Ellsworth Kelly (1923-2015), one of America’s great abstract painters, is the subject of a small exhibition at the Centre Pompidou. Kelly came to France as a soldier in 1944 and returned to Paris after finishing his art studies in Boston. … Read More
Why did painted images start to crack up, as if seen in a broken mirror, under the hands of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in 1907? As you will learn if you visit the exhaustive exhibition “Cubism,” covering the period … Read More
I took a liking to Franz West (1947-2012) as soon as I entered the exhibition at the Centre Pompidou and saw this quote by him: “I’ve always thought that the ideal is to do nothing and still be able to … Read More
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
Sheila Hicks, the subject of a solo show at the Centre Pompidou called “Sheila Hicks: Life Lines,” defines herself as a “contemporary fiber artist.” She is an artist who defies categories, using yarn, once scorned as a “woman’s medium” in … Read More
It seems to me that artists have far too much fun in their work compared with the rest of us. I thought about that while visiting the César retrospective at the Centre Pompidou, especially as I watched a film of him guiding … Read More
The terrible events of World War I not only changed the world in terms of geopolitics, warfare and technology, but also had a powerful effect on developments in the world of art. Many of Europe’s most inventive artists, shaken by the … Read More
Was Cy Twombly the painter whose work first elicited the comment “My three year old could have done that!”? Probably not, but he is a good candidate. Universally admired, even adulated, by the art world, he seems less popular with … Read More
Seeing the Beat Generation enshrined in a museum like the Centre Pompidou can give pause to one old enough to have started reading books by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, William Burroughs and such fellow travelers as Lawrence Ferlinghetti … Read More
Paul Klee (1879-1940) is generally acknowledged as one of the greats of modern art, but it’s difficult to think of a single powerful work or style that represents him, the way “Guernica” might, for example, pop into your mind when … Read More
