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 predicted cost (...)
Read the entire article by Didier Rykner
12/09/2013
Following the article entitled "A New Feudal System" by Mr. Didier Rykner, and in keeping with the freedom of expression he defends, Orleans City Hall would like to make some corrections and reestablish the (...)
Read the entire article by La Tribune de l’Art
25/05/2013
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 pursue the (...)
Read the entire article by Didier Rykner
21/05/2013
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 new reality and (...)
Read the entire article by Didier Rykner
18/05/2013
Among the positive actions exerted by Henri Loyrette as head of the Louvre there is the undeniable effort to extend the scope of the painting and sculpture collections to previously unexplored territories. This was notably the case first for American (...)
Read the entire article by Didier Rykner
09/05/2013
There is a fine line between bravery and ignorance. A contemporary artist who dares to stand alongside the old masters in any case comes across as being almost foolhardy. The Palais des Beaux-Arts wished to pay tribute to Jean-Baptiste Wicar, born in Lille (...)
Read the entire article by Bénédicte Bonnet Saint-Georges
09/05/2013
We have already spoken on two occasions about the exhibition at the Historial de Vendée on Félicie de Fauveau, one of the best French sculptors of the 19th century. Everyone knows how cinema has helped to make Camille Claudel, another great woman sculptor of (...)
Read the entire article by Didier Rykner
08/05/2013
Last update on 20/05/2014
When asked in an interview for Le Petit Parisien in April 1935 "What made you start painting ?", Paul Signac, then 71, answered : "It was Monet [...]. Monet, he added, who determined his fate as a painter on a day in June 1880 when, still a lycée student, he (...)
Here a Macabre Vision, there a Scene of Desolation rise in black or brown ink, India ink, graphite and charcoal... The dark drawings in "broyeur de sombre", as Bourdelle defined himself, are now displayed in full light, no doubt impregnated with Victor Hugo's lines (...)
We will soon be able to see the exhibition currently showing in Abou-Dhabi here in Paris but a glance at the accompanying catalogue already gives us a good idea of the acquisitions policy pursued by France-Museums. We said it before : whether one is for or against (...)
After closing for ten years, due to various delays in the renovation project, the Rijksmuseum finally reopened its doors to the public on 13 April. Fortunately, it was well worth the wait. When first learning that Wilmotte was in charge of the museum changes, we (...)
Comparing is not enough. The Haarlem exhibition on Frans Hals, an "adoptive" native son, which attempts to associate the artist with 16th century Venetian painting and also with some of his contemporaries, is a perfect illustration of these cautionary words. We (...)
Libération in a byline signed Vincent Noce was the first to break the news. We congratulate him for his investigation on the snags encountered in the Louvre Abou-Dhabi project and for having managed to put his hands on the letter sent by the Emirate in February (...)
The "Urbinate" : although this adjective refers to Raphael in the minds of many, it applies almost equally to Federico Barocci. Of these two Renaissance geniuses born in Urbino, the latter spent most of his life there after two stays in Rome which he left for the (...)
An artist should be a forerunner, thus justifying an exhibition of his works. A forerunner of what ? Of modernity of course, the nec plus ultra being Abstraction. Ferdinand Hodler corresponds to this rule and today, we can enjoy looking at his landscapes and see (...)
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 could therefore not be (...)
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 "coffee table book", (...)
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 artistic domain and/or (...)
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, showing considerable (...)
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 a press conference. We (...)
Many of you probably remember the words spoken above by the president of the Louvre during an interview in Le Figaro. We had already pointed out that there was no need to wait for the Louvre-Lens to observe the holes, the Louvre was full of them. Now, with the (...)
We often find fault with mayors who disregard their heritage but do not wish to overlook the many who fortunately assume their responsibilities and fight to protect and restore the historical monuments in their towns. We will attempt to present these as much as (...)
We must admit : at first the partnership between Versailles and the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Arras seemed to be a sensationalist operation, presumably useless and prejudicial, as are many of those initiated or approved by the president of the Conseil Général du (...)
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 among the first - rush (...)
Interview d'Alexandre Gady par latribunedelart Written transcription (slightly abridged) : What is the S.P.P.E.F.? It is the oldest existing association for the protection of French heritage because it was created the day after the law for associations was voted (...)
With the sole exception, almost forty years ago now, of the exhibition organized by Jean-Pierre Cuzin and Arnauld Brejon de Lavergnée , which in fact included only French artists (or, some thought to be so at the time), there has not been a show in France devoted to (...)