©BNF, DIST. RMN-GRAND PALAIS, IMAGE BNF/MUSÉUM NATIONAL D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE, BIBLIOTHÈQUE CENTRALE, PARIS
Today’s show: “Carambolages” is on view at Grand Palais in Paris through Monday, July 4. This large-scale exhibition, which includes over 180 objects, presents works from various eras and styles of art history. The presentation of these works is not linked thematically, instead each work is connected to the preceding work, following on the title of the exhibition, which translates to “cannon” and refers to “a shot in billiards in which the cue ball contacts one object ball and then the other,” according to the show’s description.
Mark Dion writes:
With a systematic process based on association and affinity, this collection of radically diverse objects and images represents an impressive and exciting experiment. While I would not like to see every exhibition structured in such a method, the project is refreshing and allows viewers to see numerous treasures difficult to contextualize in more conventional exhibition narratives.
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Idol in the eyes, the Upper Tigris region, north of Mesopotamia, 4th millennium B.C., limestone.
©STUDIO FERAZZINI-BOUCHET, MUSÉE BARBIER-MUELLER/MUSÉE BARBIER-MUELLER, GENÈVE
Albrecht Dürer, Deer head pierced by an arrow, 1504, brush drawing and watercolor on paper.
©BNF, DIST. RMN-GRAND PALAIS, IMAGE BNF/BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE DE FRANCE, PARIS, DÉPARTEMENT DES ESTAMPES ET DE LA PHOTOGRAPHIE
Anonymous Flemish artist, Satirical diptych, with the inscription, "Leave the panel closed, otherwise you will be angry with me," 1520–30, oil on wood.
©COLLECTIONS ARTISTIQUES DE L’UNIVERSITÉ DE LIÈGE/UNIVERSITÉ DE LIÈGE - COLLECTIONS ARTISTIQUES (GALERIE WITTERT)
Anonymous Flemish artist, Satirical diptych, with the inscription, "It is not my fault because I warned you," 1520–30, oil on wood.
©COLLECTIONS ARTISTIQUES DE L’UNIVERSITÉ DE LIÈGE/UNIVERSITÉ DE LIÈGE - COLLECTIONS ARTISTIQUES (GALERIE WITTERT)
Reliquary foot of St. Adalhard, Italy, 16th century, stamped, engraved, carved, and gilded copper.
FRANCK RAUX/©RMN-GRAND PALAIS (MUSÉE DE CLUNY - MUSÉE NATIONAL DU MOYEN-ÂGE)/MUSÉE NATIONAL DU MOYEN ÂGE – THERMES DE CLUNY, PARIS
Reliquary casket, cloister Gnadenthal Township, Aargau, Switzerland, second half of the 17th century, wax, wood, silver, silk, glass, and gold thread.
YVES INCHIERMAN/©MUCEM, DIST. RMN-GRAND PALAIS/MUSÉE DES CIVILISATIONS DE L’EUROPE ET DE LA MÉDITERRANÉE, MARSEILLE
Nicola Van Houbraken, Self-portrait, 1720, oil on canvas.
©GABINETTO FOTOGRAFICO DELLA EX SOPRINTENDENZA E DEL POLO MUSEALE DELLA CITTÀ DI FIRENZE/GALERIE DES OFFICES, FLORENCE
Jacques-Fabien Gautier Agoty, Woman seen from behind, dissected from the neck to sacrum, called "Anatomical Angel," in Essay on anatomy in printed tables, representing all natural muscles of the face, neck, head, tongue, and larynx, Paris, 1745, color engraved print.
©BNF, DIST. RMN-GRAND PALAIS, IMAGE BNF/MUSÉUM NATIONAL D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE, BIBLIOTHÈQUE CENTRALE, PARIS
Jean Huber, called Huber Voltaire, Le Lever de Voltaire à Ferney, ca. 1772, oil on canvas.
©MUSÉE CARNAVALET, ROGER-VIOLLET/MUSÉE CARNAVALET – HISTOIRE DE PARIS, PARIS
French school, Louis-Antoine de Gontaut, Duke of Biron, as peacock, 18th century, oil on canvas.
HERVÉ LEWANDOWSKI/©RMN-GRAND PALAIS (CHÂTEAU DE VERSAILLES)/MUSÉE NATIONAL DES CHÂTEAUX DE VERSAILLES ET DE TRIANON
Ursa Major, the Sun and the Moon, Korea, Choson era, 19th century, colors on paper.
JEAN-YVES ET NICOLAS DUBOIS/©MUSÉE GUIMET, PARIS, DIST. RMN-GRAND PALAIS/MUSÉE NATIONAL DES ARTS ASIATIQUES – GUIMET, PARIS
Skull Asmat, Irian Jaya, Indonesia, 19th–20th century, feathers, straw, and shells.
©FRANÇOIS DOURY/LILIANE AND MICHEL DURAND-DESSERT COLLECTION, PARIS, FORMERLY COLLECTION JEAN-EDOUARD CARLIER
Lucio Fontana, Concetto spaziale Attese (T104), (Concept Space, expectations), 1958, vinyl paint on canvas with incisions.
PHOTO: ©CENTRE POMPIDOU, MNAM-CCI, DIST. RMN-GRAND PALAIS, JACQUES FAUJOUR; ART: ©FONDATION LUCIO FONTANA, MILAN, ©SIAE, ©2016 ADAGP, PARIS/CENTRE POMPIDOU, MUSÉE NATIONAL D’ART, MODERNE, PARIS, CENTRE DE CRÉATION INDUSTRIELLE, DONATION OF MME TERESITA FONTANA, 1979
Daniel Spoerri, Variations on a Meal, 1964, assemblage of objects on wood panel.
ANDRÉ MORIN/©2016 ADAGP, PARIS/COURTESY GALERIE G.-P. ET N. VALLOIS, PARIS
Bertrand Lavier, Black & Decker, 1998, mixed media.
ANDRÉ MORIN/©2016 ADAGP, PARIS/COLLECTION GIULIANA ET TOMMASO SETARI
Alain Fleischer, Creases and folds of dreams, 2015, video.
©2016 ALAIN FLEISCHER, ADAGP, PARIS/COLLECTION OF THE ARTIST