One of Britain’s favourite painters, JMW Turner, was born 250 years ago, but his art continues to inspire, just as it inspired the Impressionists in the 19th century. It has a modernity that stands in contrast to his contemporary rival John Constable. It’s hard not to believe Turner would have been proud of the iconoclastic … Continue reading “Turner: 250th Anniversary”
David Hockney’s new exhibition in Paris is entitled David Hockney, 25. Not a reference to the artist’s age – he will be 88 this year – but the focus he has put on the most recent 25 years of his work. Because he is still creating and still innovating, from iPad paintings to monumental landscapes … Continue reading “David Hockney: A Life in Pop Art”
A new exhibition in Paris celebrates the Pop Art movement and in particular American artist Tom Wesselmann, one of its pioneers. Less well known in Europe than Andy Warhol or Roy Lichtenstein, he worked with many of the same themes of advertising, collages, comic strips and mass media. As well as 150 of his work, … Continue reading “Pop Art Forever”
An exhibition at the Petit Palais in Paris would be a great way to get pupils thinking about art. And it’s proved so popular, it’s been extended to 19 January 2025. Works by street artists from around the world are on display amongst the museum’s more traditional collection. The artists include, from the U.S., Shepard … Continue reading “We Are Here: Urban Art “
Gertrude Stein is probably best known for her “salon” in Paris where she nurtured artistic talents as diverse as Matisse and Braque, Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and James Joyce. But her experimental, minimalist writing has been highly influential on generations of creatives right up to today, as is shown in the Gertrude Stein and Picasso: … Continue reading “Gertrude Stein Multi-talented”
If you are in or near Brest in the next couple of weeks, don’t miss this free exhibition of 280 works by mysterious street artist Banksy! It’s at the Ateliers des Capucins from 10 to 25 June. The works are from the personal collection of François Bérardino, a French actor who met a graffiti artist … Continue reading “Banksy in Brest”
Everybody (or almost everyone) has heard of Andy Warhol, but not all students will be familiar with Jean-Michel Basquiat, a New York artist whose lively and colourful paintings are on display in Paris, either paired with music or in a display of works produced with Warhol. These two exhibitions are not only windows into his … Continue reading “Basquiat, Music and Warhol”
Two exhibitions in Paris celebrate the life and legend of the first African-American artist to become an international star. Jean-Michel Basquiat, an African-American artist of Haitian and Puerto Rican descent, was born in New York in 1960. He began spray painting graffiti slogans on walls and doorways in the city’s Lower East Side in 1979. … Continue reading “Exhibitions: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Music and Warhol”
A new exhibition gives a fascinating insight into the songlines which are a fundamental part of Indigenous Australian culture. These creation stories also function as oral maps to practical places such as waterholes and to sacred sites. The exhibition at Quai Branly was curated by Indigenous Australian Elders, who traditionally preserve and pass on the … Continue reading “Songlines: Australian Aboriginal Culture”
We challenged your pupils to write stories inspired by Edward Hopper’s paintings and we were incredibly impressed by the imagination they showed. We got thousands and thousands of entries and it’s taken a while to read them all, but we can now announce the authors of the winning texts. We’ve split them into pages by … Continue reading “Winning Texts: Edward Hopper Competition”