still often present today, although in sometimes surprising forms. The Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon has had the excellent idea of devoting an entire exhibition to … Read More
Huysmans, Critique d’Art
From Decadence to Devotion
The latest exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay, always on the lookout for new ways to present its collection of 19th-century art, is “Huysmans Critique d’Art: De Degas à Grünewald, sous le Regard de Francesco Vezzoli.” That long title translates into … Read More
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen
Why Return to Rouen?
With the wealth of museums we have in Paris, it’s easy to forget about the art treasures to be found in the impressive museums in France’s provincial cities. The city of Rouen, only about an hour from Paris by train, … Read More
Leonardo da Vinci
The Original Renaissance Man
If you have not yet bought a ticket for the Leonardo da Vinci show at the Louvre, you will probably miss out on it. If you have, you are in for a treat. Although Leonardo is so familiar to us … Read More