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
The new rehang of the Centre Pompidou’s contemporary collection, “Cher(e)s Ami(e)s” pays tribute to the museum’s “friends,” those who have donated works during the past five years, whether patrons or the artists themselves. It’s a disparate group of pieces, with … Read More
Art as Commodity and The Craft of Self-Promotion “Antiquity 3” (2009-11). Photo: Tom Powel Imaging. © Jeff Koons. If you, like many people, are bemused by Jeff Koons, now is your chance to see some of his most celebrated artworks … Read More
Fun and Games with The Surrealists Victor Brauner’s “Loup-Table” (1947). Photo: Philippe Migeat, Centre Pompidou © Adagp, Paris 2013 Not being a huge fan of Surrealism, I put off going to see the exhibition “Surrealism and the Object” at the … Read More
Art That Saves, Art That Kills “Les Trois Grâces” (1995-2003). © 2014 Niki Charitable Art Foundation. Photo: Philippe Cousin It seems that everyone in the world is familiar with Niki de Saint Phalle’s “Nanas,” those monumental sculptures of curvaceous goddesses … Read More
Pop Art A la Française The French artist Martial Raysse, born in 1936, had his 15 minutes of fame in the 1960s, but since then seems to have been more or less forgotten except in his home county, and even … Read More
Shared Detachment inSeparate but Parallel Careers Lichtenstein’s “M-Maybe” (1965). © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein New York/ADAGP, Paris, 2013 The two major exhibitions currently showing at the Centre Pompidou are worth seeing together for the interesting comparison they provide between the … Read More
Desperately Seeking a Likable Side of Dalí “The Persistence of Memory” (1931). © Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí/Adagp, Paris 2012 Beyond a grudging admiration for Salvador Dalí’s energy, enthusiasm and wit, I have never been a fan of the Catalonian … Read More
Beyond the Decisive Moment,Multiple Cartier-Bressons “Martine Franck, Paris, France” (1967). © Henri Cartier-Bresson/Magnum Photos, courtesy Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson, wealthy bourgeois, Surrealist, leftist, portraitist and father of photojournalism, was unequivocally one of the great photographers of the last century. … Read More
