Dimanche 9 mars 2014
Last update on 4/03/2014
Last update on 4/03/2014
The latest news in the History of Western Art from the Middle Ages to the 1930's
To Save the Church, Press 1 ; to Destroy It, Press 2 12/09/2013
Last Sunday, the village of Plouagat, in the Côtes d’Armor, held a vote asking residents whether or not they wanted their church destroyed or restored. The result is very clear since 80% of those who participated chose the restoration, despite a (...)
The "Inexpensive" Beaubourg Circus Is finally... too Expensive 21/05/2013
The Beaubourg Circus is finally over. Alain Seban had once stated that "the structure of the ’Centre Pompidou mobile’ which he [had] set up [was] ’not expensive’". Today he explains that the experiment is ending "for lack of funding needed to (...)
A New Feudal System 18/05/2013
Does an elected official have the right to do whatever he likes ? This is in any case the impression given by more and more mayors who deliberately ignore the law and court decisions. The State seems to have patently resigned itself to this (...)
I, the President of the French Republic, Will Appoint Martine Aubry as Head of the Louvre ! 25/03/2013
Le Figaro Magazine published it "confidentially" last weekend, but the name had been rumored for several weeks already, practically since Henri Loyrette announced he did not wish to renew his position as president of the Louvre. We knew it but (...)
Fra Angelico, the French Wealth Tax and the Collector 03/11/2012
The Musée Thomas-Henry which was attempting to acquire the panel by Fra Angelico auctioned off last Saturday in Marseille by SVV Leclère failed to purchase the work. The painting fragment in fact sold for 445,000€ (552,000€ including charges) and (...)
The ISF and Art Works : A (Poisonous) Sea Serpent 10/10/2012
A bit like the question of deaccessioning museum collections, the proposal on including art works as part of the wealth tax comes up periodically for discussion. This proves, once more, the absolute incompetence of some of our leaders in the (...)
By De-Regulating Wind Energy, Parliamentarians Are Threatening Heritage 08/10/2012
The new French Minister of Culture had started out her term in what appeared to be a promising way and we had heartily commended her initial decisions. Since then, the announcement of the cultural budget, followed by its detailed presentation, (...)
Cultural Budget : Charge (but flee) ! 04/10/2012
This sidestepping is a first in journalistic history. We thought that the new French Minister of Culture had a certain amount of courage. We were perhaps wrong. For the first time ever, the budget will not be presented to the Ministry during (...)
Budget : François Hollande’s Big Lie 19/09/2012
Who said last 19 January : "I promise that the cultural budget will be entirely protected during the next presidential term." ? The President of the French Republic, elected a few weeks later, François Hollande. Why did the media - and we were (...)
No Funeral Wreaths 11/09/2012
The abandonment of the project for the Maison de l’Histoire de France, announced on France-Inter Radio by Aurélie Filippetti, French Minister of Culture, and confirmed by her on 10 October in Le Monde obviously comes as no surprise. The lack of (...)
François Hollande’s Tax Measures : A Fatal Threat to Historical Heritage 25/08/2012
The Art Tribune does not take political stands. We are here to denounce threats to historical heritage from both the left and the right. As such, we did not spare previous governments, eliciting accusations of "leftist" by one or two readers (...)
Insulted Publicly by the Mayor of Lens 12/06/2012
Not satisfied with having prevented me from participating in a debate organized by the association Les Obsédés Textuels which had invited me to the media center in Lens, the mayor of the city insulted me publicly in the 8 June 2012 issue of (...)
The Incredible Intellectual Void of the Louvre-Lens 19/04/2012
Whether one is for or against the principle behind the Louvre-Lens, one aspect is sure to elicit unanimous agreement : the incredible intellectual void of this project. The works which are to be exhibited in the "Galerie du Temps" (the name (...)
Budget Cuts for Heritage 27/02/2012
Compared to certain European countries, the French Culture budget has been spared drastic cuts. But we also know that numbers can be easily manipulated. And that the bill for revising the Finance Law continuously amends - lowering but never (...)
The Disastrous Result for Heritage of Nicolas Sarkozy’s Cultural Policy 01/02/2012
True, the budget allotted to historical monuments and museums in France has managed to resist a bit better than that of our neighbors. In Europe, museums and historical monuments in countries such as Italy, the Netherlands or Spain, have seen (...)
The Place de la République Vandalized by Paris City Hall 26/01/2012
The massacre had been in the planning for some time : Paris City Hall has gutted the Dauphins fountains, Place de la République, with the passive complicity of the French Ministry of Culture which did not move a finger to protect them, totally (...)
The Owl Has Flown 13/12/2011
The sale of the Friedrich painting to a French private collector once again raises the question of the acquisition of National Treasures. True, other National Treasures have been, or will be, purchased by the Louvre. In all probability, we will (...)
Serres d’Auteuil : Delanoë’s Pyrrhic victory 14/02/2011
No doubt the Mayor of Paris will gloat about his « victory » in the media. The Fédération française de tennis has indeed decided (70% in the third round of voting) to stay in Paris and extend the location of the Roland-Garros tournament into the (...)
To have or not to have 02/02/2011
It has been a long time since a Minister of Culture and his Director of Heritage (who now directs both Patrimoine and Musées de France) were so well educated and sensitive to heritage issues. According to the information at our disposal, it (...)
A strong art market is a plus for our heritage 02/12/2010
The announcement of an art fair for old masters organized by a group of ten Parisian art dealers is excellent news. In fact, anything which helps to strengthen the art market in Paris is also good for French heritage and museums in general. (...)
Korean manuscripts : the end of inalienability ? 21/11/2010
The decision made by Nicolas Sarkozy during his trip to Seoul for the G20 summit will have far reaching consequences for national heritage, adding to those already endangering it.
Public Heritage : time for a law 20/11/2010
Our article on the Hôpital Laënnec drew tremendous response, mostly aghast, at the news of the fate awaiting this religious building which is almost four hundred years old and an important landmark for both Parisian history and more specifically, (...)
The deposit of the Planque Collection spells disaster for the Musée Granet 15/10/2010
The city of Aix-en-Provence is ecstatic about the deposit at the Musée Granet for a duration of fifteen years of 300 paintings and drawings belonging to the Fondation Jean et Suzanne Planque, formerly promised to the Musée in Lausanne. In fact, (...)
Caravaggio in the news 25/07/2010
Sensationalism and a frantic search for scoops are also part of art history. This applies generally to those rare artists whose names are widely familiar, the first being of course Leonardo da Vinci. New information appears on a regular basis, (...)
ENI, vidi, Vinci 03/12/2009
ENI, an Italian firm, is one of the world’s largest petroleum companies. Its turnover in 2008 totaled 108 billion euros resulting in profits of 8.8 billion. ENI, thus has money, lots of it, which it uses at times as an arts patron. Thus the (...)
Censored ! 15/03/2009
A few weeks ago the French public television channel, Arte, wanted to interview me on the show Metropolis for a program on culture in Abu Dhabi and particularly the Louvre satellite to open there. They were, in their own words, “having a hard (...)
A stop to Versailles-land ? 05/10/2008
The long interview which Jean-Jacques Aillagon, president of the Domaine de Versailles, granted us here gives us cause to be cautiously optimistic. We of course need to wait and see if his intentions are carried out. In any case, we must admit (...)
Koons is not the real issue at Versailles 10/09/2008
Some of our readers would like The Art Tribune to take a stand on the Jeff Koons exhibition at Versailles. Let us say that our views [1] were clearly expressed — in humorous form — in our review of the press conference given by Jean-Jacques (...)
Get a hold of this beauty ! 02/04/2008
The Louvre is still offering great deals. If you are a millionaire and would like to organize an exhibition, this is definitely the place to come : ask for a couple of masterpieces and it will see you get them on condition you pay the right (...)
UK deaccessioning 01/03/2008
In France, the danger which could have threatened museum collections in the form of deaccessioning seems to be fading from sight. The Minister of Culture, Christine Albanel, has in fact just stated that (...)
Deaccessioning : will France be next ? 02/11/2007
American museums have practiced deaccessioning for a long time. In the case of private establishments, this can be justified, although it may present a certain number of risks, among them that of selling today a work that will be direly missed (...)
The Art Tribune is born 15/09/2007
La Tribune de l’Art is a French website born in April 2003 and devoted to art history from the Middle Ages to the 1930’s. It is the only art journal to publish both news and scholarly articles. Over the last four years, in France and abroad, it (...)
