Pompidou

 
 At the extensive Pompidou Center, AM was delighted to discover two exciting and previously unknown artists, Simon Hantaï (an abstract expressionist type who folded his canvasses before painting them, and then opened them up, and/or wrote in small, minute detail over a period of a year on a single canvas), and Kupka (whose work is significantly earlier and whose colors and abstractions are particularly striking).

 

AM was especially interested in seeing the Dada collection, and MM discovered Picabia’s vast ouvré. Duchamp/R. Mutt’s urinal, sadly, was not on display, but many other interesting pieces and small press goodies were. We both admired the Chagalls, of course, and we argued a bit (an old argument) about Pollock.

MM was thrilled to see Matisse’s woman in a “Romanian Blouse.” But in the end it was too much: we didn’t even make it beyond WWII to the provocative contemporary art on the next floor. More photos here.