The Grand Palais revisits the work of Czech painter and graphic artist František Kupka (1871–1957) one of the pioneers of abstract painting and Orphic Cubism. Kupka’s abstract works arose from a base of realism, but later evolved into pure abstraction. The retrospective traces Kupka’s career from his early Paris press illustrations of the 1890’s to his symbolist experiments to his final abstract paintings during the 1950’s (until July 30, 2018) The exhibition will be presented at the National Gallery in Prague next fall and then at the Ateneum Art Museum in Helsinki in 2019. Continue reading “Kupka …Pioneer of Abstraction”
David Goldblatt’s Photographs
The Centre Pompidou is showing photographs by David Goldblatt, who has chronicled South Africa and its people from the 1950s until today. The exhibition (until May 13, 2018) begins with his early 1960’s photos of “Afrikaner” famers and the mining world. His images provide insights into the troubled history of South Africa while inviting us to look at buildings and landscapes as indicators of the values of a society. Continue reading “David Goldblatt’s Photographs”
Jim Dine Paris Reconnaissance
Paris’ Centre Pompidou hosts a sampling of work by American artist Jim Dine (until April 23). The title of the exhibition —translated as Paris recognition or gratitude— reflects the artist’s love for the city he has been visiting since the sixties. He maintains an art studio in Montrouge. The exhibition consists of 28 works that make up a recent donation by the artist to Paris Musée National d’Art Moderne. A gift he says to repay his “personal and cultural debt” to France. Over the past years Dine has also donated selections of his art to museums across Europe and the US, including the British Museum, the Albertina in Vienna, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Continue reading “Jim Dine Paris Reconnaissance”
Pia Fries at Paris Modern
Paris’ Museum of Modern Art exhibits “Parsen un Module” by Swiss painter Pia Fries (to May 20, 2018). The work consists of 30 identically sized paintings (created in 1999) which have word play titles beginning with “par” forming words such as “parsmal,” “paramodi,” “partiner” and “parfanz,” The paintings with gluttonous clusters of scraped, sculpted and moulded paint juxtapositions are emblematic of her “image-object” style, which has been described as being on the cusp of painting and sculpture. Continue reading “Pia Fries at Paris Modern”
Paris’ Left Bank Generation
Agnes Poirier’s new book “Left Bank” revisits the rebirth of Paris after WWII. The book is a group portrait of the generation born between 1905 and 1930, that animated Paris between 1940 and 1950. After the horrors of war the world’s artists, writers and intellectuals flocked to Paris turning the lights back on in “la ville lumiere. ” They ushered in a renaissance of new novels, new thinking, new filmmaking and new ways of painting. Continue reading “Paris’ Left Bank Generation”
Artist’s Jewelry, from Calder to Koons
“A piece of artist’s jewelry, like a painting or a piece of sculpture, is a work of art,” says Diane Venet whose private collection of artist’s jewelry along with loans from galleries and artists’ families is exhibited at Paris’ Musée des Arts Décoratifs (until July 8, 2018). From the early twentieth century studio artists such as Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso, Man Ray and Salvador Dali have made innovative jewelry reflecting contemporary art movements and themes. These artists used both precious and nontraditional materials creating one-of-a kind wearable works of art. Continue reading “Artist’s Jewelry, from Calder to Koons”
Tintoretto… a Star is Born
The Musée du Luxembourg marks the 500th anniversary of the birth of Venetian painter Jacopo Robusti —better known as Titntoretto—with an exhibition (Tintoret, Naissance d’un Génie) focusing on the first fifteen years of his career. The artist was born into a family of craftsmen. His father was a dyer (or tintore), hence the son got the nickname of Tintoretto, little dyer or dyer’s boy (to July 1st, 2018) Continue reading “Tintoretto… a Star is Born”
Painting Distant Lands
The Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac museum specializes in indigenous art and cultures of Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. It opened in 2006 and is the newest of Paris’ major museums. A temporary exhibition at the museum “Peintures des Lointains” —looks at painters’ fascination with exotic people and places. It is the first time the museum has featured paintings from its vast collection of 450.000 objects . The painting exhibition includes mostly 19th century work from Ange Tissier’s “Odalisque” to daily life in Cairo by Emile Bernard to George Caitlin depictions of native Americans in the old west to Gauguin’s Tahiti. Continue reading “Painting Distant Lands”
Delights and Disasters of Making My Paris Home
“After a decade of living in Paris, it was time to make my dream come true: To own my own home in Paris, complete with my dream kitchen…” says author David Lebovitz discussing his new book “L’appart: The Delights and Disasters of Making My Paris Home.” Little did he know before embarking on this adventure that he would soon come face to face with France’s famed mind boggling red tape and quirky cultural idiosyncrasies that are challenging to even the most ardent anglo francophile. Continue reading “Delights and Disasters of Making My Paris Home”
Meet Raoul Hausmann the Dadasophe
“Vision in Action” —an exhibition at Paris’ Jeu de Paume— is an opportunity to discover the photographic work of Raoul Hausmann (1886-1971), one of the key figures in the Berlin Dada group, whose experimental photographic collages, poster poems, sound poetry and provocative art critiques had a profound influence on the European Avant-Garde in the aftermath of World War I (until May 20, 2018). Continue reading “Meet Raoul Hausmann the Dadasophe”
The Gourmand’s Way
“The Gourmands’ Way: Six Americans in Paris and the Birth of a New Gastronomy,” is a group portrait of six legendary expat food writers who helped bring some of the French touch to American cuisine. The book revisits the fabled world of haute cuisine and the vibrant bohemian and artistic haunts of the Left Bank during the 50’s and 60’s. Continue reading “The Gourmand’s Way”