The Easel

At the Fondation Louis Vuitton

The Shchukin collection currently showing in Paris has multiple back stories: “frenemy” collectors, friendships with famous artists, inspired choices (51 Picassos) but puzzling omissions (1 Braque). Its dazzling quality prompts an imponderable question: “What must it have been like … to have been that collector, with that money, in that Paris, at that time – that short, brilliant period of European art?”