France on Fire with Art Openings This Week
- October 21, 2014 16:27
Modern and contemporary art get a bigger than usual spotlight this week in Paris. French president Francois Hollande, fashion editor Anna Wintour and Louis Vuitton head honcho Bernard Arnault were among the luminaries on hand Monday for the opening of the Frank Gehry-designed Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris. The new private museum holds Arnault's contemporary art collection and will open to the public next week.
A retrospective of LA-based Gehry's work is currently on view at the Pompidou Centre. Meanwhile, the 41st edition of FIAC will be larger than in previous years at the Grand Palais, with a satellite fair called Officielle showcasing younger gallerists.
At the 18th-century hôtel de la Monnaie, American artist Paul McCarthy is churning out hundreds of chocolate Santas, some of which might be of “a sexually explicit and sometimes violent character,” the museum’s website warns. (McCarthy's "The Tree," an inflatable tree that people thought resembled a sex toy, has already ruffled feathers in France, and incited wrath, as it was installed, attacked, and then dismantled at the Place Vendome last week.)
There is no-holds-barred at the Musee d'Orsay either where an exhibition debuts on the Marquis de Sade, supported by erotic images by artists from Goya to Rodin.
American photographer Garry Winogrand gets a retrospective at the Jeu de Pomme in the Tuileries Gardens.
And then there is the re-opening of the Picasso Museum after years of controversy and construction delays. The revamped and expanded museum will showcase some 5,000 Picasso artworks.
