Waking up to news of the biggest art heist in over a century on an overcast mid-October morning feels straight out of Lupin - one of my favorite shows, which I finished earlier this year.
Surely this will become politicized, a talking point used to criticize French authorities as well as the Louvre itself, which is purported to be one of the most secure buildings in Paris. Everyone’s asking how four thieves in seven minutes managed to extract millions in priceless jewels from the Galerie d'Apollon at the Louvre on Sunday morning - and, equally, what they can possibly do with them now. While the black market for art is nothing new (stolen paintings surely adorn hidden walls in corners of the world near and far), jewelry presents different possibilities. Eugénie and Napoleon's crowns, jewels, and diadems hold priceless value in their forms, but some speculate the thieves may melt down the metal and sell off the stones.
The Louvre remains closed at least through midweek. With my own trip to Paris coming up in a few weeks, I started thinking - if my Louvre plans were derailed by a major heist, here's what I'd hit instead to view some art in the city of light.
Au Lieu du Louvre - October 20-24
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John Singer Sargent at the Musée d’Orsay — I partly planned my upcoming Paris trip because I missed Sargent in Paris at the Met this summer. The show runs at the Musée d’Orsay through January 11. If you can’t make it to Paris but want to see some Sargent, stop by the Boston Public Library’s Sargent Gallery, which I checked out a few weeks ago, or if you’re in Midtown NYC, see his portrait of Mrs. J.P. Morgan, Jr. at the Morgan Library. Admission is free on Friday nights, and they even had live jazz when I went last week.
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Albert Oehlen: Endless Summer at Gagosian Paris — This show explores the theme of the bather, echoing Cézanne and Manet. It brought to mind the Manet/Degas exhibition I saw last year at the Met, which showed that bathers preoccupied Degas as subjects in the late 1880s and into the 1890s. Albert Oehlen show at Gagosian opens today.
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Jeffrey Gibson at Hauser & Wirth Paris — The gallery reopens today after renovations. Gibson’s show bursts with color and pattern, a vibrant contrast to gray Paris skies. https://www.hauserwirth.com/locations/hauser-wirth-paris/
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Sotheby’s Paris: Matisse, Warhol, and Modigliani — On view through October 23, you can spot a Matisse alongside a Warhol sneaker and a Modigliani figure, followed by the Surrealism and Its Legacy sale (Miro, Magritte, Dalí) running until October 24. Explore the lots of both on the Sotheby's website.
Best,
Emma
