News
New French Report Zooms In on Field of Photography
Anecdotally, most people would probably agree that photography has changed more dramatically over the last 15 years than any other sector of visual art.
France
Art
From Creepy Kids' Books to Puckish Erotica, an Illustrator's Improbable Oeuvre
French illustrator Tomi Ungerer has worn many hats, none of them obviously compatible with any of the others. A cartoonist, political satirist, and illustrator of both children’s books and sadomasochistic erotica, he has designed a cat-shaped kindergarten for a German school and condoms for a French
News
France Reduces Tax on Artworks Sold by Their Makers
France just made it a little easier for artists to sell their work directly to collectors.
Books
The Graphics of the Great War in France
More than any conflict before it, World War I was a visual battle. Propaganda proliferated across the fronts, and magazines, newspapers, photography, early films, and even fashion and children's books were involved in a rally of imagery on a large scale.
In Brief
French President Pledges Support for Paul McCarthy's Butt Plug
France's chief of state has pledged his support for the American artist Paul McCarthy, after the artist's 80-foot-tall inflatable sculpture "Tree," which bares an uncanny resemblance to a butt plug, proved intolerable to prudish Parisians.
News
The Eiffel Tower Gets a Facelift
“I ought to be jealous,” engineer Gustave Eiffel said, after his 1,070-foot iron lattice tower was erected in late-19th-century Paris. “She is more famous than I am.”
In Brief
Town Paints Sculpture Blue, to Artist's Horror
French municipalities are mistreating the public works they commission under a national "1% for art" program, with one going so far as to recently repaint a sculpture without the artist's approval, Libération reported.
In Brief
French Food Blogger Fined $3,400 for Bad Review
A French court has ordered a blogger to pay €2,500 (~$3,380) for writing a negative review of a restaurant, Eater reported.
Art
Celebrating 19th-Century Chaos and Calamity with Le Petit Journal
No calamity was too chaotic or crime too grotesque for Le Petit Journal to illustrate.
Art
Gimme Shelter: A French Artist Retreat Crowdsources
It seems idyllic: a cluster of artist-designed shelters lining a river by an old flour mill in pastoral Brittany, France. This vision of a creative retreat is one that is close to being realized, although they're angling for an extra push to get them there.
News
Is a Tax on iDevices a Savior of French Culture?
André Malraux, the prolific French critic and Minister of Culture under Charles de Gaulle, once wrote that art is an "anti-destin," a revolt against destiny. And by that measure, the country's recently-released report calling for a tax on internet-connected devices to fund cultural production qualif
Opinion
A Kinetic Echo in a Chapel
BERKELEY, California — Remember Ernesto Neto's jaw-dropping installation "Leviathan Thot," at the Panthéon in Paris in 2006? As much as I loved "Leviathan Thot" it could have easily been made in the 1970s or 80s. Recently however, I stumbled across another artist in who has made an equally powerful