Felix and Lawton, Life in the Service of Art
Félix Vallotton, the most French of Swiss painters, died a century ago. 2025 is therefore his year....
Baya, the miraculous life of the great Algerian artist
Baya, born Fatma Haddad (1931-1998), is the best-known Algerian painter in France. From her first exhibition in Paris, in 1947, at La Galerie Mag...
A masterpiece by Camille Claudel, “Old Age,” was discovered by chance in an orphaned apartment
Camille Claudel's autobiographical work "Mature Age" (L'Âge mûr), from the late nineteenth century, was completed shortly after her separation...
Painting Provence, France – Meeting and Analysis of Artworks
The article is given as a background for a lecture following artists who paint Provence, France. The lecture is free (on 27.06.24 at 10:30 and 18:00). Pre-registration is required....
Giverny: Claude Monet's House and Garden
Giverny – the house and garden where the great Impressionist painter, Claude Monet, lived and created during the second half of his life, from 1883 until his death...
Galleries in Paris – Recommendations for Current Exhibitions
Anyone who has visited museums in Paris knows that art consumption there begins at a young age. Groups of students of various ages alongside visitors...
Rodin's Gates of Hell: A Gateway to Sober Modernism
“A work of art is an imitation of things, or the construction of forms, or the expression of experiences, in such a way that it may cause pleasure,...
Napoleon's influence on art history
On January 25, 2024, Alon Klibanov's lecture on Napoleon's influence on art was held at the Napoleon Heritage Center. You are invited to watch it now...
Yossi Zisman, “An Art Dealer Named Niemand”
Yossi Zisman's book, "An Art Dealer Named Nimand," is a fascinating historical thriller that jumps between past, present, and future and revolves around its axis...
Missia, Queen of Paris, Part IV: The Second Half of Life
Fifty-year-old José falls in love with a twenty-year-old Georgian beauty. Misia and Serge are both over fifty and have lost their youthful enthusiasm...
Missia, Queen of Paris, Part 3: Leading and Supporting, Supporting and Leading
A comfortable and beautiful apartment, a beloved and wealthy partner, a respected position in high society. Missia was courted and happy, with status, like Madame Verdourn....
Missia, Queen of Paris, Part II: Madame Edwards Gets Divorced
Second marriage to Alfred Edwards, 1905-1909 Alfred Edwards, son of the English physician to King Fuad of Egypt, inherited from his father...
The legal battle surrounding Camus Pissarro’s painting “Picking Peas”
Just recently, a legal battle over a Pissarro painting that was stolen by the Nazis and rediscovered a few years ago was concluded (but not yet completed).
Henri Matisse: Tahiti leads to paper cutouts
Matisse's Polynesian experience was over. On his way to Nice, to his home on Charles Felix Square, he stopped in Marseille. I passed through Marseille, a little frightened by the noise, the narrow streets,...
Jacques-Louis David – Painter of the French Revolution
Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825), like almost everything in the French Revolution, is the prototype of the revolutionary artist – the young and enthusiastic radical...
Henri Matisse: Polynesia
The series of harem women, which occupied Matisse for more than a decade, exhausted itself to the point of exhaustion. The harem women, who were the main actresses, became mere extras...
Henri Matisse: Algeria, Spain, Morocco, Nice
Chapter two in a comprehensive four-part article that reviews the life and works of Henri Matisse according to the travels he took. In this chapter, we will travel...
Henri Matisse: Brittany, Corsica, Toulouse, Saint-Tropez, Collioure
Henri Matisse was born in northern France, not far from the Belgian border. I was born in my grandmother's house, in Cateau-Cambrésis, on December 31, 1869. My father was a merchant...
Max Klinger, “The German Auguste Rodin”
Max Klinger was a great, prolific, and diverse German artist. Dr. Orna Lieberman presents his French side and explains why he was called...
France and Japan – a love story
As early as the 17th century, Japan completely closed its doors to Western countries. This isolation was reflected in the reduction or complete cessation of trade with...
France-Spain: A love story in times of war
Love is a wayward bird that no one can tame, and you can call it, but it will be in vain, because that is not its way of coming.
Pierre Soulages – Beyond Black
I wrote the article about the great painter Pierre Soulages, who brought blackness together with light, about three years before his death, on the occasion of his birthday...
The Wild Ones (Les Fauves) Who Changed French Painting by Ronit Gruman
October 18, 1905. The third “Salon d’Automne” opened in Paris. The exhibition was first organized in 1903, as a response to the official “Salon” held on...
Leonardo da Vinci – A Rock of Discord Between Italy and France by Shlomit Oren
For 500 years, Leonardo da Vinci has been a bone of contention between Italians and French people – some claim his Italian identity, others claim his French...
The Nabi Group: Prophets of the New Art of the Late 19th Century
In April 2019, five years have passed since I visited two fascinating exhibitions in Paris dedicated to the Nabi movement. One, at the Musée Dorsa,...
Emile Birla Collection at the Muyol Museum
The Meulen Museum is currently hosting a temporary exhibition, until July 21, featuring the collection of German arms manufacturer Emil Birla, who was born in Germany...
Amedeo Modigliani and Chaim Soutine: The Last Bohemians of Montparnasse
This is the story of the unique and surprising friendship of two brilliant painters, seemingly opposite in everything, in their appearance and in their artistic style: Amedeo Modigliani and Chaim Soutine. This...
Fernan Knopf 1858-1921, Maestro of Mystery
From now until March 17, 2019, you can visit a retrospective of the Belgian symbolist painter Fernand Knopf at the Petit Palais in Paris. A rare exhibition...
The Gold and the Clay: The Life Story of Camille Claudel and a Paris Itinerary Following Her
Camille Claudel (1864-1943) was a talented sculptor and painter who died abandoned in a closed mental institution but was rediscovered by the general public in the 1960s...
Mary Cassatt: American Impressionist in Paris
By: Ziva Court The Jacquemart-André Museum presented a major retrospective exhibition of the artist Mary Cassatt (1844-1926). Cassatt, an American artist born in Pennsylvania, lived...
The breakfast on the lawn that shocked the Parisian bourgeoisie
When the work “Breakfast on the Grass” was exhibited at the “Salon des Rejects” exhibition, the French were shocked. The men quickly moved their wives away from the work and returned...
The mysterious portrait and death of Agnes Sorel
The kings of France are known for their unfaithfulness to their legal wives, but there was one particularly daring beauty named Agnes Sorel, who managed to...
Edouard Manet and Berthe Morisot: The Passion of Art
Edouard Manet and Bertha Morisot had a close relationship, both personal and artistic. Dr. Orna Lieberman takes us on an artistic journey between...
The French Chapter in the Fascinating Life of Benvenuto Cellini
Benvenuto Cellini (November 3, 1500 – February 13, 1571) was an Italian-born goldsmith and sculptor who came to work for Francis I of France (1494-1547),...
Camille Pissarro, the first Impressionist
On July 2, 2017, the exhibition dedicated to Camille Pissarro ended at the Marmottan Monet Museum, a very favorite museum of mine (which I wrote about in a previous article). During my visit...
Madame Tussauds – the Madame who sculpted them all
Marie Tussaud (1761-1850 Anna Maria “Marie” Tussaud), better known as Madame Tussaud, after whom wax museums around the world are named, is...
Beauty and the Beast – How the Kings of France Created the Famous Legend
In 1547, celebrations were held in honor of the queen of Henry II of France. The guests brought the king many gifts never before seen at the French court,...
Things you didn't know about the scandalous portrait of Gabriel Destra
Anyone who enters the Louvre Museum cannot ignore this sensual work. People react to the work in different ways: some look on in amazement, some...
Henri Matisse – Paris Itinerary
Henri Matisse (1869-1954) was, along with his friend/rival Picasso, one of the pioneers of modern art in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century. His art evoked emotions...
Frida Kahlo: The first Mexican to sell to the French
We all love hearing life stories of people from whom we can draw inspiration, following their fears, hopes, and dilemmas. This time I chose to write...
Madame de Pompadour – “Parisian Bourgeoisie” / Aristocratic Lady
Madame de Pompadour (Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson), mistress of King Louis XV (reigned 1715-1774). Played an official role in the affairs of the kingdom in France, and was caught...
Elisabeth Villegas Le Bern: The Painter Who Fought for the Image of Marie Antoinette
Elisabeth Villegas Le Berne was one of the most talented painters of the 18th century. She was a woman of the great world, a painter who traveled alone...
Rothschild Salon at the Israel Museum Jerusalem – Virtual Tour
The Rothschild Salon is undoubtedly one of the most impressive exhibits at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem (if not the most impressive). But how did the Salon come to be...
Hotel Violet: A French love story in the center of Tel Aviv
Francophilia takes many forms. Some travel to Paris every chance they get, some take pictures, some give lectures, and there are people who wake up one day and decide...
Death of Mara
One of the most famous paintings is a work by the French painter Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825). It depicts in a poignant and shocking way the murder of...
The Artist, the Collector, and the Tool Bearer – The Story of Gustave Courbet and Alfred Breuil
A famous and unusual relationship existed between the collector Alfred Bruyas (1821-1876) and the painter Gustave Courbet (1819-1877), as...
Attractions in the Loire Valley – Angers Castle by Chaya Bar
The town of Angers, formerly a large and central city, was the seat of the Plantagenet dynasty and the kings of the House of Anjou. In the town of Angers,...
The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault
The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault refers to a difficult and frightening scandalous event that occurred in the post-Napoleonic period, when the monarchy was temporarily restored in France. In June...