From a BrooklynRail.org online interview:
“…I am almost more interested in the paintings I didn’t get! I wish I could do a small photo exhibition of all the works that we failed to get. Of the early titans, we have two important ones, Giotto and Cimabue, but we don’t have Duccio, the third master of the birth of painting in Europe, if I may say. There was one in the Stoclet collection in Brussels, that we were following through dealer friends, but finally it was purchased by the Met. Also Velázquez, our biggest weakness!”
Michel Laclotte, President of the Louvre (1987 – 1995)
Joachim Pissarro (Rail): The premise of these three interviews is that all three personalities, each one, of course, with its own personal intonation and distinctive input, took charge of this antiquated and august institution, the Louvre, and you especially, Monsieur Laclotte, accompanied it towards the 21st century, end of the 20th century to 21st century. I think this was an incredible challenge. How did you take charge of such an ancient—two-century old—institution and how did you bring it into its present and prepare its future?
To read more: https://brooklynrail.org/2019/12/art/Michel-Laclotte-with-Joachim-Pissarro
Food defines us as individuals, communities, and nations – we are what we eat and, equally, what we don’t eat. When, where, why, how and with whom we eat are crucial to our identity. Feast and Fast presents novel approaches to understanding the history and culture of food and eating in early modern Europe.
Including beautiful full-color reproductions of the artworks, A Month in Siena is about what occurred between Matar, those paintings, and the city. That month would be an extraordinary period in the writer’s life: an exploration of how art can console and disturb in equal measure, as well as an intimate encounter with a city and its inhabitants. This is a gorgeous meditation on how centuries-old art can illuminate our own inner landscape—current relationships, long-lasting love, grief, intimacy, and solitude—and shed further light on the present world around us.
Intellicurious 