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JUNE 2025

LECTURE OF THE MONTH: I’m delighted to invite you to a lecture I’ll be giving on Thursday, June 26 at 6:00pm at the Cascadia Art Museum

https://www.cascadiaartmuseum.org/lectures/

Experience the Spark of Modernity: Henri Matisse & Henry Saÿen

Thursday, June 26th, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Step into the vibrant world of two pioneers of modern art—Henri Matisse, the undisputed master of color, and Henry Saÿen, a visionary American artist with a scientific mind. In early 20th-century Paris, at the heart of the avant-garde, their creative exchange helped ignite a powerful artistic revolution, blending bold Fauvism with luminous experimentation. This talk unveils a unique dialogue between two innovative spirits and shines a light on Saÿen’s overlooked yet vital influence on American modernism.

About the Speaker: Simon Lhopiteau is a French art historian and dealer who recently moved from Paris to Seattle, where he opened a gallery and consultancy focused on 20th-century avant-garde and contemporary art. He holds a master’s from the École du Louvre and a PhD from Paris-Sorbonne University.In 2005, he founded Galerie Orsay Paris, specializing in avant-garde paintings, drawings, and sculpture. Simon is a certified expert with the Compagnie Nationale des Experts, a member of the French Art History Society.

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WORK OF THE MONTH:  We love Op art with Mehdi MOUTASHAR 

Born in 1943 in Babylon, Iraq, began his artistic journey at the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad before moving to Paris in 1967. There, he joined Gustave Singier’s studio at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, graduating in 1970. From early on, his work embraced a language rooted in geometric abstraction.

He quickly gained recognition, exhibiting in Baghdad, Paris, and across the Nordic countries. Moutashar also took part in major architectural projects, including the design of the Council of Ministers building in Baghdad. His practice centers on the concept of the square and its geometric grammar, drawing inspiration from both Islamic art and Western geometric traditions.He is represented by Op art specialized Galerie Denise René – Paris, which has hosted several solo exhibitions of his work (1998, 2002, 2009). His pieces are held in prominent public collections, including the Institut du Monde Arabe, the Victoria & Albert Museum London UK, Gulbenkian National Museum of Modern Art in Baghdad, the Cincinnati Art Museum USA, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts USA.
He was awarded the 2018 Jameel Prize by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, UK.

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VISIT OF THE MONTH: The Phillips Collection, Washington DC

 Founded in 1921 by Duncan Phillips, The Phillips Collection is America’s first museum of modern art. This landmark institution blends the warmth of a private home with the depth of a world-class collection. It features iconic works by Matisse, Rothko, Bonnard, Van Gogh, O’Keeffe, or even Op art by Leo Villareal. For Phillips, art was a way to uplift the spirit and spark dialogue across time and style. His vision lives on through a distinctive curatorial approach that encourages conversations between works—mixing modernism, classicism, and innovation. The Phillips offers a uniquely intimate and thoughtful experience, setting it apart from larger museums and making it a must-visit for lovers of modern and contemporary art.         

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MAY 2025

WORK OF THE MONTH: LYRICAL ALFRED RETH (1884-1966)

Alfred Reth was born in 1884 in Budapest. He began painting at a very young age and, in 1903, joined the renowned artists’ colony in Nagybánya (Hungary), led by Károly Ferenczy. In 1905, he completed his artistic training in Paris, in the Montmartre district. Reth quickly became integrated into the Parisian art scene and joined the Cubist movement in 1911. He exhibited his work at the Salon des Indépendants alongside Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, and Georges Rouault.

His boldly innovative style earned him recognition as a key figure in the School of Paris. He exhibited throughout Europe, including a 1913 show at the Galerie Der Sturm in Berlin and another that same year in Budapest. With the post-World War I revival of the European art market, Reth seized the opportunity to explore abstraction. Beginning in the 1920s, he embraced this avant-garde movement and remained dedicated to it for the rest of his career. He became a naturalized French citizen in 1946.

In the 1960s, Reth began blending his early techniques with his more experimental, modern work. This fusion led to a distinctive visual style in which abstraction was enriched by a combination of materials and methods. Using textures and organic elements—such as sand and unpainted wooden surfaces—he brought his abstract compositions to life. His 1960 piece Harmonie des Matières red blue exemplifies this synthesis, which became a hallmark of his later period.

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VISIT OF THE MONTH:  GUSTAVE CAILLEBOTTE : Painting Men 
                      Los Angeles GETTY CENTER Feb 25 – May 25, 2025
                      Chicago ART INSTITUTE          June 29 – Oct 5, 2025

            Visiting Gustave Caillebotte: Painting Men at the Getty was an unexpectedly moving experience. I went in thinking I’d see elegant Parisian street scenes—and I did—but what struck me most was how intimate and modern his work feels. Caillebotte’s focus on men isn’t about power or grand gestures; it’s about quiet moments and emotional depth.

The first painting that caught my attention was Young Man at His Window. There’s something haunting about it—his brother, standing there, caught between the private space inside and the bustling world outside. That tension runs through the entire exhibition.
Caillebotte painted men playing cards, rowing boats, bathing, working—always observing, always human. His subjects feel like real people with inner lives, not just figures in a composition.

The show builds slowly and thoughtfully, leading up to masterpieces like Paris Street; Rainy Day. Seeing it in person is breathtaking. The scale, the perspective, the wet cobblestones—it all comes alive. You feel the weight of city life and solitude at once.

What makes this exhibition special is how it challenges the traditional image of 19th-century masculinity. These men aren’t heroic or romanticized—they’re reflective, sometimes isolated, often tender.
Caillebotte lets us see men not just as subjects, but as individuals living through change. I left feeling like I had witnessed something quietly radical.

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APRL 2025

WORK OF THE MONTH: PLAYFUL OSCAR GAUTHIER
PARIS – NEW-YORK

After studying at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and then at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in the studio of Othon Friesz, Oscar Gauthier spent a year in the United States, in New-York City.  Upon his return in 1948, he emerged as one of the leading figures of Lyrical Abstraction in the immediate postwar period. He joined the Colette Allendy Gallery, which he would leave in 1952 to become part of the circle around the american painter John-Franklin Koenig (GI Bill artist) in Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

Throughout his career, Gauthier developed a form of abstract painting rooted in the interplay between thick textures and rhythmic brushwork. His work reflects a dynamic tension between movement, surface treatment, and color, resulting in a highly expressive visual language.

In 2006, several of his works were selected by the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris for the exhibition L’Envolée lyrique: Paris 1945–1956, which celebrated this vibrant artistic moment.The gouache on crumpled paper presented here exemplifies Gauthier’s constant search for balance between instinct and control. The composition spreads across the sheet through a sophisticated play of colors, occasionally disrupted by bold black lines. It captures the very essence of Gauthier’s practice: a creative gesture suspended between spontaneity and intention.

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VISIT OF THE MONTH:  AI REBEL : THE ART AND ACTIVISM OF AI WEIWEI 
SEATTLE ART MUSEUM (SAM) until Sep 7  2025

This major retrospective marks the return of the artist as a provocative and activist figure, highlighting his commitment to freedom of expression and his use of art as a tool for resistance.

I was deeply moved by this remarkable exhibition. It offers a powerful rediscovery of Ai Weiwei through the most comprehensive retrospective of his work ever presented in the US. Featuring over 130 works spanning four decades—from the 1980s to the 2020s—the exhibition provides a rich and in-depth look at the evolution of his artistic journey.For the first time in its 90-year history, SAM is dedicating all three of its locations to a single artist. In addition to the main retrospective at the downtown museum, the Seattle Asian Art Museum is presenting “Ai Weiwei: Water Lilies”, a gigantic LEGO reimagining of Claude Monet’s iconic painting. Meanwhile, the Olympic Sculpture Park features “Ai Weiwei: Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads”, a monumental outdoor installation of twelve bronze sculptures representing the Chinese zodiac signs.

Ai Weiwei’s work is characterized by a profound sense of humanism and a strong focus on issues such as the plight of refugees, freedom of speech, and collective memory. He stands as a quintessentially engaged artist, blending aesthetics with resistance in a way that is both powerful and thought-provoking.

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MARCH 2025