Portraits d’artistes

We all know the famous formula of Paris Match, “The weight of words” and especially “the shock of photographs”. The magazine has honoured it for over sixty years. Wars, catastrophes and love stories have filled the cover page of its nearly 3000 issues. These two volumes drew from the magazine’s abundant archives to present an idea of the “art” aspect which was opened since the first issue on 23 March 1949 with a report at Raoul Dufy’s workshop. Here we see Matisse painting with a pole from his bed, Salvador Dalí in a surrealist staging at the seaside, Balthus at the age of 90, when he allowed a journalist to enter his home for the first time! But we also see Derain and Vlaminck who meet after being mad at each other for 40 years, Poliakoff stepping out of his Rolls Royce, Van Dongen with Bardot, Chagall under the ceiling of the Paris Opéra, Bernard Buffet in a disorder of giant dragonflies. Certain portraits have gone down in History, others, as they are pulled out of the cartons seem practically new. Unfortunately, the names of the photographers are only partially mentioned.

• Portraits d’artistes, coffer with 2 volumes (Dans l’intimité des peintres ; Les écrivains, portraits intimes) published separately in 2011 and 2012, Glénat, 2014, 416 p., €45.