Notre-Dame de Paris at the Musée d’Orsay, a rare painting by Fra Angelico, death of Daniel Spoerri… 5 things to remember this week

This week, the Art world is in mourning with the deaths of artists Daniel Spoerri and Louis Cane, respectively major figures of New Realism and the Supports/Surfaces movement. On the other side of the Channel, Sotheby’s caused a surprise with the record sale of a canvas painted by a humanoid robot and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford acquired an exceptional and extremely rare work by Fra Angelico. Finally, the Musée d’Orsay opened two thematic displays to celebrate the upcoming reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral.

1. Death of the artist Daniel Spoerri, creator of the “trap paintings” and major figure of New Realism

Many of us rediscovered him in 2022, during the exhibition dedicated to him by Mamac in Nice bringing together more than 300 of his works. Born in 1930 in Romania, major figure of New Realism and inventor of Eat-Art, Daniel Spoerri died on November 6 at the age of 94. “He energized the art world by making anecdotes and the rejects of consumer society a field of reflection for contemporary art,” recalls the Center Pompidou in a press release released yesterday evening. The Marmottan Monet museum in Paris is currently presenting one of his “trap paintings” (Table n°51968) in the “Trompe-l’oeil” exhibition. In 2022, the artist opened the doors of his studio in Vienna to us.

2. Death of Louis Cane, epicurean artist and founding member of one of the last French avant-gardes

« He was a “real painter”! A great painter! » The Ceysson & Bénétière gallery announced via an Instagram post the death of the artist Louis Cane on November 3, at the age of 80. A founding member of the French Supports/Surfaces movement at the end of the 1960s, he continued his plastic research, navigating freely between abstraction and figuration, from painting to sculpture, while revisiting the great classics of the history of art. art. In 2020, the artist opened the doors of his workshops to us.
Quickly… 2/3 of each, Louis Cane 1966-2016, Galerie Bernard Ceysson

3. A rare painting by Fra Angelico in Oxford

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford has acquired a rare crucifixion scene by Fra Angelico (1395-1455) for £4.48 million. The work, dating from the 1420s, is one of the artist’s first and depicts Christ on the cross, Mary Magdalene, the Virgin Mary and Saint John. The acquisition was made possible thanks to an export ban issued by the British government and an intense fundraising campaign. Kept in private hands in Great Britain for 200 years, this panel was only authenticated as a work of the Angelic Brother in the 1990s. It will be exhibited alongside the triptych by Fra Angelico already present at the museum.

4. The time of cathedrals at the Musée d’Orsay

From November 5, 2024 to March 2, 2025, the Musée d’Orsay presents two exceptional exhibitions on the occasion of the upcoming reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral. In its room 69 (level 2), the institution shows “Notre-Dame de Paris, a laboratory for the restoration of cathedrals” which explores the historical and symbolic importance of the restoration of the religious building. With more than 30 works, including drawings, paintings and photographs, the tour highlights the impact of this restoration on artistic creation. The Graphic Arts Cabinet (room 41, level 5) reveals “Drawing the cathedral in the 19th century”. The exhibition brings together artists who reinvent the Middle Ages, notably the American designer Joseph Pennell.

5. A robot’s first work of art smashes the auction

On Thursday, November 7, Sotheby’s sold for the first time in its history a painting made by the bionic robot Ai-Da. Auctioned for $1.08 million (around 1.2 million euros) during an online sale, the work entitled AI Good (God of Artificial Intelligence in French) represents the portrait of the British mathematician Alan Turing, considered one of the pioneers of Artificial Intelligence. It was estimated between 140,000 and 180,000 euros. “ The record sale price achieved today for the first work of art by a humanoid robot artist to be auctioned marks a milestone in the history of modern and contemporary art and reflects the growing intersection between art technology. artificial intelligence and the global art market », Explains the auction house in a press release.