The Easel

25th November 2025

Get Cartier! How Jean Nouvel turned an old Paris department store into a museum to rival the Louvre

Catherine Slessor | The Guardian | 10th October 2025

Fondation Cartier was established by the luxury brand to collect and exhibit contemporary art. Its experimental, “anything goes” approach is exemplified by its new building, a renovated department store near the Louvre. Notably it has “insanely expensive” moveable floors that create varied exhibition spaces. Says a curator “exhibition-making is at the centre of culture, a succession of ideas … subject to constant change.” Says one writer its “a massive machine for the unexpected.”

The rise and rise of private foundations in France

Catherine Bennett | Apollo | 13th October 2025

Paris has a history of philanthropy toward art. It is also unusual for its six or so large wealthy private art institutions. Encouraged by tax breaks for cultural activities plus (of course) the potential for brand building, they easily outcompete the public museums for acquisitions and exhibitions. The Louvre, with its crumbling building and parlous security offers a stark contrast. Responds one private foundation, the “richer cultural offering” now available in Paris “is good for artists and visitors alike”.

Finland’s lighthouse

David Platzer | The New Criterion | 30th November 2025

Like many aspiring artists, Halonen went to Paris to absorb its modernist vibe. He picked up the fashions of the 1890’s – Primitivism (studying under Gauguin), post-Impressionism, the Japonisme craze – and took it all back to Oslo. What emerged from his studio, though, was the Finnish landscape in all its variety. His winter scenes drew particular acclaim, showing blue-ish shadow falling on the snow. In a country still under Russian rule, that work helped coalesce a Finnish sense of identity.

18th November 2025

The enduring appeal of Limoges

Camille Okhio | Elle Decor | 20th October 2025

Enamelling started in monasteries in the Middle Ages. Its heyday, though, was in the Renaissance when a technique was developed to paint translucent paste onto a metal surface before firing. This allowed for more precise, free-flowing images. Multiple layers created painterly images in gleaming (unfading) colours on small caskets, plates and rings. Of course, it was frightfully expensive and most work went to royalty, the church or the Rothschilds. A specialist gallery in Paris is the place to go if interested.

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