This excellent exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris, co-produced with the Centre Pompidou, examines the artist’s final years of creation, highlighting the multidisciplinary nature of his work during this period, which included paintings, drawings, cut-outs, textiles and stained glass.

The exhibition brings together around 300 works from the holdings of the Centre Pompidou and private and international museum collections, illustrating the artist’s output from 1941 until his death in 1954.

It is sometimes supposed that towards the end of his life Matisse abandoned painting and took up instead the medium of the cut-out. However, as this exhibition shows, despite his declining health, painting remained at the heart of his practice alongside the use of the cut-out gouache, as well as other materials such as stained-glass and fabric. The exhibition displays materials from a diverse range of projects, including the Chapelle de Vence, his book ‘Jazz’ and several monumental decorative panels.

Henri Matisse ‘The Romanian Blouse’ (1940)

Henri Matisse ‘Young Girl in White Dress, Black Door’ (1942)

Henri Matisse ‘Icarus’ from ‘Jazz’ (1943)

Henri Matisse ‘Polynesia. The Sea’ (1946)

Henri Matisse ‘Polynesia. The Sky’ (1946)

Henri Matisse ‘Asia’ (1946)

Henri Matisse ‘Composition Black and Red’ (1947)

Henri Matisse ‘Plum Branch, Green Background’ (1948)

Henri Matisse ‘Creole Dancer’ (1950)

Henri Matisse ‘Sorrow of the King’ (1952)

Henri Matisse ‘Blue Nude II’ (1952)

Henri Matisse ‘Blue Nudes I – IV’ (1952)

Henri Matisse ‘Blue Nude with Skipping Rope’ (1952)

Henri Matisse ‘The Snail’ (1953)

Henri Matisse ‘The Sheaf’ (1953)

Károly Ferenczy (1862–1917) is little known outside Hungary but in his homeland he occupies a central place in the history of Hungarian modernism. He first trained in Munich and later at the Académie Julian in Paris. Whilst in Paris Ferenczy absorbed influences from Naturalism, Impressionism, Symbolism, and Post-Impressionism, yet never belonged entirely to any single movement.

He was a founding figure of the artists’ colony at Nagybánya in Hungary (today Baia Mare, Romania), which helped shape a distinctly modern Hungarian school of painting. There he championed plein-air painting and encouraged other artists to work directly from nature. As well as his landscapes, Ferenczy also explored family portraits, biblical scenes and nudes.

The current exhibition, organized in collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest and the Hungarian National Gallery, displays around 140 paintings, and offers a comprehensive survey of Ferenczy’s career.

Károly Ferenczy ‘Young Women attending to Flowers’ (1889)

Károly Ferenczy ‘Young Boys throwing Pebbles’ (1890)

Károly Ferenczy ‘Before the Posters’ (1891)

Károly Ferenczy ‘Gardeners’ (1891)

Károly Ferenczy ‘Self-Portrait’ (1893)

Károly Ferenczy ‘Birdsong’ (1893)

Károly Ferenczy ‘Orpheus’ (1894)

Károly Ferenczy ‘Sermon on the Mount’ (1896)

Károly Ferenczy ‘Top of the Hill’ (1901)

Károly Ferenczy ‘Double Portrait (Noémi and Béni)’ (1908)

Károly Ferenczy ‘The Red Wall’ (1910)

Károly Ferenczy ‘Triple Portrait (The Artist’s Children)’ (1911)

Károly Ferenczy ‘Athletes’ (1915)

The galleries of Greek and Roman antiquities in the Louvre are one of the highlights of the museum. They contain an extremely impressive collection of sculptures including the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

‘Ingres Minerva’ (440 BC)

‘Athena Parthenos’ (438 BC)

‘Artemis, known as the Diana of Versailles’ (200 BC)

‘Pergamon vase’ (200 BC)

‘The Winged Victory of Samothrace’ (190 BC)

‘Venus de Milo’ (159 – 130 BC)

At the Louvre for the exhibition ‘Martin Schongauer. Le bel immortel’. Martin Schongauer, who was born in Colmar around 1445, was one of the most successful Germanic artists of the fifteenth century. Although he is not as well known today as some of his contemporaries such as Albrecht Durer he was extremely influential during his lifetime; in fact, it was Durer who nicknamed him ‘Beautiful Martin’.

This is the first exhibition to assemble nearly the entire surviving body of Schongauer’s paintings alongside a major selection of his drawings and engravings. It is organized into two major sections. The first retraces the artist’s life, his training and his achievements as both painter and engraver. The second section looks at his extraordinary influence on European artists from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries. When Michelangelo was 12 or 13 he made a copy of Schongauer’s ‘The Torment of Saint Anthony’ (c.1469 – 73), an engraving so full of fantastical demonic beasts that it also had an impression on Hieronymus Bosch. Schongauer also had his own influences of course, one of which was Rogier van der Weyden, one of my favourite artists, and it was a treat to see his ‘Braque Family Triptych’ at the exhibition.

Rogier van der Weyden ‘Braque Family Triptych’ (central panel, c.1450)

Rogier van der Weyden ‘Braque Family Triptych’ (side panels, c.1450)

In 1490, when Albrecht Dürer, was 19, he finished his apprenticeship and set off from his native Nuremberg on his Wanderjahre (wandering years). In 1492 he reached Colmar where he hoped to meet Martin Schongauer. But whilst he was warmly received by three of Martin’s brothers, they had to inform him that the artist had died the year before in Breisach am Rhein, where he had been working on murals in Saint Stephansmünster church.

Martin Schongauer ‘Christ Blessing’ (c.1470)

Martin Schongauer ‘Saint Anthony tormented by Demons’ (1470 – 75)

Martin Scongauer ‘The Death of the Virgin’ (1470 – 75)

Martin Schongauer ‘Orlier Altarpiece’ open (c.1472)

Martin Schongauer ‘Orlier Altarpiece’ closed (c.1472)

Martin Schongauer ‘Madonna of the Rose Bower’ (1473)

Martin Scongauer ‘The Great Procession of the Cross’ (c.1479)

Martin Scongauer ‘The Nativity with the Adoration of the Shepherds’ (c.1480)

Martin Schongauer ‘Noli mi tangere’ (1480)

Martin Schongauer ‘The Thurible’ (c.1485)

Martin Schongauer ‘Madonna and Child in the Window’ (c.1485 – 90)

A few days in Paris for some excellent exhibitions, starting at the Musée Jacquemart-André for an exhibition of Hispanic Baroque painting, featuring Golden Age artists including El Greco, Francisco de Zurbarán and Diego Velázquez.

The exhibition was organized in collaboration with the Hispanic Society of America in New York and is part of a collection that has been on tour at various locations throughout the USA and Europe. It was, therefore, a little disappointing to find that at its sole appearance in France the exhibition only comprised some forty paintings, whereas when it appeared at the Prado, Madrid and the Royal Academy, London there were around 200 items, including paintings, sculpture and ceramics from a much wider time period. Nevertheless, what was on display was fascinating to see and there were some excellent examples of Spanish baroque painting.

El Greco ‘Pietà’ (c.1574 – 76)

Anonymous Spanish artist ‘Philippe II et ses enfants’ (c.1581 – 84)

El Greco ‘Saint Luke’ (c.1590)

Alonso Vazquez ‘Saint Sebastien’ (c.1603 – 07)

Fray Alfonso López de Herrera ‘Immaculée Conception’ (1640)

Juan Carreño de Miranda ‘Portrait of Philippe IV, roi d’Espagne’ (c.1645 – 50)

Francisco de Zurbarán ‘Saint Emerentiana’ (c.1635 – 40)

Francisco de Zurbarán ‘Saint Lucy’ (c.1630)

Diego Velázquez ‘Portrait of a Little Girl’ (c.1638 – 42)

Sebastian Munoz ‘Marie-Louise d’Orleans en chapelle ardente’ (1689 – 90)

Nicholás Correa ‘Les Noces de Cana’ (1696)

The Musée Bonnat-Helleu in Bayonne has been described by renowned art historian Pierre Rosenberg as housing “the most beautiful collection between Paris and Madrid”. Known as the ‘Little Louvre’, it reopened at the end of 2025 after a fourteen-year expansion and renovation costing €35 million.

Founded in 1891, the museum was named after the two painters, Léon Bonnat and Paul César Helleu, whose bequests of their works and collections between 1922 and 2011 laid the foundation for the museum, which is now home to around 7,000 works, spanning from Antiquity to the twentieth century. The museum’s graphic arts collection is one of the best in the world with more than 3,500 works on paper by artists including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Ingres, Albrecht Dürer, Rembrandt and Paolo Veronese.

Maître de Bonnat ‘Saint Martin’ (c.1475)

El Greco ‘Presumed Portrait of the Duke of Benavente’ (1597 – 1603)

El Greco ‘Saint Jerome’ (c.1590 – 1610)

José de Ribera ‘Desperate Woman’ (1638)

Francisco de Goya ‘Self-Portrait with Spectacles’ (c.1800)

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ‘ The Bather’ (1807)

Théodore Géricault ‘Study of a Male Nude’ (1812 – 17)

Edgar Degas ‘Portrait of Léon Bonnat’ (c.1863)

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ‘The Virgin of the Host’ (1866)

John Singer Sargent ‘Portrait of Paul Helleu’ (c.1880)

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes ‘Sweet Country’ (1882)

Juan Manuel Fernández Montoya, known throughout the world of flamenco as Farruquito, has been described by the New York Times as “the best flamenco dancer of this century.” He was born in Seville in 1982 and began dancing at the age of five, when he shared the stage with his grandfather, El Farruco, who was known as the greatest gypsy dancer of the twentieth century. Farruquito has graced stages throughout the world, in Europe and Asia, the United States and Latin America.

Farruquito

Tonight he performed at the Salle Lauga in Bayonne, where he was supported by Manuel Valencia on guitar, Paco Véga on percussion and singers Maria Vizarraga, Ismaël de la Rosa and Pepe de Pura.

It was an extraordinary performance. Farruquito’s dancing is a whirlwind of passion and emotion but with great rhythmic precision. However, the success of the show was the amazing interaction between dance, cante, guitar and percussion. All three singers were impressive but Maria Vizarraga’s incredibly powerful vocals almost stole the show, whilst Manuel Valencia’s guitar solos were outstanding. It was a wonderfully entertaining evening that ended with a deserved standing ovation.

Exploring Bayonne in the Basque region of southern France, near the Spanish border. The city, located at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, has had a turbulent history. It came under English control in 1152 through the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine and in 1177 was under the authority of Richard the Lionheart.

After the end of the Hundred Years’ War, the city was taken by the Crown of France; however, the loss of trade with the English weakened its economy, the river gradually filled with silt and it became impassable to ships.Things began to improve after the arrival of Sephardic Jews fleeing from Spain who brought expertise in chocolate making to the city, a trade that continues today. By the seventeenth century the region was flourishing again.

In 1814, Bayonne and the surrounding area saw fighting between Napoleonic troops and the Spanish-Anglo-Portuguese coalition led by the Duke of Wellington and the city was under siege from 27 February to 5 May. The siege ended with the city’s surrender after the abdication of Napoleon I.

During World War II, Bayonne was occupied by German forces from 1940 to 1944. In 1942 the Allies attempted to land in Bayonne but the operation proved difficult and was cancelled. However, on 21 August 1944, after blowing up twenty ships in the port, German troops withdrew.

Quai Galuperie, Bayonne

Bayonne Cathedral, which blends Gothic and Neo-Gothic styles, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The site was previously occupied by a Romanesque cathedral which was destroyed by fire in 1258. Construction of the present cathedral began later in the thirteenth century, most of it being finished by the beginning of the seventeenth, except for the two spires which were not completed until the nineteenth century.

The cathedral contains the relics of Saint Leo of Bayonne, a ninth-century Bishop of Bayonne

Cathédrale Sainte-Marie de Bayonne

The cloisters of the Cathedral, built between 1213 and 1240

Château-Vieux in Bayonne was built from the end of the eleventh century by the Viscounts of Labourd, on the site of a Roman castrum which housed the garrison and administration of the Lapurdum region. It has seen much rebuilding over the centuries, with the central tower being destroyed and a fortified forecourt added. In 1808, Napoleon ordered its demolition, although this was never carried out.

Château-Vieux, Bayonne

The Vézère valley, in the Dordogne department of south-west France, has evidence of continuous human occupation for 450,000 years. It contains 147 prehistoric locations dating from the Palaeolithic Age, including 25 caves with wall paintings. Whilst the most famous is Lascaux, there are numerous other sites of importance, fourteen of which are designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Lascaux IV

Lascaux, discovered by four teenagers looking for their dog in September 1940, is a complex cave system with several galleries. The original caves were closed to the public in 1963 and seventeen years were then spent building a replica known as Lascaux II. In 2017 I visited Lascaux II, which depicts part of the original structure, but Lascaux IV is a replica of the whole cave system in a modern complex which uses technology to explain the paintings and their history, with augmented reality and interactive projections.

Entrance to the cave, 1940

Giant bull, Hall of the Bulls, Lascaux

Frieze of the small stags, Hall of the Bulls, Lascaux

Swimming stags, The Nave, Lascaux

Crossed Bison, The Nave, Lascaux (showing some evidence of perspective)

Black Aurochs, The Nave, Lascaux

Man (with bird head?), bird and (disembowelled?) bison, The Shaft, Lascaux

Second and Third Chinese Horses, Axial Gallery, Lascaux

Frieze of five small horses, entrance to the Axial Gallery, Lascaux

Les Eyzies

Les Eyzies, about twenty kilometres south of Lascaux. is the location of several prehistoric sites including the troglodyte dwellings of la Madeleine and the caves of Font-de-Gaume, which were discovered in 1901. It is also the site of the Musée national de Préhistoire.

Troglodyte village de la Madeleine

Musée national de Préhistoire

The Musée national de Préhistoire was founded in 1918 and from 1923 was housed in the Château de Tayac. In 2004 a new museum extension was built into the cliff of Les Eyzies. The museum preserves an incredible six million objects, forming one of the most important Paleolithic collections in Europe, including the world’s largest collection of Paleolithic art on engraved or sculpted blocks.

Musée national de Préhistoire, Les Eyzies

Faunal remains from Pech-de-l’Azé, Dordogne

Bison figure carved on reindeer antler from la Madeleine, Les Eyzies

Creeping hyena carved in bone from la Madeleine, Les Eyzies

Relief sculpture of aurochs found on the Fourneau-du-Diable in Bourdeilles, Dordogne

Remains of a Neanderthal child from Campagne-du-Bugue, Dordogne

Neanderthal axe flints

Steppe bison skeleton

Last July I had the pleasure of hearing French mezzo-soprano Marianne Crebassa sing Gustav Mahler’s ‘Kindertotenlieder’ at the Radio France Festival in Montpellier. So, when I heard that she was to repeat the performance in Toulouse I couldn’t wait to experience it again, especially as this concert paired the lieder with one of the most enjoyable symphonies to hear live, Sibelius no. 5.

Orchestre National Capitole Toulouse, under Spanish conductor Roberto Forés Veses, began the evening with the French premiere of Finnish composer Outi Tarkiainen’s ‘Mosaïcs’. Tarkiainen was born in Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland in 1985 and studied composition at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. ‘Mosaics’ was composed as part of a major art project, ‘Nordic, a Fragile Hope’, which brought together music, photography, and video dealing with the problems of climate change. The composition was based on music from Tarkiainen’s opera, ‘A Room of One’s Own’, which dramatized Virginia Woolf’s 1928 essay of the same name. The work has a haunting theme, reflecting its subject matter, and was beautifully played. The composer, who was present, received resounding applause.

Outi Tarkiainen

Gustav Mahler composed ‘Kindertotenlieder’ (‘Songs on the Death of Children’) between 1901 and 1904, setting poems by Friedrich Rückert which were written after the death of two of his children. In a tragic irony, the composer would later experience the same loss. It was another sublime interpretation by Marianne Crebassa, whose voice is perfectly suited to the melancholy sadness of the songs.

Roberto Forés Veses

Sibelius’ ‘Symphony no. 5’, was begun in 1914 and completed in 1919 after several revisions. It was composed during the turmoil of World War I and Finland’s fight for independence and captures the country’s sense of national pride and resistance.

It was well played by the Toulouse orchestra, technically exact, but was not as rousing as some performances I have seen; in fact, it didn’t really soar until towards the end of the ‘swan theme’ in the third movement. However, the brass and woodwind sections were particularly impressive, and a special mention goes to the lone percussionist who coped with four timpani throughout the performance.

Outi Tarkiainen: ‘Mosaïcs’; Gustav Mahler: ‘Kindertotenlieder’; Jean Sibelius: Symphony no. 5 in E♭ major, Op. 82.