Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980) was a wild young thing in staid turn-of-the-20th-century Vienna. A critic even called him the Oberwildling, or “head savage” of the exhibition ”Kunstschau,” where he exhibited his illustrated poem “The Dreaming Youths,” a tale of teenage sexual … Read More
I fell in love with the work of Alice Neel (1900-84) when I came across a show of her quirky portraits while gallery-hopping in London several years ago. After that, I never heard a peep about her until the Centre … Read More
The exhibition “Edvard Munch: A Poem of Life, Love and Death” at the Musée d’Orsay does not start off with the Norwegian artist’s most famous painting, “The Scream,” but a sense of strangeness and unease still hits the visitor right … Read More
In our world of conflict, plague, dictatorships and the rise of the far right, it is hard to escape the feeling that things are regressing rather than progressing. However, one discernible area of positive advancement can be found in the … Read More
Once you get past the vendors of contraband cigarettes surrounding the exit from the Métro station Saint Denis-Porte de Paris and the string of fast food shops on Rue Gabriel Péri, the scene changes dramatically when you suddenly spy a large … Read More
“There was no stopping her from painting,” says Amanda Gabori, daughter of painting powerhouse Mirdidingkingathi Juwarnda Sally Gabori (Sally Gabori for short), currently the subject of a solo exhibition at Paris’s Fondation Cartier. Normally, there would be nothing surprising about an … Read More
The exhibition “Toucher le Feu” (“Touch Fire”) at the Musée Guimet rights an age-old wrong: historically, Japanese women were banned from making ceramics. They were not allowed to use a potter’s wheel or “touch the fire” of the kilns. As … Read More
Painting takes flight from the traditional flat canvas on a stretcher in the two current exhibitions at Fondation Louis Vuitton. Upstairs, the works of the five artists featured in “Fugues in Color“ interact with the high-ceilinged, light-filled, oddly shaped galleries, … Read More
When the renowned Australian photographer Destiny Deacon was a little girl, other children were always calling her a “black little c**t.” When she grew up and started taking photographs, she decided to take the “C” out of the word “Black,” … Read More
One of my favorite places in the Paris region is the Domaine de Chamarande. It’s easy to reach by train from Paris (41 minutes, with frequent departures), and it’s only a five-minute walk from the station when you get there. … Read More
