Surréalisme
Sisters in Surrealism (and Some Men)
The Centre Pompidou couldn’t pass up a chance to celebrate the one-hundredth anniversary of the Surrealist manifesto for one of its last blockbuster exhibitions before it shuts down for a major renovation (from summer 2025 to 2030). The museum has … Read More
Fondation Arp
Suburban Hideout for Swiss Dadaists
The sculptor and poet Jean Arp (1886-1966) may be best known to English-language cruciverbalists (yes, it’s a word, referring to a skilled crossword-puzzle solver) for his three-letter last name, which provides convenient fill for awkward gaps in a crossword grid, … Read More
Les Chevaux de Géricault
Equine Obsession
I wonder how many of the equestrian teams at this summer’s Paris Olympics managed to take time off to see the exhibition of Théodore Géricault’s paintings, “Les Chevaux de Géricault” (“Géricault’s Horses”) at the Musée de la Vie Romantique (due … Read More
Présences
Certificates of Presence
We have already sung the praises of the Maison Caillebotte, the family home of Impressionist painter Gustav Caillebotte, on Paris Update, and now we have a new reason to return to one of our favorite bucolic escapes from the jungle … Read More
Ellsworth Kelly: Shapes and Colors & Matisse: The Red Studio
Connected by Color
I felt great gratitude to the Fondation Louis Vuitton on my way out to the Bois de Boulogne to see its two new exhibitions: “Ellsworth Kelly. Shapes and Colors” and “Matisse: The Red Studio.” Why? Because the subject was not … Read More
Nina Khemchyan: Echo
Meditations on Sin and Repentance, from Venice to Paris
A catwalk of contemporary artistic fashions and a display case for the projection of cultural soft power, the Venice Biennale has grown in size and extravagance over the years as powerhouse nations have vied to outcompete one another for the … Read More
Doble Moral, Ongoing
Beyond Buns in the Oven
Beaded curtains are a familiar feature of bakeries in warm climates, drawn across doorways to fend off winged creatures tempted by sweet delicacies. As if nodding to the tradition, a photo of one is suspended in the window of La … Read More
Théodore Rousseau: The Voice of the Forest
Planting the Radical Idea of Forest Preservation
It’s hard to imagine a painter of trees and other manifestations of nature being considered a wild-eyed radical, but back in 1830 the idea of painting a landscape just for the sake of painting a landscape was academic-art-world heresy. Being … Read More
Constant Pape: La Banlieue Post-impressionniste
Around and About Paris
The Paris Olympics and Paralympics this summer will shine a new light on the city’s suburbs, especially those in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, where most events will be held and where the Olympic and Paralympic Village is located. In the runup … Read More
Antony Gormley: Critical Mass
About Time: Gormley Meets Rodin
It seems like such a felicitous pairing that one wonders why British sculptor Anthony Gormley has never before made an appearance at the Musée Rodin in Paris. The two have finally been brought together there for the exhibition “Critical Mass,” … Read More