Art Of The Day Weekly
#264 - from 21 June 2012 to 27 June 2012
Abbaye de Fontevraud, August 2009. Photo Darrault.
IN THE AIR
The night at Fontevraud
In his Souvenirs, movie director Max Ophüls recalls that in Berlin in the 30s, no serious activity– including work reunions – would start before midnight … Night time as being the antithesis of a “bourgeois » existence and the symbol of a sort of bohemian style of life continues to fascinate a certain number of persons. As proof we can simply note the success of the “sleepless nights”(nuits blanches) organized in various European museums as well as other “movie nights”. The royal abby of Fontevraud, where Richared teh Lion Heart and Aliénor of Aquitaine rest in peace will make an attempt to an even wider synthesis with the arrival of the summer. On 23 June, the public will enjoy concerts, theater, Méliès movies and even a show organized by Bartabas at 5:14 AM! The venue will be decorated with artistic installations by Vincent Lamouroux, Claude Lévêque and the Nébuleuse by Morin and Eliard. But that is not all. There will also be debates on society and the cosmos, in particular with Hubert Reeves, who will speak under the stars. This is the utopia of a City in brimming with cultural activities and the ideal union of the arts: an experience worth keeping one’s eye on …
• Une nuit à l’abbaye, la Cité idéale 23 June 2012 at the abbaye de Fontevraud.
EXHIBITIONS
Asger Jorn (1914-1973), The Minstrels of Meigle, 1966, oil on canvas, 89 x 116 cm. Private Collection. Photo Jacques Betant, Lausanne © Donation Jorn_Silkeborg: 2012ProLitteris, Zurich
Jorn, northern colors
LAUSANNE – The Danish artist left us nearly 40 years ago, but his aura remains intact: among the founding members of the CoBrA movement, he is undoubtedly the one who left the deepest mark. And it is not by chance that this retrospective is taking place in Switzerland, since after all it was here that the artist settled in 1953 after being diagnosed with tuberculosis. Various works of his are testimonies of his relation to the country, in particular a series of prints, Suite suisse (Swiss suite). After suggesting an introduction to Scandinavian painting in 2005, the Fondation de l’Hermitage reminds all visitors, with 80 paintings, drawings and sculptures from the greatest museums, that the “boss” is really Jorn, the author of an original synthesis between the spontaneous trait, the expressionist force and the Mediterranean color.
• Asger Jorn at the Fondation de l’Hermitage, from 22 June to 21 October 2012
These exhibitions also open this week
One thousand years of Cyprus
BRUSSELS - Under the aegis of the European Union, Mapping Cyprus, at Bozar, presents a landscape of one thousand years of art in Cyprus, including icons as well as paintings of Venitian inspiration. From 22 June to 23 September 2012
Turner and Monet in old age
LIVERPOOL - Turner Monet Twombly, later paintings, at the Tate Liverpool, establishes parallels between the later paintings of the three great painters. From 22 June to 28 October 2012.
The return of Soutter
PARIS - The Maison rouge has us rediscover an artist who had fallen into a semi-oblivioni, even though Georges Rouault and Arnulf Rainer had been greatly impressed by him: Louis Soutter (1871-1942), put into the Art brut caegory for his marginal creation during the last twenty years of his life, spent in a home for old people (ill. Glace d'argent, miroir d'ébène, 1938, painting with the finger, 44x58,1 cm, Lausanne, Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts). From 21 June to 23 September 2012.
AUCTIONS
Lot 157, Raoul Larché (1860-1912), Loie Fuller. Chiselled, gilded bronze lamp. Signed.Raoul Larche. and foundry stamp Siot Decauville. Circa 1900. H: 18 cm. Estimate: €15,000
Masters of art deco
PARIS -To sum up the auction at the Aguttes house, we would say it presents 326 lots to give a wide glance at the decorative arts of the last century. One heavyweight, René Lalique, represents a third of the choices, with a lorgnette for Van Cleef & Arpels, a rare Raquel Meller bottle for Roditi et Cie (lot 69, estimate €12 000) or a sweet bottle Trésor de la mer (lot €71 40 000). The rest of the sale allows for other creators to be shown: stars of Art deco such as Adnet, Arbus and Royère, Italian champions such as Mendini, Fornasetti and – yet more difficult to classify - Carlo Mollino (lot 304, a series of eight chairs estimated €130 000). There are also some small unexpected lots at more affordable prices, such as the parquet lamps by the Dassault workshops (€300) or the ball-vase by Aristide Colotte.
• Arts décoratifs du XXe siècle 22 June 2012 at hôtel-Drouot (Aguttes).
ARTIST OF THE WEEK
Pilar Albarracín, Mandala (red), 2012. Women's briefs on canvas, 275 x 275 x 3 cm. Photo : Aurélien Mole
Pilar Albarracín, the mandala of women's briefs
The title in itself, L’origine du nouveau monde, is already a sign of complicity with Courbet. In our hyper-sexual world, Spanish artist Pilar Albarracín questions the notion of gender (a discipline made fashionable by the "gender studies" in American universities) an din particular that of women. She works by series, mixes photographs, paintings, embroderies and various objects, and thus she approached themes as varied as women with beards, reincarnation or AIDS. In this last one she presents colored and and attractive mandalas, that reveals themselves as being more disturbing once we have decyphered the basic element, the symbol of an exhibited intimicy: women's briefs…
• Pilar Albarracín at galerie Georges-Philippe & Nathalie Vallois (36 rue de Seine, 75006 Paris), until 28 July 2012.
BOOKS
All about contemporary gardens
We all know the "natural looking" English garden, the Italian one with fountains and terraces, or even the French-style garden with its perfect perspectives and flower beds. But the diversity of current creations can no longer find their place in these few categories. This book, prepared by the director of the Chaumont domaine, known fr its famous estival of ephemeral gardens, helps draw-up an assessment of current tendencies and of the main creators, from Louis Bénech to Edouard François, from Fernando Caruncho to Wang Shu. The aim of this book lies mainly in the transversal approach that studies relations between gardens and art, design, sound and philosophy,and that looks at themes as varied as eco-roofs, indigenous plants or the "green commandoes" - outlaws of a sort who interene to transform the landscape.
•Jardin contemporain, mode d’emploi by Chantal Colleu-Dumond, Flammarion, 2012, 256 p., €29.90
IN BRIEF
FRANCE - The 3rd Journées de l'archéologie, with 800 events in 400 different archaeological sites, are being held from 22 to 24 June 2012.
LANDERNAU – The Fonds Hélène et Edouard Leclerc pour la culture opens on 24 June 2012 in a former Capuchin convent with an exhibition dedicated to Gérard Fromanger.
SENS - An important collection of Gallic coins (242 pieces) was stolen from the Musée de Sens on 18 June 2012.
