Excited Exhibitor at the SALON DES BEAUX ARTS, LOUVRE 2018!

Last week I was in Paris for the Private View of the Salon des Beaux Arts which was held at the Caroussel du Louvre. I was so happy to fly over to France to see my painting, 'Autumnal Seascape' (blue painting to my right) in this highly prestigious annual exhibition. As I flew down across pretty fields and houses, I kept thinking of my mother who lived in Paris for a year while studying the piano at the Paris music school. She loved living in Paris but sadly did not live to see my painting selected for this exhibition - she died in February. I felt rather sad that she did not know that currently I had work both in Paris and China.

My painting is the blue one, second row down, fourth canvas along from left

A crowded Private View

I was selected by an international curator, Lena Kelekian, for her collective exhibition within the Salon exhibition and we had a large wall for 48 paintings by artists from 37 countries. The exhibition was from 13th to 16th December and was held in the lovely area below the pyramid and next to the beautiful underground shopping area.

One of the entrances to the Louvre

I arrived early in Paris on the 13th December, having flown to Charles de Gaulle airport and taken the train to Chatelet Les Halles. I had thoroughly researched the journey in the preceding days and it was not especially simple but for the future I will know what to do! Most difficult was finding my way up from the station below the shopping mall at Chatelet Les Halles and out onto the correct street! Then it was a short walk to my hotel, shorter than the map conveyed.  My little hotel was less than 5 minutes walk from the huge buildings of the Louvre, and surrounded by many gorgeous cafes and restaurants. 

Catalogues

For this post I am going to attach just a few photos of the event and of Paris. The Private View was a case of bumper to bumper elbows and there was a grand piano in the centre of the largest room (where my painting was) with a changing pianist all evening. There were many artworks and I'm going to write a review of the exhibition which was incredibly varied in style and theme. Personally, The sculptures impressed me the most with such innovation and creativity though I spoke with several painters and there were many paintings to admire.

The above photo shows the two catalogues my painting was reproduced in. On the left is the catalogue of my collective, Meadows, with my artist page, and on the right is the official Salon catalogue. 

Selfie with the pyramid behind

It was a long time since I had been to Paris and I simply loved being there! I would have liked to stay longer than 2 days but commitments meant I could not. I spent time on the second day back in the exhibition meeting artists and taking photos, and also had a chance to walk around a little in the surrounding area. I was lucky in that the weather was sunny both days but it was also icy!

The Eiffel Tower in the distance at dusk

Under the pyramid!

The shopping area near the exhibition rooms

Paris Decisions: Which Painting Suits a White Frame?

'Autumnal Seascape,' acrylic on canvas, 30 x 30 cm

It was the deadline yesterday for sending my image for the catalogue for an exhibition in Paris that I mentioned in a previous post. This is the prestigious Le Salon Des Beaux Arts, which takes place each December at the Caroussel du Louvre,Paris.

I was curated for this exhibition by a curator/artist, Lena Kelekian, who I met in Beijing for the 6th and 7th Beijing International Art Biennale (2015, 2017). The group of artists who have been selected will show together - there will be around 44 artists from 23 countries and our brief was to submit a square painting (abstract or figurative). I feel really honoured to have been selected for participation in this!

My delay in submitting my image for the catalogue was down to having to decide between two paintings. I painted them both for the Salon, bearing in mind that the brief also included keeping to Blue, Red, Black, White and Yellow. I liked them both but for different reasons. Both are exploring various ideas about paint and form. As I know that, for consistency, our group is having the work framed in white frames, I decided in the end to submit 'Autumnal Seascape' because when I tried it against a white frame it suited white better. The red painting, which is perhaps my favourite of the two, simply was too restricted by the white frame; it is a painting that really looks best unframed, to allow the complicated shapes to breathe.

'Paint Poem: Mountains,' acrylic on canvas, 30 x 30 cm

As the red painting, 'Paint Poem: Mountains,' has a lot of white, it seemed too flattened out by a possible white frame. If I ever frame it, I will use a neutral coloured wood. I feel quite sad as I spent ages on this particular painting, but in the end it came down to framing decisions. Choosing the correct frame for some paintings can be really difficult and sometimes I prefer certain paintings to be unframed.

I will write more on this, and the group I am exhibiting with, in another post.

In the meantime, my large painting 'Social Integration and Opening Up' has gone to the framer. I believe it will be shipped very soon, as soon as I have information on a shipping date, and the frame I chose was perfect, a pale cream colour.