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Artists’ stories

An encounter with art every day. Stories to read, listen to and rediscover.

The story library

115 stories

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Johann Heinrich Füssli — Œdipe maudissant son fils Polynice — Image creditsJohann Heinrich Füssli · Œdipe maudissant son fils Polynice · Wikimedia Commons · CC0 · Henry Fuseli
Johann Heinrich Füssli — « Œdipe maudissant son fils Polynice ».
Johann Heinrich Füssli · Œdipe maudissant son fils Polynice · Wikimedia Commons · CC0 · Henry Fuseli
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Johann Heinrich Füssli · 5 min read

Oedipus turns speech into gesture

In 1786, Fuseli presents a curse drawn from Sophocles in London. The four figures in Oedipus Cursing His Son Polynices turn tragic speech into a network of arms, hands and bodies holding one another back.

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Johann Heinrich Füssli — Un concert intime — Image creditsJohann Heinrich Füssli ; image : National Gallery of Art, Washington — CC0 1.0 / domaine public, NGA Open Access ; réduction proportionnelle et conversion WebP.
Johann Heinrich Füssli — « Un concert intime ».
Johann Heinrich Füssli ; image : National Gallery of Art, Washington — CC0 1.0 / domaine public, NGA Open Access ; réduction proportionnelle et conversion WebP.
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Johann Heinrich Füssli · 5 min read

A concert fits inside a drawing

A drawing of 1814 brings two figures together around an instrument. The concert becomes a question of proximity, retraced lines and movements held on paper.

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Jules Breton — Sous-bois à Quimper — Image creditsJules Breton · Sous-bois à Quimper · Wikimedia Commons · CC0 · Breton, Jules (Courrières, 01–05–1827 - Paris, 05–07–1906), dessinateur
Jules Breton — « Sous-bois à Quimper ».
Jules Breton · Sous-bois à Quimper · Wikimedia Commons · CC0 · Breton, Jules (Courrières, 01–05–1827 - Paris, 05–07–1906), dessinateur
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Jules Breton · 4 min read

A charcoal path in Quimper

The Petit Palais drawing of 1890 shows another facet of Breton. Dense marks and more open areas give the woodland the depth of a walk.

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Jules Breton — Falaises côtières par temps d’orage — Image creditsJules Breton · Falaises côtières par temps d’orage · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Jules Breton — « Falaises côtières par temps d’orage ». Another work by the artist, chosen as a visual connection to the story.
Jules Breton · Falaises côtières par temps d’orage · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
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Jules Breton · 4 min read

The Cliff, or the gaze that waits

A reclining woman turns her attention towards the sea in the canvas of 1874. The historical title Waiting illuminates the scene without delivering its figure’s story.

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Jules Breton — La Récolte du colza — Image creditsJules Breton · La Récolte du colza · Wikimedia Commons · CC0
Jules Breton — « La Récolte du colza ».
Jules Breton · La Récolte du colza · Wikimedia Commons · CC0
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Jules Breton · 4 min read

Colza, a harvest made of several gestures

In the painting of 1860 preserved in Washington, Jules Breton brings together sifting, carrying and work on the stalks. The field becomes a network of human activities.

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Jules Breton — La Fin du jour — Image creditsJules Breton · La Fin du jour · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Jules Breton — « La Fin du jour ».
Jules Breton · La Fin du jour · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
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Jules Breton · 4 min read

Rakes become supports in the evening

Two women rest in The Close of Day of 1865. The painting preserves a moment when tools indicate past work and support bodies coming to a halt.

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Jules Breton — Étude pour Les Vendanges à Château-Lagrange — Image creditsJules Breton · Étude pour Les Vendanges à Château-Lagrange · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Jules Breton — « Étude pour Les Vendanges à Château-Lagrange ». Another work by the artist, chosen as a visual connection to the story.
Jules Breton · Étude pour Les Vendanges à Château-Lagrange · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
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Jules Breton · 4 min read

The grape harvest leaves the château for Omaha

Commissioned in the nineteenth century for Count Duchâtel, Breton’s painting passes through collections, fails to sell, then joins a public initiative in Omaha.

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Image credits© Marc Camille Chaimowicz · Fonds d’art contemporain – Paris Collections · Photo : Julien Vidal / Parisienne de Photographie
Marc Camille Chaimowicz — Shoe Waste? (1971–2005), photograph from the series held by Paris Collections.
© Marc Camille Chaimowicz · Fonds d’art contemporain – Paris Collections · Photo : Julien Vidal / Parisienne de Photographie
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Marc Camille Chaimowicz · 4 min read

Shoes without their pairs

Shoe Waste? gathers worn shoes painted silver. Losing the pairs transforms an object attached to the body into a collective presence on the floor.

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Marc Camille Chaimowicz — La Suite de Varsovie, 1993–1994 — Image credits© Marc Camille Chaimowicz · Collection FRAC Bourgogne, Dijon · Photo : A. Mole / MAMC+ · Courtoisie de l’artiste et Cabinet, Londres
Marc Camille Chaimowicz — La Suite de Varsovie (1993–1994), detail shown at MAMC+: decorative patterns and painting brought together on large panels.
© Marc Camille Chaimowicz · Collection FRAC Bourgogne, Dijon · Photo : A. Mole / MAMC+ · Courtoisie de l’artiste et Cabinet, Londres
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Marc Camille Chaimowicz · 4 min read

The Warsaw Suite brings painting back

Movable panels and paintings brought together give Chaimowicz’s return to painting a form that remains close to installation.

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Marc Camille Chaimowicz — Spice Container, 2018 — Image credits© Marc Camille Chaimowicz · The Jewish Museum, New York · Collection 2019-35
Marc Camille Chaimowicz — Spice Container (2018), silver spice container. The Jewish Museum, New York.
© Marc Camille Chaimowicz · The Jewish Museum, New York · Collection 2019-35
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Marc Camille Chaimowicz · 4 min read

Fourteen centimetres of silver, between London and Mexico

Spice Container, designed in 2018, makes cooperation between an artist and manufacture visible. The Jewish Museum preserves this small-scale object.

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Frédéric Rouge — L’Enfant des bois — Image creditsFrédéric Rouge · L’Enfant des bois · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Frédéric Rouge — « L’Enfant des bois ». Another work by the artist, chosen as a visual connection to the story.
Frédéric Rouge · L’Enfant des bois · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
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Frédéric Rouge · 4 min read

From the model in Ollon to the light of Vionnaz

The cartoons and stained-glass windows of 1926 reveal another destination for Rouge’s drawing: a figure prepared on paper becomes a presence traversed by light.

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Marc Camille Chaimowicz — Gravure 4 — Image creditsMarc Camille Chaimowicz · Gravure 4 · Swiss Art Gallery · Photographie de la galerie
Marc Camille Chaimowicz — « Gravure 4 ». Another work by the artist, chosen as a visual connection to the story.
Marc Camille Chaimowicz · Gravure 4 · Swiss Art Gallery · Photographie de la galerie
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Marc Camille Chaimowicz · 4 min read

Basel Sequence: the motif becomes a wall

Five painted panels of 2011 place decorative motif between painting and architecture. Their scale transforms the viewer’s relationship to painting.

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