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Art Of The Day Weekly

#45 - from 3 May 2007 to 9 May 2007

IN THE AIR

It pays to go through Bacon's rubbish

LONDON – In 1978, an electrician named Mac Robertson asked one of his clients, Francis Bacon, while he was putting in a heating system in his house, whether he could keep all the artist threw out: note books, agendas, sketches, photographs and press cutouts. His foresight rewarded him. On 24 April, these various lots belonging to the greatest British painter of the post-war period were sold by Ewbank, a small auction house in Surrey, for… 1 000 000 £ (aproximately 1.5 million €). It seems no rubbish bin has ever delivered such a treasure. The most impressive somersault was the one made by a non-finished portrait– probably that of Lucian Freud – estimated at 10 000 £ and which sold for 400 000 £. One can envy Mr.Robertson but we must admit that his eye went further than that of the art critics of his time. This success will undoubtedly have its followers. Given the quantity of active artists today, some appetizing waste is stacking up. Get to your rubbish bins!

EXHIBITIONS

A very French Summer of '42

LAUSANNE – Switzerland is a haven of peace. Our neighboring country had probably never before assumed its reputation as well as it did during the Second World War when various French intellectuals hostile to Petain's regime found refuge there. The exhibition, the extension of a research called «The province is no longer the province», explores this little cultural golden age of the Swiss scene, in which Eluard or Vercors were published here while they were forbidden in France, Pierre Seghers presented his poetry magazine, Aragon recited over the radio, etc. Sound and visual archives,(movie-journals), books, reviews and daily newspapers explore the rich links built during the war between the intellectuals of the two countries. And not only in the historical sense: Edmond Jaloux, a well-known supporter of Pétain, settled in Lutry and the daily «La Gazette de Lausanne», with sales exploding in France (it replaced the censured French newspapers), only chose the Resistance later on. We must remember that certain Swiss intellectuals took the opposite itinerary and settled in Paris, where there were places to be taken and made their allegiance as collaborators, such as anthropologist Georges Montandon.

  • Paris-Lausanne-Paris up to 21 October 2007 at the musée Historique de Lausanne

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  • To the East, the porcelain

    SARREGUEMINES - Some 200 pieces trace the evolution of the local white ceramic, from rococo to Art nouveau: such is the aim of this exhibition that received the label of national interest. From Andenne (in Belgium) to Lunéville, from Longwy to Mettlach (in the Sarre region), the entrepreneurs of the XIXth century used coal to develop their industrial and mechanised production. Among the most dynamic families, some became very famous, such as the Villeroy and the Boch. The techniques that allowed the creation of the fine china of the Great Region are explained in detail: pipe earth (from the local white clay, to which lime was added) and metalling (starting with pebbles of calcined quartz). Simple plates, or more designed pieces, as well as posters, advertisement brochures and photographs aim at exposing the different aspects of this industry that crossed borders.

  • Série blanche : la céramique, naissance d’une industrie dans le cœur de l’Europe(White series: ceramics, the birth of an industry in the heart of Europe)at the musée de la Faïence, from 10 May to 22 July 2007

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  • ARCHITECTURE

    On the Seine, building to last

    PARIS – The Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine and the Public development Establishment Seine Aval launch an international lasting development prize. Inspired by succesful initiatives, such as the one that made the Austrian region of Voralberg become a laboratory of new forms of architecture, it will be rewarded each year in September. It will give the winners orders for villas, which will become, in the long term, a collection of architecture in perimeter located between Mantes-la-Jolie, Conflans-Sainte-Honorine and Poissy, where we find the famous house by Le Corbusier, villa Savoye. The five candidates selected for this first edition are Chinese Wang Shu, Germand Stefan Behnisch, Indian Balkrishna Doshi, French Marie-Hélène Jourda and Austrian Hermann Kaufmann.

    The website of the cité de l'architecture

    Cézanne versus Gris

    NEW YORK – On 8 and 9 May, the heart beat of the art world will suddenly pick up at the moment of the major semi-annual auctions of impressionist and modern art at Christie’s and Sotheby’s. Every year it is said that the number of master pieces is inescapably going towards the major museums and will never come out again. And each year, it is the same ritual surprise to see rare, good quality paintings pop up again. This year it is the Nature morte au melon vert(Still life wit green melon), supposedly the most important water color of Cézanne's to still be in private hands, that is the star (Sotheby’s, the 8th). He painted it at the end of his career,and comes from the Giuseppe Eskenazi collection, the great art dealer and rug dealer from Milano. On the 9th, Christie’s will give its answer with a Juan Gris from 1915, Pot de géranium(Pot of geraniums), with the same estimate: 14 million €. Two portraits – one of Olga by Picasso in his neoclassic period (1921) and one of Madame Menier by Modigliani (1918) could reach the same amounts.

    Sotheby's website

    ARTIST OF THE WEEK

    Philippe Pasqua, the call of the flesh

    A young (41) French artist, who does «figurative»art and exports well (in 2006, it was a triple American sumersault with a personal exhibition at the Spike Gallery in New York, another at Patrick Painter's in Los Angeles and a collective at Cheim & Read New York, where the elected artists compared themselves to Soutine)? This is the equation which Philippe Pasqua responds to, he whose value has also gone up on the second market: at auctions, he went from 15 000 € in 2000 to 47 000 € at the beginning of 2007. The human body, its folds, its nudity, its imperfections, its decadence as well. Pasqua has an expressionist side to his art, as well as links with Lucian Freud ou Rustin, who in their own individual ways are unclassifiable scrutineers of the body. He has dedicated ensembles to women, to children as well as to sequences of surgery. The RX gallery presents his latest works, as always in large dimensions (portraits over 2 meters on each side) and pencil on paper, in two series, of which one, «Pulsions», includes crude images .

  • Philippe Pasqua at the RX gallery, until 21 May, 6 avenue Delcassé, 75008 Paris, tel. : 01 45 63 18 78.

    The website of the RX gallery

  • BOOKS

    Intimate Lalique

    What was René Lalique like in his daily life, he who was a sacred monster, a friend of Sarah Bernhardt's, the jeweller of the tzars ad of the Queen of England? A collection of letters helps give us an idea of the creator's exciting existence . They are dated between 1890 and 1908 – he was between 30 and 48 years old – and spend a good part of his existence traveling: to London (to see Garrard, the Crown's jeweller), to America (for the international exhibition at Saint-Louis in 1904), to Geneva, to Saint-Petersburg (we are treated to an amusing story of an adventure at the customs, since the over-orderly Lalique had forgotten his passport). Young Alice – his second wife - regretted his absence. She champed at teh bit in Paris, tried to get distracted in Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, wondered if she would dare ride a bicycle. One can feel the drama before it arrives: worn out by depression, she committed suicide in 1909. We also discover all his artistic friendships, long term ones or for specific projects: Oriental artist Jean-Léon Gérôme, young Gallé or writer Jules Claretie who ordered an ink well «with lots of ink»…

  • René Lalique, correspondance d’un bijoutier Art nouveau, 1890-1908, présentée par Philippe Thiébaut, la Bibliothèque des arts, 2007, 208p., ISBN : 978-2-88453-125-2, 19 €

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  • IN BRIEF

    AMSTERDAM – Art Amsterdam, a contemporary art fair with 120 Dutch and international galleries, will be held from 9 to 13 May.

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    MADRID – The extension of the Prado museum, by Rafael Moneo, has just been presented to the public. It may be visited on week-ends (without the art works) until its inauguration in October.

    A slide show on the website of the daily The Guardian

    PHILADELPHIA – The Barnes foundation has given the six architect firms tht will compete for the design of the museum's new building. They are Tadao Ando, Diller Scofidio & Renfro, Kengo Kuma, Thom Mayne/Morphosis, Rafael Moneo, Todd Williams & Billie Tsien.

    SAN SEBASTIAN – The 4th edition of the DFOTO photograph and video exhibit will be held from 3 to 6 May and will host 41 galleries.

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    SEATTLE – Following its sculpture garden last January, the museum of Art of Seattle has just inaugurated a new building that almost doubles its exhibition space.

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