Lundi 2 mars 2015
Last update on 21/05/2014
Last update on 21/05/2014
The latest news in the History of Western Art from the Middle Ages to the 1930's
Victor Horta 1861-1947. L’homme, l’architecte, l’art nouveau 17/10/2012
When seeing the sumptuous volume devoted to Victor Horta, marking the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of his birth, published by Fonds Mercator and the Fondation Pierre Lahaut, for the first time, readers might think this is just another (...)
Bob Haboldt : Singular Vision 01/08/2012
Bob Haboldt has decided to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of his career as an art dealer by publishing an anthology of 500 paintings and drawings among the 2000 or so which have passed through his gallery. About twenty authors, experts and (...)
Fragonard and the Fantasy Figure. Painting the Imagination 20/07/2012
Fragonard’s work can often be compared to a gauntlet thrown down to the historians of art to test their sagacity. Rare are the sheets of drawings that do not raise questions or doubts regarding their attribution, date and origin or even (...)
In the Presence of Things. Four Centuries of European Still-Life Painting 25/01/2012
The exhibition which just closed at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon and which we unfortunately could not see reflects the very dynamic policy of this institution, esteemed for its rich collections as well as its organization of (...)
Simon Vouet en Italie 03/01/2012
The proceedings from the Simon Vouet colloquium in Italy organized at the same time as the remarkable exhibition by Dominique Jacquot and Adeline Collange at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nantes were published recently and are just as fascinating. (...)
Versailles, la fabrique d’un chef-d’œuvre 19/12/2011
Another book on Versailles, one might say (and the author, a major specialist of the château, has just collaborated as well in the imposing monograph published by Citadelles & Mazenod). However, this volume stands out from the rest. This is (...)
De Turner à Monet. La découverte de la Bretagne par les paysagistes au XIXe siècle 05/12/2011
This catalogue, published at the time of the exhibition held at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Quimper from April to August 2011 which we, unfortunately, were not able to see, and co-edited by the museum along with éditions Palantines, is a fine (...)
Giovanni Battista Beinaschi (1636-1688) 29/11/2011
Italian publishing has again confirmed its vitality : a Baroque painter active in Rome and Naples in the second half of the 17th century, Giovanni Battista Beinaschi (Fossano (Cuneo), 1636 - Naples, 1688), relatively unknown to the general (...)
Jacob van Loo 1614 - 1670 17/11/2011
With the publication of this book last spring, the Arthena association continues to pursue its very necessary and courageous work of editing monographic works on artists whose importance in art history has sometimes been forgotten. Although the (...)
Pierre Jacques Volaire (1729-1799), dit le Chevalier Volaire 31/10/2011
He does not lie in the pantheon of great artists and his work does not fall under the genre of grand painting ; some would even say that his art is repetitive, a succession of views of Mount Vesuvius meant to sell briskly as souvenirs of the (...)
Figures of reality. French Caravaggisti, Georges de La Tour, the Le Nain brothers… 20/10/2010
Hazan editions, along with all those who collaborated on this project, have offered us a very beautiful object. This is not simply a modestly illustrated collection of articles, but a veritable book. Moreover, this compendium of Jean-Pierre (...)
Tableaux pour le Trianon de marbre 15/10/2010
While Arthéna has published a new edition of Antoine Schnapper’s Jean Jouvenet, the RMN along with the Société des Amis de Versailles is now presenting a reedited version of an important book by this author, Tableaux pour le Trianon de marbre, with (...)
Catalogue of Flemish and Dutch paintings at the Louvre 01/05/2010
The Catalogue des peintures flamandes et hollandaises du musée du Louvre is more than just a tool for accessing 1,130 paintings. This is not only a list (as is still often the case for many museum catalogues), the publication in fact provides an (...)
The Paintings of Hendrick ter Brugghen (1588-1629). Catalogue raisonné. 01/03/2010
In January 2009, the Bagpipe Player (ill. 1) by Hendrick ter Brugghen set a record price of $10,162,500 at a Sotheby’s auction in New York. This spectacular event speaks worlds of the long road traveled in finally recognizing an artist who, (...)
Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille : Catalogue sommaire des sculptures 04/01/2010
Blessed are those virtuous museums, and here the adjective is doubly qualifying, which find virtue very simply, and very bravely, in studying and publishing their holdings ! This is a cardinal task for institutions but often ignored if not (...)
Vincent van Gogh, The Lettres 12/11/2009
Writing to his brother, on Sunday 25 March 1888, Van Gogh remarked : “it might be interesting to save correspondence between artists.” This letter, which deserves to be preserved and studied, had been sent to him by the painter John Russell whom (...)
Catalogue of paintings at the Musée du Château de Blois. 16th-17th centuries 12/11/2009
The Musée de Blois organized a long-term exhibition at the same time it published its catalogue of 16th to 18th century paintings, starting in late 2008 and continuing until 20 October of this year. This is the perfect chance to discover a (...)
Louyse Moillon. Still-lifes in the Grand Siècle. Catalogue raisonné 20/04/2009
Some books defy critical review. It would be easier to simply not even attempt it and brush them off politely but this has not been our choice of solution. The lack of a monographic study on Louise Moillon (we continue to prefer this (...)
Dessins de sculpteurs I 10/03/2009
The Association du Salon du Dessin now organizes every year, at the same time as the Salon itself, a scientific colloquium which brings together the outstanding specialists in the field. After two editions devoted to collector artists, the theme (...)
Nicolas Régnier 03/12/2008
The Syndicat National des Antiquaires has just awarded its art book prize to Nicolas Régnier by Annick Lemoine. It rewards a remarkable monographic study, both erudite and pleasantly readable, which is the fruit of many long years of research and (...)
Bernini and the Birth of Baroque Portrait Sculpture 03/12/2008
Organizing sculpture exhibitions is a difficult task as the size and weight of the works make them difficult to transport, sometimes even impossible, at other times highly unadvisable. Baroque sculpture is even harder to present outside of its (...)
The Kunsthaus in Zurich published the catalogue of its collections in the form of two complementary works late in 2007 and early 2008 for its different translations : the complete catalogue of paintings and sculptures and in another volume a (...)
Six museum catalogues 02/07/2008
Fortunately, the development of databases on Internet in no way hampers the publication of museum catalogues, which continue to flourish. The following is an overview of the most recent ones on French museum collections, except for the one on (...)
An interview with Guilhem Scherf before the Salon du Dessin 05/04/2008
What is the thread linking these colloquia ? The idea, which was suggested by Pierre Rosenberg, is to explore the characteristics of drawings by sculptors. Is there something specific about a sculptor’s drawing, that identifies it as such ? The (...)
Peintures françaises du XVIIe des églises de Paris 11/03/2008
While XVIIth century French painting has often been highlighted in the past few years in several publications, these tend to reproduce the same works. The major virtue of this issue of Dossiers de l’art is to offer a new perspective on paintings (...)
Deux siècles précurseurs and Mélanges en l’honneur de Bruno Foucart 08/03/2008
A volume of texts selected by Bruno Foucart was expected in early 2008, but now Norma editions has pleasantly surprised its readers, as well as the author himself, by presenting two big volumes instead of one in a boxed set. Besides the (...)
The Most Arrogant Man in France. Gustave Courbet and the Nineteenth-Century Media Culture 01/01/2008
The Courbet retrospective and its catalogue will not be covered in this article as both present an excellent account of current knowledge and, except for laboratory exams, do not claim to offer any new information. Their work provides a complete (...)
La collection Oulmont. Dessins, peintures et pastels du XVIIIe siècle 03/09/2007
Cataloguing, publishing, displaying its collections as much as possible to the largest number of people is one of the major missions of any museum and also allows for unknown works to find their way back into scientific circles as Jérôme (...)
Charles de la Fosse 1637-1716. Le maître des Modernes 23/08/2007
Author : Clémentine Gustin-Gomez This two-volume work is the result of a Doctoral thesis submitted by the author at Paris-IV Sorbonne in June 2003. The first tome is prefaced by Marc Fumaroli (L’Académicien Charles de La Fosse et la genèse de (...)
Read the entire article by Arnauld Brejon de Lavergnée et François Marandet