Profound change If the world is undergoing profound change, it is not only in fields related to artificial intelligence or geopolitics. On a far more modest and, of course, less turbulent level, art history too is in the midst of major upheaval. Its impact should not...
Viral image This image went around the world. In November 2017, Christie’s sold a remarkably rare painting by Leonardo da Vinci, a Salvator Mundi painted around 1500, for $450 million, making it the most expensive work ever sold at auction. The fact that this...
Absurd and poetic The world is uncertain. The art market is unsettled. And yet, amid a pervasive sense of insecurity, one artist’s market performance stands out for its strength. Quietly but steadily, his prices continue to rise, reaching colossal sums. His success...
https://youtu.be/zpbrtj6R_Lw?si=0NWKIFRn3LnPRcv0 By tradition By tradition, the English people have long harbored a visceral love for their countryside. For years, the archetype of this attachment was embodied by a sovereign—headscarf tied,...
https://youtu.be/pbMMtJaGkEE?si=UV37tnEARM3b_ewu Rare privilege A substantial exhibition devoted to Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) is always a major event. The colossal force of the Aixois master’s work rarely disappoints. So having the opportunity...
https://youtu.be/_RXKYlw-rB8?si=KFONA8qg-OgYqWnS La Boheme At the beginning of the 20th century, Montmartre was a territory of poverty and bohemia, filled with shantytowns, inhabited by street performers, circus people, "grisettes" and other...
https://youtu.be/-pd-TWUaU24?si=lTTsXrJc7iOFXtVd Royal Academy In London, the Royal Academy is the country’s most renowned custodian of art. Inside, its neo-classical palace—with mouldings shaped like temples—fits squarely within the aesthetic...
https://youtu.be/3w93mVWNMJk?si=q5g1qmQ5fYn6dnxq Tristes tropiques In 1955, Claude Lévi-Strauss published a masterpiece that would change minds forever: Tristes tropiques (published in 1961 in English). Not only did he dare to take on a...
https://youtu.be/BbtWXAtAKkI It's not a gallant scene She looks at you with her huge, innocent eyes, discreetly filled with fear. Her complexion is porcelain, and from her silky bodice emerges the nipple of a small milky breast. Her appearance...
https://youtu.be/zxItYejrUOI Magic There is a certain magic that exceptional artists possess — the ability to renew their vocabulary endlessly while remaining unmistakably themselves. It is not so much that they crave novelty; rather,...
https://youtu.be/oiqjrU6ZFY8 François Pinault Season after season in Paris — and in Venice at the Punta della Dogana and the Palazzo Grassi — the Pinault Collection’s program continues to reveal different facets of the vast ensemble amassed by...
https://youtu.be/k71kMCpGtt0?si=RZafvMibrTPPueHn Stylist of the female image Among the pantheon of modern fashion photographers stand two American talents turned legends: Richard Avedon (1923–2009) and Irving Penn (1917–2009). Among their many...