In the picturesque Basque fishing port of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, near the French – Spanish border, for the annual Festival Ravel.

Maurice Ravel was born in 1875 in Ciboure, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, and would often return to the area to spend summers. Now, for over two weeks every year, the festival that bears his name welcomes visitors for classical concerts which attract some of the world’s best-known performers.

Saint-Jean-de-Luz is renowned for its history and its architectural heritage. Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Saint-Jean-de-Luz was the site of the marriage, in June 1660, of King Louis XIV and Maria Theresa of Spain, which brought about a reconciliation between France and Spain. The church is also notable for its monumental altarpiece in carved gilded wood, installed in 1669.

Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Saint-Jean-de-Luz

Altarpiece of Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste

Exploring the Parc naturel régional des Causses du Quercy, created in 1999 and designated a UNESCO Global Geopark. UNESCO Global Geoparks are geographical areas which contain sites and landscapes of international geological significance. The Causses du Quercy are in the south-western foothills of the Massif Central in south-west France and are internationally renowned for their biodiversity and cultural heritage.

The towns and villages of the Causses are extremely picturesque and many are designated as Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. The Causses are criss-crossed by numerous trails that allow hikers to discover the nature and heritage of the region.

Espédaillac

Loubressac

Carennac

Autoire

Particularly enjoyable was a walk in Le Marais de Bonnefont, near Mayrinhac-Lentour. The Marais, classified as a Réserve Naturelle Régionale, is a 42-hectare site containing a vast reed bed and alkaline peat marsh, making it a wetland and dryland home to an enormous array of species of wildlife.

Le Marais de Bonnefont, Réserve Naturelle Régionale

At the Salle de l’horloge in Gramat, in the Lot department in south-west France, for a concert of quintets by Robert Schumann and Antonin Dvořák.

Quatuor Cordes et Ames were formed about fifteen years ago by four musicians from the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. They now comprise violinists Kristi Gjezy and Mary Randles, violist Isabelle Mension and cellist Gael Seydoux. For these quintets they were joined by pianist Eloise Urbain.

Quatuor Cordes et Ames and Eloise Urbain

Composed in 1842, Schumann’s ‘Piano Quintet in E-flat major’ was performed for the first time a year later with Clara Schumann at the piano. This four-movement quintet is considered one of his finest compositions and it established the piano quintet as a definitive part of the Romantic genre. Whilst the Quartet performed it admirably there were times when I felt that they were playing individually rather than as a collective, which is strange given that it has been a regular part of their repertoire for several years.

However, there were no such complaints about their performance of Dvořák’s Piano Quintet no. 2 in the second half, which was really excellent. Dvořák composed his second piano quintet in 1887 and it was premiered the following year. It came about after he decided to rewrite his ‘Piano Quintet no.1’ from 1872, as he had grown dissatisfied with it. However, rather than submit a revised score he eventually decided to write a new work. Full of references to Czech folk music, the quintet is now acknowledged as one of the masterpieces of the form.

Robert Schumann: ‘Piano Quintet in E-flat major’, opus 44; Antonin Dvořák: ‘Piano Quintet no. 2 in A major’, opus 81.

Whilst I have seen Renaud Capuçon play violin many times, I think this is the first time I have seen him as conductor and it was fascinating to witness his style. However, what made the programme of this concert so exciting is that in addition to works by Charlotte Sohy and Antonin Dvořák, Beethoven’s ‘Piano Concerto no.1’ was played by legendary pianist Martha Argerich, widely regarded as the greatest living pianist today.

The evening began with Charlotte Sohy’s ‘Dance mystique’, which I had never heard before. Charlotte Sohy was born Charlotte Durey in Paris in 1887 into an affluent family and was introduced to the musical world at an early age, becoming friends with Nadia Boulanger. When she became a composer, aware of the obstacles faced by women in that profession, she used her grandfather Charles Sohy’s name as a pseudonym. She composed a symphony and other orchestral works as well as pieces for piano and string quartet. Her compositions were performed by Paul Dukas, Maurice Ravel and Gabriel Fauré.

‘Danse Mystique’ is an extremely original and rhythmic piece; a sacred, then almost euphoric dance to welcome the dawn. It is richly textured and quite mysterious in places and was played extremely well by the Orchestre Nationale Capitole Toulouse, providing a very pleasant start to the programme.

The first half continued with Beethoven’s ‘Piano Concerto no. 1’. It was written in 1795 and revised in 1800, and was actually completed after the second concerto, but it was the first to be published. There are still clearly Mozart and Haydn influences but Beethoven’s own unmistakeable voice is now emerging with adventurous harmonies and daring melodic ideas.

At only seven years old, Martha Argerich made her concert debut with Beethoven’s ‘Piano Concerto no. 1’ and she has continued to play the piece throughout her career, so it was a great thrill to see her perform it. It was played perfectly – the fast movements with an amazingly light but acrobatic touch and the slow movements with an intuitive grace and an elegant tempo. The Toulouse audience loved her and thunderous applause brought her back to the stage several times.

Martha Argerich

The second half of the concert was a performance of Antonín Dvořák’s ‘Symphony no. 8’. It was composed in 1889 on the occasion of his election to the Bohemian Academy of Science, Literature and Arts. Dvořák himself conducted the premiere in Prague in February 1890.

It is a very lyrical composition with a distinctly Czech flavour. The first movement is colourful and clearly draws on Bohemian folk melodies and I enjoyed the orchestra’s interpretation very much. The middle two movements are more pastoral with much dialogue between the woodwinds, the third being a waltz in ³/₈ time. The fourth movement is much more turbulent, beginning with a fanfare of trumpets, the tension building throughout before it ends with a coda in which brass and timpani dominate.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable evening with the orchestra under Renaud Capuçon on form throughout, but it will be particularly remembered for the experience of seeing the extraordinary Martha Argerich perform so beautifully.

Charlotte Sohy: ‘Dance mystique’, opus 19; Ludwig van Beethoven: ‘Piano Concerto no. 1 in C major’, Op. 15; Antonín Dvořák: ‘Symphony no. 8 in G major’, Op. 88.

Whenever I go to an exhibition at the Louvre, I also select a particular part of the permanent collection to investigate. This time it was Islamic Art, so I was disappointed to find that half of the collection was unavailable due to renovation work. However, I was still able to see some impressive artifacts from the tenth to the twelfth century.

Bowl with Figures (Iran, 900 – 1100)

Bowl with Standard Bearer (Iraq, c.900 – 1000)

Pyxis of al-Mughira (Spain, 968)

‘Monzon’ lion (Spain, c.975 – 1100)

Basin with Cavalier (Iran, c.1000 – 1200)

Peacock aquamanile (Spain, 11th century)

Lion perfume burner (Khorasan, 11th – 12th century)

Bowl with Hare (Iran, c.1100 – 1220)

Candlestick with ducks (Khorasan, 1150 – 1200)

Falcon perfume burner (Iran, 1180 – 1220)

Head of a Prince (Iran, 1185 – 1215)

For the first time, the Musée du Louvre has dedicated an exhibition to Cimabue, one of the most important artists of the thirteenth-century proto-Renaissance in Italy. The exhibition is the result of two important events for the Louvre relating to Cimabue: the restoration of the museum’s ‘Maestà’ and the acquisition of a previously unknown Cimabue panel, ‘Christ Mocked’, rediscovered in France in 2019.

As artists began to gradually move away from the relatively flat and highly-stylized Byzantine model, prevalent until the thirteenth-century, to be more naturalistic, figures were painted with more lifelike proportions and the use of shading gave them solidity. More than anyone else, Cenni di Pepo, known as Cimabue, is credited with this advance.

The Louvre exhibition shows the magnificent ‘Maestà’, together with other works by Cimabue and artists associated with him including Giotto and Duccio.

Giunta Pisano ‘Crucifix de San Ranierino’ (c.1240 – 50)

Master of Bigallo ‘Virgin and Child Enthroned with Angels” (c.1240 – 50)

Cimabue ‘Maestà’ (1280 – 85)

Cimabue ‘Gualino Madonna’ (c.1285)

Cimabue ‘The Mocking of Christ’ (1285 – 90)

Cimabue ‘Virgin and Child with two Angels’ (1285 – 90)

Cimabue ‘The Flagellation of Christ’ (1285 – 90)

Duccio ‘Crevole Madonna’ (c.1280 – 85)

Duccio ‘Madonna of the Franciscans’ (1285 – 88)

Giotto ‘Saint Francis receiving the Stigmata’ (c.1298)

Duccio ‘Flagellation’ and ‘Crown of Thorns’ (1308 – 11)

Duccio ‘Christ Mocked’ and ‘Christ before Caiaphas’ (1308 – 11)

Henri Matisse was by any standards a prolific portrait painter but, incredibly, he painted well over one hundred portraits of his daughter Marguerite from her childhood to adulthood. These portraits bear witness not only to the talents of Matisse but also the bond between father and daughter. This chronologically-organised exhibition, at the Musée d’art Moderne de Paris, displayed around one hundred of these portraits which show a fascinating insight into the life of a woman who played a leading role in her father’s career.

Marguerite and her father in 1921

Marguerite was born in 1894 in Paris, her mother being one of her father’s models. Matisse married Amélie Parayre in 1898 and they brought up Marguerite as part of their family. Marguerite was ill as a child and underwent a tracheotomy operation, the scar from which she often hid with a black ribbon, visible in many of her father’s portraits.

During World War II, Marguerite joined the Resistance without her father’s knowledge. She was arrested by the Gestapo in May 1944 and sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp. However, despite being tortured, she managed to escape.

Marguerite spent much of her life cataloguing her father’s work and had nearly completed the task when she died of a heart attack in 1982.

Henri Matisse ‘Marguerite lisant’ (1906)

Henri Matisse ‘Marguerite’ (1906 -07)

Henri Matisse ‘Marguerite au chat noir’ (1910)

Henri Matisse ‘Tête blanche et rose’ (1914 – 15)

Henri Matisse ‘Marguerite au ruban de velours noir’ (1916)

Henri Matisse ‘Portrait de Marguerite’ (1918)

Henri Matisse ‘Marguerite au chapeau bleu’ (1918)

Henri Matisse ‘Le Thé (dans le jardin) (1919)

Henri Matisse ‘Marguerite endormie’ (1920)

Henri Matisse ‘Le paravent mauresque’ (1921)

Marguerite Matisse Self-Portraits (1918)

At the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris for an exhibition of the works of German expressionist artist Gabriele Münter.

Gabriele Münter met Wassily Kandinsky in Munich in 1902 when she enrolled in Kandinsky’s art class at the Phalanx artists association that he had set up with other artist friends. By the following year they had become a couple and they travelled extensively and worked together until they eventually settled back in Munich in 1908. In Munich they met Russian artists Alexej Jawlensky and Marianne von Werefkin, a couple who had met at St. Petersburg Academy of Art. In the summer of 1908, the four of them left Munich for a stay in the countryside in the small town of Murnau, where they worked together and developed a new expressive style of painting.

In January 1909, the four artists, together with others, founded an association they called the Neue Künstlervereinigung München (New Artists Association Munich). The Association held annual exhibitions at Galerie Thannhauser in Munich, although the critics’ reviews were scathing. In 1910, at the second exhibition, Franz Marc publicly gave his support and this led to him joining the group and Kandinsky and Marc soon became close allies. However, tensions within the Association eventually proved irreconcilable when, in December 1911, the jury of the group’s third exhibition rejected Kandinsky’s abstract painting ‘Composition V’. Kandinsky, Marc, and Münter resigned from the Association and organized their own show, the first exhibition of ‘Der Blaue Reiter’.

The Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris exhibition is the first retrospective in France devoted to Münter’s work. It shows around 170 works, including paintings, engravings, photographs and embroidered designs. It provides a detailed chronological journey through more than sixty years of her work and its importance for the history of twentieth-century art.

Gabriele Münter (1901)

Gabriele Münter ‘Portrait of Kandinsky’ (1906)

Gabriele Münter ‘Self-Portrait’ (1908)

Gabriele Munter ‘Habitante de Murnau (Roselle Leiss)’ (1909)

Gabriele Münter ‘Allée devant la montagne’ (c.1909)

Gabriele Münter ‘Portrait of Marianne von Werefkin’ (1909)

Gabriele Münter ‘Olga von Hartmann’ (c.1910)

Gabriele Munter ‘Femme dans ses pensées’ (1917)

Gabriele Munter ‘Rue principale de Murnau avec cheval et charrette (1922)

Gabriele Munter ‘Sténographie Suissesse in pyjama’ (1929)

Gabriele Munter ‘La lettre’ (1930)

Gabriele Munter ‘La maison de Munter a Murnau’ (1931)

Céntre Pompidou is holding the first monograph of the paintings of Suzanne Valadon (1865-1938) in Paris since 1967. She was at the centre of the the Parisian modernist movements, first as a model and then as an artist in her own right. She grew up in poverty with her mother, who was an unmarried laundress in Montmartre. It is said that she taught herself to draw at a young age but that her ambition was to be a circus performer. Whilst she fulfilled this ambition, her circus career only lasted a year due to a back injury after a fall from the trapeze.

In 1883, aged 18, Valadon gave birth to a son, Maurice Utrillo, who also became an artist. After modelling for ten years from 1880 for artists such as Berthe Morisot, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, she befriended Edgar Degas who encouraged her drawing and painting. With his support she was admitted to professional associations and was able to exhibit at the Salon d’Automne, the Salon des Independants and in the Salon des Femmes Artistes Modernes. In 1895 she married a wealthy banker, Paul Mousis, and was able to become a full-time painter. In 1909, she began an affair with the artist André Utter, who she married in 1914 after divorcing Mousis the previous year. Valadon and Utter regularly exhibited work together until they divorced in 1934.

Suzanne Valadon died of a stroke on 7 April 1938, at the age of 72. Among those in attendance at the funeral were her friends and colleagues Pablo Picasso, André Derain and Georges Braque.

Suzanne Valadon ‘Jeune fille faisant du crochet’ (c.1892)

Suzanne Valadon ‘Adam et Eve’ (1909)

Suzanne Valadon ‘Joie de vivre’ (1911)

Suzanne Valadon ‘Portrait de famille’ (1912)

Suzanne Valadon ‘Le Lancement du filet’ (1914)

Suzanne Valadon ‘Portrait de Mauricia Coquiot’ (1915)

Suzanne Valadon ‘Nu assis sur un canopé’ (1916)

Suzanne Valadon ‘La Poupée Délaissée’ (1921)

Suzanne Valadon ‘La Chambre bleue’ (1923)

Anonymous ‘Suzanne Valadon surrounded by two dogs’ (c.1930)

After the devastating fire of April 2019, it is amazing to be able to visit the restored Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris just six years later and witness the results of the incredible work that has been done to bring this gothic marvel back to life.

Notre Dame de Paris, April 2019

Notre Dame de Paris, before the fire

Construction of Notre Dame began in 1163 under the reign of King Louis VII and the cathedral was largely completed by 1345. The architecture of the new cathedral was in line with a new style known as ‘francigenum opus’, now known as gothic. The cathedral is said to hold some of the most important relics of the Christian church, the treasury housing reliquaries containing the Crown of Thorns, a fragment of the True Cross, one of Christ’s nails, and the linen shirt of Saint Louis. Before the 2019 fire, more than twelve million people a year visited the cathedral to marvel at the building and to see its treasures.

The fire destroyed the spire, much of the roof and caused extensive damage to the interior of the cathedral. The roof frame needed to be rebuilt by hand by carpenters who used one thousand oak trees to complete the task. To replicate the original frame as closely as possible, the tools used were based on those from the middle ages.

The restored roof structure above the nave

The cathedral encased in scaffolding during the restoration

The restoration of the vaults

The restored nave, Notre Dame de Paris

Altar, Notre Dame de Paris