Cathy's Art Diary

Really innovative exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris looking at the tradition of Bohemians in art in all their forms. The first half of the exhibition on the ground floor looked at the history of gypsies and arts image of them. The first non-literary record is from 1421 and the name Bohemians was given to them as a king of Bohemia gave them free passage through the country. One angel of the way gypsies were portrayed was as chaste and angelic and often the Holy Family on the flight from Pilot were seen as like gypsies on the road. However in contrast to this they were also seen as sensual and tempting with their role as fortune tellers being increasingly depicted in the 17 th century. There were wonderful pictures of gypsies as entertainers including the craze for gypsy orchestras in the 19 th century. All ground floor had a brown carpet with the dusty footprints of travellers on it. The second floor looked at how young people in the arts and politic in th...

Wonderful exhibition about French art at the cusp of the Renaissance in France at the Galeries Nationales, Grand Palais in Paris. It focused on the reigns of Charles VIII (1483-1498) and Louis XII (1498-1515), and was dominated by the personality of Anne de Bretagne, successively the wife of both kings. The first section looked at the different noble courts and difference influences on them, the next at major projects and the final section looked at Northern and Southern influences. I think this my favourite period of art where the Medieval is reaching a final glorious culmination and just developing into the Renaissance. People in the art look like archetypal medieval types in tights and pointed hats. My favourite section focused on the work of Jean Hey, a Flemish artist working in France who probably studied under Hugo van der Goes.