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Art Lectures (available in English or French, in person or on Zoom)
ARTISTS  | Degas.
An
eccentric Genius who became one of the best Impressionists while never
fully being one. Or how a conservative aristocratic curmudgeon could be
one of the leading creators of his time and a beacon for all young
artists, one that we still admire today as one of the most important
painters of the 19th century.
|  | Crazy
about color: Van Gogh in France.
Between
1886 and 1890, Vincent Van Gogh moved to France. In these five years
which marked the end of his life, he feverishly painted one of the
most thrilling body of work of the history of art, while also falling
into insanity.
We
will tell this unique story of a man carried by an incredible
interior force towards creation. |  | Matisse,
Picasso, Chagall: call of the sun on the Cote d'Azur
Before
and after WW2, the cote d'Azur, the French Riviera, became the home
of famous artists: Matisse, Picasso, Chagall among many others, were
attracted to its mellow climate and the vivid colors of the
Mediterranean coast, and spent there their last years. They created
joyful works, while influencing forever a cultural life that still
speaks to our hearts today. |  | Eugene
Delacroix: Orientalism and Revolutions
Portrait
of the artist as a young romantic: After the Napoleonic odyssey,
France went into social and political turmoil, while also
carving an empire. Delacroix was an energetic
idealist who accompanied -and led many- of the changes of his time
while creating a unique body of work, full of raw energy. |  | Toulouse
Lautrec:
La belle et la bete.
In
the midst of the industrial revolution, life can be both the hardest
and the most refined. Lautrec debunks the cult of feminine beauty of
the Belle Epoque. We ll look at the reality and the myth. |  | Jean
Nouvel and the new French architecture
One
of the starchitects of the world, Pritzker price Jean Nouvel reinvents himself on every project since 1970. Influenced by
cinema, art or science, his buildings show a unique approach to context. He influenced a
new generation of architects. |  | The
invention of Light: Claude Monet and the impressionists
The
impressionists have reinvented how we see nature. We will examine how
it happened, why it was so important and, through a few paintings,
the unravelling that led Monet and his followers to change the course
of Art |  | Paul
Gauguin.
The
inextiguishible and fearless quest for Freedom, in his creation and in
his life led Gauguin to live unabated by the conventions of his time,
invent a style that still fascinate and inspire us today. |  | Le Douanier Rousseau. Painting from the Heart
You
do not need formal artistic training if you paint from real feelings
thought this Customs officer. Today his works hang in the greatest
museums and his unique style influenced generations of the Avant-Garde
artists as well as the Peintres du Dimanche. |  | New
French design: Philippe Starck, and the others
How
do you design a juicer, a plastic chair, a yacht? Starck has an
answer: just reinvent the concept for each project. His bigger than
life personality and success opened the door to young
French designers who embrace new materials and ideas. |  | Moebius. The art of SciFi and cowboys In Europe, Comics are not just for teenagers, but due to people like Moebius are considered adult art.
He
designed dreamlike worlds with amazing inventivity and incredible
drafting skill while also working on stages of Star Wars, Alien or Dune
movies. We look at one of the most brilliant creators of this 8th Art. |  | Edward Hopper in Paris, an American artist follows, and then breaks tradition.
A young painter makes his Grand Tour to
the artistic capital of the world, but unlike previous others, he will
outgrow it, building on what he saw to become one of the greatest
American painters of the 20th century. What did he see there by the way? |  | Napoleon
and David,
the Artistic Odyssey.
History and the Arts: Two idealistic conquerors are at work together to build their mutual
glory, and make History. |  | Auguste Rodin.
Michelangelo
and Rodin are still today the reference of sculptors all over the
world. How do you create such a legacy? Rodin after 150 years is still
a model of modernity in his field, a man of extraordinary skill,
acumen, genius, and willpower that singlehandledly transformed his
field. | |
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PLACES
 | The
Palace of Versailles: Order on the edge of chaos
Versailles
was the noblest and most famous palace in the world. We ll examine
how and why it was created, and what life there was for the one
hundred years before the French Revolution |  | Le
Mont Saint Michel: 800 years in the making
After
709AD, monks and villagers started building an abbey on the sea.
Stone by stone, among wars and regime changes, through
Romanesque, then Gothic and Baroque styles, they elevated one of the
best recognized monuments in the world |  | The
Musée d'Orsay:
The beautiful and innovative museum that explains a
century of ideas and Art. |  | Marseille
Loved
and loathed, the oldest city in France has been a hotspot for creation,
joie de vivre, and for the Mafia since 200BC. Let's take our sunglasses
and go for a visit! |  | Les
plus beaux villages de France
France
receives 70 millions tourists every year. Not all go to Paris, many
head to typical villages of Normandy, Burgundy, Alsace,
Provence...each with its different style, its tradition,
geology, climate and sense of harmony. |  | Impressionists in Normandy
One of the most celebrated regions
of France was also the birthplace of one of the most famous artistic
movements in history. That was not mere chance. Romantic and modern,
irrigated by history, war and the Arts and a beautiful landscape,
Normandy is worth our artistic visit. |  | Amelie!
Montmartre:
The myth and the reality behind the Moulin Rouge and the celebrated movie that transported millions into a quartier haunted by Picasso, Lautrec and the popular Paris. |  |
Vaux
le Vicomte, a rival of Versailles
A
visionary man redefined style
for two centuries and caused his own demise. Using the designers that
King Louis later hired for Versailles he created one of the finest French
chateaux with public funds, for his own pleasure. Today, it is ours to
marvel at the gardens and the sense of balance that exudes from this
masterpiece. |  | St
Germain 1950s: Sartre, Cubism and Jazz music
Five years after WW2, a pacific explosion of life and creativity mixing
European and American culture happens in Paris and redefines French and European culture. |  | Loire
Valley Chateaux: Leisure and pleasure
At
the end of the Middle-Ages, the kings of France invent on the banks
of the Loire Valley an Art de
Vivre for the elite that Europe had not seen since Roman times. Dozens of chateaux spring up for their pleasure, and now, ours. |  | Bordeaux,
a provincial town open to the world
The
birthplace of the most famous French wines is also a beautiful and
very special city, mired in history, wealth and now into a new modernity. |  | The Beauty and attraction of Nice.
A beautiful site and rich history of people and drama concurred to make the most Italian city
of France a favorite of royalty and visitors. Once you see it, you will
always remember Nice and keep it in your heart. |  | Rouen,
Joan of Arc, Flaubert and the Norman conquest
Not
just the impressionists, the capital of the Normandy duchy has also
played a major role in the
history of Europe and was shaped by it. Joan of Arc, the Gothic, war and the Impressionists to name a few. And there are more. | | | |
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HISTORY
 | The Pillars
of light: Chartres and the Gothic cathedral
The
Gothic cathedral is a major achievement of Western Art, and Chartres
one of its finest examples.
It
seems supernatural, and yet was created by a few generations of men, pushed by the highest vision and ingenuity.
Let's examine how its architecture, sculpture and glass
work allowed a masterpiece to rise. |  |
The
French Renaissance. How to become the center of the world: In
the 16th
century, France decided to take over Italy and Spain to become the cultural center of the
world. How did it succeed? |  | Haussmann
and Paris: the birth of the modern city
In
the beginning of the19th century Paris was falling into desherence.
We examine how in twenty years the decisive action of two men,
NapoleonIII and Eugene Haussmann have changed this course to bring a
whole city into modernity and made it for a century the cultural
center of the world. |  | Faith
in stone: the Romanesque Abbeys from Provence
12th
century Provence underwent the construction of the Three Sisters,
three beautiful cistercian abbeys of a sober aesthetic which
emphasize volume, light, and fine masonry in a marvelous setting. We
will examine the functioning of the network of abbeys, the day to
day life and the importance they had in diffusing knowledge in
medieval Europe. |  | The
Louis, two centuries of architecture and styles, Louis 13,14,15,16
Yes
it is good to be the king! Now learn how not to mix your Louies. |  | Gustave
Eiffel: Art in the Industrial Revolution
The Eiffel tower is one of the most recognizable monuments in the
world, but at the time of the industrial revolution it was also an
unmatched feat of engineering, heralding societal change. We will examine its construction, and also others
such as the Statue of Liberty or the Panama Canal to show how
Eiffel was a visionary designer. |  | Les
riches heures du Duc de Berry: Life in the Middle-Ages
The most beautiful illuminations of the Middle-Ages, this 15th century book of
hours gives us a window on dayly
life in a misunderstood
period. How was people life, what did they think about Art,
Spirituality and life, were they different or like us? |  | Les Grands travaux de Mitterand, a French tradition of city planning:
Love it or hate it, State intervention has been a way of improving French cities since Louis the 14th.
Never was it more obvious in recent history than under President
Francois Mitterand's “Grand travaux” in Paris, undertook at the time of
Ronald Reagan. |  | WW1 and art. Death, Struggle and Renewal:
A hundred years ago, the US joined one of the most gruesome fights in
human history that also changed forever how we see Western civilization, and art.
It ended an era and laid the bases for Modernity. |  | Revolution!
Art and politics changed forever around the French Revolution. Why and how? |  |
Paris
World Fairs, the Eiffel tower and more: At
the end of the 19th
century Paris world fairs were a showcase of industry, culture and
all the discoveries of the modernity and the Industry. |  | Paris,
Capital of the 19th century.
Events
and policies that shaped the most important city of its time in the century when it was the cultural center of the world. |  | Art in the time of the Plague.
While
the Black Death was killing maybe half of the population, Europeans
never stopped to create, a strong testimony to the human spirit of
resilience. Let's take a look at what happened, and how the permanence
of Death changed to the way we humans saw the world through our
creations. |  | Art after the times of the Plague.
A
world to rebuild for the survivors, new ideas, new systems, new
creations spring up. An acceleration of History happens and the the
century after the pandemics is one of extreme invention in arts. | |
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CULTURE
 | Heaven
on Earth, the Art of Classical French gardens
In
the 17th century, Andre Le Notre drew on a long tradition
of European gardens to create the jardins a la Francaise.
His
lifelong search for an balance between baroque and classicism, Nature
and Order, Liberty and Despotism was fruitful, the gardens of
Versailles still gives us a universal
sense of equilibrium. It also had a strong influence on American
history. |  |
Midnight
in Paris: Bohemian artists' attraction
Between
WW1 and WW2, Paris is the unchallenged center of creation and
attracts the best artists, as in the Woody
Allen movie. We ll see why they came, their life, and how in a few
years they cross-influenced each other to create our modernity. |  | Paths
of Faith:
Walking the Camino
de Compostella and Vezelay, from the Middle-Ages to Today. |  | The invention of Photography:
Niepce,
Daguerre and the revolution of the Images happened suddenly in France
and the US. Pictures are now ubiquitous, let's remember how the ability
to record Images has shaped the human mind. |  | Josephine
Baker: an American conquers the heart of Paris
After
WW1 Paris was enthralled in all things American and the youthful
ambition of a true young lady from St Louis. |  | Lascaux
and Prehistoric Art:
The
dawn of abstract thinking, the birth of Art. What we know, what we
dont, what it is to be human nd how art has shaped the human brain for
20,000 years |  | Art
deco: Old world meets new world
Before
WW2, Art becomes global, led by transport. Mixing
individual comfort and search for beauty, Art Deco spreads from Paris
to all corners of world, creating crafts and arts whose quality is
unmatched, and still influences modernity today. |  | Trains
in France:
Stations,
Design, Movement, and how transportation can change the organization
of a Country. From the 19th century to the TGV trains have been at the forefront of innovation in Europe. |  | Art
nouveau: Arts and crafts movement in Europe.
At
the end of the 19th
century, France, as well as England and Germany, face a renewal of
Arts and techniques led by the industrial revolution that hinge
tradition into modernity. We ll compare these movements and
appreciate the beautiful objects they created. |  | Geniuses
in Paris: Picasso, Dali and "friends"
In
the roaring 20s, political turmoil in Europe and the appeal of a new
modernity attract all ambitious painters to Paris. They will create
cubism, surrealism, and many other -isms. We ll examine the
influences that led these two most famous Spaniards to revolutionize
painting. |  | Hergé
and
Tintin:
the most famous comic book in the world A
paper hero from Brussels and his little dog explains much of the history of the 20th
century |  | Asterix,
the spirit of Frenchness
The
most popular comic book in France tells us a lot on how the French see
themselves
and the world |  | Charlie Hebdo
Je suis Charlie became a rally cry for freedom of speech after the 2015 attack, but Charlie had been around for 40years and is part of a a much older tradition of satirical political caricature in French culture. |  | Her Paris
At
the end of the 19th century, Paris art schools were the first to accept
women students. So women artists from all over the world flocked to the
center of modern art and created an international body of work just
rediscovered. Based on the travelling art show at the Denver Art Museum in 2018. |
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