Category: Art & Photography

Playful Picasso

“Youth has no Age”

Pablo Picasso 1881-1973

Picasso is such a vast subject that is daunting to say anything at all…I am always foremost touched by his playfulness and humor, despite the forcefulness of everything he did. Picasso’s monumental legacy is hard to grasp, perhaps he was a “Monstre Sacré” in many ways, but I see that as an achievement…His long life spanned most of the 20th century and he recorded it in his art.

“A day without laughter is a wasted day”. This motto shows in so many photographs of Picasso in his daily life. Sitting at the breakfast table, seeing art and wit in everyday objects:

Picasso1Photograph by Robert Doisneau – home baked croissants as hands…

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Real or Surreal?

Model, Muse & Artist

The Amazing Life of Lee Miller

Lee Miller5

Lee Miller, self portrait 1932

What would I have given to have lived in Paris in the 1920’s and 1930’s..every artist, writer, photographer, socialite, thinker and person of interest congregated there…American beauty Lee Miller epitomizes all of the aspects of those heady days, where all was possible, and much was invented…Impossibly beautiful, she was an avant garde “It Girl” with brains and talent.

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Still…Life…

The secret life of ordinary daily objects.

Perhaps it is my Dutch hertitage but I am very drawn to still life painting. The magic of ordinary objects grouped in a seemingly spontaneous manner, frozen in time…utterly enchanting!

One painter in particular is my absolute favorite: Willem Claeszoon Heda (1593/1594-1680/1682)

Heda

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Force & Fragility

Egon Schiele 1890-1918

“Art cannot be modern. Art is primordially eternal”

Egon Schiele is one of my favorite artists and during the opening night at the marvelous Neue Galerie in New York you could walk over the heads. Just before coming back to Paris, I was privileged to have a private showing with my friend Beth and her husband. We wandered around the empty rooms  and spent as much time as we wanted in front of every work…

For you, New Yorkers, the show is on until January 19, so hurry up!

SchieleHands2

Self Portrait

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I see things, wonderful things…

On 26 November 1922, Howard Carter peeked into Tutankhamun’s Tomb and glimpsed the pharoah’s treasure by candlelight. ‘Can you see anything?’ asked Lord Caernavon, ‘Yes, wonderful things’ Howard Carter famously replied…

This is exactly how I feel when entering René and Barbara Stoeltie’s elegant Gemini Art Gallery, just off the famous Place des Sablons, in Brussels. With an uncanny eye and faultless taste, René and Barbara offer something for every budget.

Gemini2

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