Displaying items by tag: Paris

Today, the most important exhibition of African American art ever to be mounted in France, and potentially all of Continental Europe, opens in Paris at the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac. The Color Line is comprised of almost 200 works from the conclusion of the American Civil War in 1865 up to the present day.

Three days after the devastating terrorist attacks in Paris that rattled the world and left 129 innocent people dead, the city is attempting to restore some semblance of normalcy by reopening its museums and cultural institutions. Landmarks including the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Centre Pompidou, and Grand Palais, which was in the midst of hosting Paris Photo when the attacks broke out, have been shuttered since Friday as part of a general state of emergency.

By reopening its storied museums, monuments, buildings and libraries, Paris has expressed that its spirit will not waver in the face of these despicable acts. The attacks, which took place at six locations throughout the city, including the Bataclan, a 19th century concert hall in the 11th arrondissement, two...

Flash on French Impressionism and you’re likely to see gauzy noon landscapes, or a steam-choked Gare Saint-Lazare, or just clouds of flickering paint strokes like molecules flying apart. Yet if you visited the Impressionist show in Paris in 1877, you would have found a few things that countered such expectations: realistic paintings of a new Paris of luxury high-rises as blank as mausoleums and of ruler-straight boulevards running back into infinite space.

The name of the artist attached to these pictures, Gustave Caillebotte, was one you might even have heard of at the time. He had already made a splash in the previous year’s exhibition.

The Outsider Art Fair announced the dealers that will appear in its third annual edition in Paris, at the Hôtel Du Duc, a chateau once owned by the Duke de Morny (a new location), from October 22 to 25. The fair, which began in New York more than two decades ago, will boast 36 art dealers this time—up from the 25 dealers that participated last year. The Outsider Art Fair said in a news release that its growth “reinforces its reputation for presenting works by the world’s most celebrated self-taught creators along with newly discovered artists from around the globe.”

Paris' Musée d'Art Moderne is expanding its collection of photography thanks to a pioneering patronage scheme focused on young collectors, "Le Figaro" reports.

The 21 members of the newly established patronage group have committed to pledge €5,000 each year. This means the museum has secured a yearly budget of €105,000 entirely allocated to the acquisition of international works of photography. Two new female members will join the group during 2015, and the museum is hoping to reach a total of 30 young patrons in the longer term.

A museum commemorating the artistic community in the Paris neighborhood of Montparnasse has been permanently shuttered by the City of Paris, French art newspaper "Le quotidien de l’art" reported. The Musée du Montparnasse, established in 1996 in an historic building that originally served as the atelier of Russian artist Marie Vassilieff in the early 20th century, first closed its doors following a September 2013 audit ordered by the City of Paris, which owns the museum’s 4,600-square-foot building at 21 avenue du Maine in the 15th arrondissement. The audit deemed the museum not in compliance with the city’s rubric for an institution of its kind for lacking a permanent collection — this despite its founding designation by the city’s cultural affairs bureau as “a location emblematic of the artistic history of Paris.”

In the aftermath of the Paris atrocities, intellectuals have turned to enlightenment thinkers to refute religious orthodoxy. “I kept thinking of Voltaire,” writes scholar Robert Darnton in an essay for NYRB, “And calling up his famous grin — lips curled and lower jaw stuck out, as if to defy anyone who might dare to pull a punch.” That impish, thin-lipped smile is now on view at the Château de Versailles. In response to the attacks, the palace has rehung a portrait of the revolutionary 18th-century French writer in a central hall, the New York Times reports. “What is Tolerance?” reads a nearby quote by the philosopher in French and English. “It is the consequence of humanity.”

The Syndicat National des Antiquaires (SNA) -- or the French National Union of Antique Dealers -- announced that it will launch a new fair aimed at young collectors this spring. Paris Beaux-Arts, which will be held at the Carrousel du Louvre, an underground center adjacent to the Musee du Louvre, will complement the SNA’s prestigious Biennale des Antiquaires.

The long-running Biennale des Antiquaires, which is celebrated for its elegant atmosphere, blue chip offerings, and elite guest list, specializes in rare antiques, fine art, jewelry, silver, and porcelain. The SNA intends for Paris Beaux-Arts to be equal to the Biennale in quality and range, but with a stronger emphasis on modern and contemporary art.

On Sunday, December 7, a fire swept through the Galerie Canesso, on the rue Laffitte in central Paris, destroying part of its library, documents, and offices. The gallery specializes in Italian Old Master paintings from the Renaissance to the Baroque. The fire was caused by an electrical fault, said Véronique Damian, an art historian who works with the gallery’s founder Maurizio Canesso.

“This was a great loss for us but fortunately no paintings were damaged,” Damian said in a telephone interview.

Sited at the heart of France's main business district at La Défense, the enormous and impressive Grande Arche was always more than a monument to the triumph of humanitarian ideals over military glory.

The 20th century version of the Arc de Triomphe – a marble and glass cube measuring 110m high by 110m wide and 110m deep and big enough to fit Notre Dame cathedral in its archway – stood as a totem to French economic clout.