About Robin

Occasional painter. Golfer. Fascinated by humanity. Passionate about beautiful stuff, the people who create it and its narrative.

Twenty years of Pop Art at Galerie ID

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This year marks the 20th anniversary of Galerie ID in Carouge, Geneve. To celebrate, Isabelle Dunkel is planning a sparkling retrospective from 23 September to 17 October. Beautiful stuff by all the major pop artists she has hosted here will be on display. A friend whom she admires greatly is Roger Pfund, creative giant and the only living artist whose work has been exhibited at Geneva’s Museum of Art and History. It’s a fitting tribute to Isabelle that he put together her invitation.

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I call in to see Isabelle. I get a warm welcome as usual. But this time, it is her I want to interview. She’s not keen to talk about herself. She obviously thinks the story of la galerie is more interesting than the story of ID. (This could be hard work!) So… Born in Paris (I didn’t ask the year.) Traveling childhood (11 different schools.) A year in England (loved it.) Trained in languages (four.) Married young (a banker from Geneva.) Grown children (two.) Why pop art? (A hint of enthusiasm for this conversation.) Always loved “art.” Went to the USA in 1992. Saw and fell for the work of James Rizzi. Started a small collection. Met the man himself and offered to represent him in Switzerland. The story of Galerie ID starts here.

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James Rizzi “Girls Like Flowers” 1997

Girls like flowers! So take some along to the birthday girl whose efforts to bring Rizzi’s work to this town were laughed at. “He’s too American!” “It’s just commercial!” And of course… “It’s not ART!” But she had the last laugh. In her first five years of business she sold more than one thousand pieces of Rizzi’s wonderful, whacky stuff. On the back of this success her rapidly expanding portfolio grew to include names such as Robert Indiana and Alex Katz. She now runs the only gallery in Geneva dedicated to Pop Art and is an ardent promoter of limited-edition prints as an art form to be valued.

I ask Isabelle what she sees as her greatest achievement. The answer is surprising and immediate with neither preparation nor pretension. She is proud of the accessibility of what she shows. Drawn by pop images, people who would never think of going into a gallery come in off the street. She wants her exhibitions to brighten the day of anyone and everyone. Popular art! Popular appeal! And now she has really warmed to her subject. I dare to ask what makes her heart sing. Do I see a blush? Pop music!! Beatles? Yes! Rolling Stones? Yes! Michael Jackson? Fabulous! Who else? Supertramp! Abba? Yes! Daft punk? Of course! Taylor swift? Not my cup of tea! Mrs Dunkel is just Miss Pop at heart.

Jeff Schaller 1

Last year I had the privilege of meeting Jeff Schaller at his second exhibition at Galerie ID. He pays tribute to Jasper Johns – one of the doyennes of Pop Art – who famously said “just take something and add to it.” Let’s acknowledge what Isabelle Dunkel has been doing with passion and success for the last twenty years. She’s taken James Rizzi and added accessible Pop Art. Enjoy!

An extinct car in Schiphol airport!

Schiphol

I hurry through Amsterdam’s crowded Schiphol airport late for my flight connection. Whooaaaaa! What’s that? I snap a photo. Others do the same. I assume the airport authorities have commissioned some contemporary sculpter to lighten the mood of stressed travellers. But, no! This is an advertisement for Sixt Car Rentals. Well…. they certainly caught my eye. The wooden board reads: “Thanks to Sixt, expensive car rentals are extinct.” Bravo, Sixt! Nice idea!

It works. I love the skeletal dinosaur theme implying extinction. Yet it’s clearly based on a reasonably modern car. And it makes me laugh. I particularly like the spoiler and the little boney rear-view mirror. But of course, it’s basic appeal (for me at least) is because of it’s immediate association with The Flintstones. Talking of whom…. I understand that a recent survey of Middle Eastern countries about American television reveals that the people in Kuwait don’t like Fred Flintstone, but the people in AbuDhabidoooooooo!

Matisse (and friends) in Martigny

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Martigny. Gateway to the Swiss alps. It’s a rainy day and so a great day to visit the current exhibition at the imposing Pierre Gianadda Foundation. Posters advertise “Matisse in his time.” This must-see ambitious exhibition is a sumptuous banquet of beautiful stuff. Some surprising dishes await you!

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“Pont Saint-Michel, effet de neige” Henri Matisse 1907

Early days! Henry Matisse (1869 – 1954) painted this wintery view from the studio of Gustave Moreau in Paris in 1907.

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“Pont Saint-Michel et le quai des Grands Augustins” Albert Marquet 1912

His friend, Albert Marquet, studied at the same studio.

Throughout his long and lauded career, Matisse led, rejected and experimented with a variety of “isms” including fauvism and cubism. The team at the Gianadda Foundation have picked out different phases of his remarkable curriculum vitae by the clever juxtaposition of his paintings with those of contemporaries.

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“L’Algérienne” Henri Matisse 1909

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“Chanteuse de cabaret” Kees van Dongen 1906

Along with his friends – and Picasso, his life-long rival whom he first met in 1906 – Matisse worked the theme of the reclining female nude. Most of his output in the 1920s turned around the “Odalisques” of the Middle-East.

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“Odalisque à la culotte rouge” Henri Matisse 1921

The details on the screens and on the red pantaloons resonate. This painting is much more than a sad-sensuous semi-nude. It is a herald of what Matisse was to develop twenty years later.

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“Femme couchée sur un divan bleue” Pablo Picasso 1960

I overhear another visitor stating that an artist – even Picasso – shouldn’t portray women in such an undignified pose! The anatomist in me has some sympathy for this view. However, I am sure good old Pablo was aiming to provoke just such a reaction and, right now, is still laughing at us.

To entrench the exhibition’s theme of rivalry between these two creative giants of the twentieth century, two large canvases are placed next to each other.

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“Grand intérieur rouge” Henri Matisse 1948

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“L’Atelier” Pablo Picasso 1955

I “like” both. (Neither bowl me over!) I am left with a feeling that a comparison is invited when a comparison is inadvisable if not impossible.

An annex houses one of the exhibition’s delightful surprises. It is a collection of photo-portraits of famous artists by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

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Portrait of Henri Matisse. Henri Cartier-Bresson 1943

I adore this photograph. It speaks volumes. It was taken when Matisse began to develop his final, jubilatory gouache “découpages.” The man holds a dove in his left hand whilst drawing with his right. But the hands are thin. There is an air of infirmity despite the ornate surroundings. The photograph was taken not long after Matisse went through major abdominal surgery.

The other delightful surprise is a large series of prints from Matisse’s découpages. These works introduced a previously unseen interaction of line and colour. They were born of time and creative genius. They must be among the most important twentieth century influences on not only other painters and designers but also on what is generally perceived as “beautiful.” Up until this point such an image of a funeral hearse was unimaginable!

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“Série Jazz – L’enterrement de Pierrot” Henri Matisse 1947

I doff my hat to the Gianadda Foundation for how they recount the wonderful narrative of the work of Henri Matisse (and friends.) It really is worth the trip to Martigny.

Talking Beautiful Stuff thanks the Fondation Pierre Gianadda for permission to take the photographs shown here. Beautiful Stuff!