Who knew (or cared) that the great Impressionist painter Claude Monet had a big brother? Well, he did, and now the Musée de Luxembourg is devoting an entire exhibition to Léon Monet (1836-1917). What makes a famous artist’s brother interesting … Read More
Who hasn’t yet heard of Vivian Maier, nanny by profession, photographer by avocation? Her story is so unusual and her photographs so good that she never ceases to fascinate. Now the Musée de Luxembourg is holding what is apparently the … Read More
In an entrepreneurial spirit not often found among state-run French museums, the Musée du Luxembourg is offering its exhibition “Peintres Femmes, 1780-1830.” (“Women Painters”) for online viewing for €5 (€9 if you agree to visit the exhibition in the company … Read More
Man Ray was Surrealism’s jokester and jack-of-all-arts. The impish-looking American was a painter (not a very successful one, though he saw it as his primary talent), photographer (known for his pioneering photograms, or “rayograms,” and many iconic images, such as … Read More
The exhibition “Tintoretto: Birth of a Genius” at the Musée du Luxembourg concentrates on the early career of the exuberant Venetian Mannerist painter Jacopo Tintoretto (né Robusti), who painted fast, fluently and furiously. Tintoretto (c. 1518-94) was ambitious and hardworking, … Read More
When his pictures weren’t downright naughty, they were often breathlessly passionate, but apparently Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806), the illustrator of the libertine era par excellence, didn’t practice what he painted. Falsely credited with passionate liaisons with famed courtesans, he was actually … Read More
The True Story BehindA Royal Soap Opera “Elizabeth I” (detail, c. 1600), by an English artist. © National Portrait Gallery, London, England The Musée du Luxembourg is holding another one of its enjoyably didactic biographical-historical exhibitions, similar to last year’s … Read More
Flying in the Face of Chagall-mania ”Au-dessus de Vitebsk” (1915-20). © ADAGP, Paris 2013/CHAGALL ® © The Museum of Modern Art, New York/Scala, Florence Like Salvador Dalí, Marc Chagall (1887-1985) is a painter beloved by all, or so it would … Read More
