For the first time in France, a photo collection committee was created at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. More than 20 enthusiastic members have already joined, eager to help enrich the museum’s collection. For its first year, the group acquired a set of important works, currently being exhibited in permanent collections: three photographs by Eric Poitevin, chosen in consultation with the artist himself, six of which are part of his rare first black-and-white series Sous-bois (1991); an exceptional print of a portrait of Ballo, the famous Bamako nightlife stylist, taken by Malick Sidibé; a photo series and a video by the Lebanese artist Walid Raad, whose work, which captures the essence of the contemporary history of his country, was not yet represented in the museum’s collections. The museum has also acquired a welcome surprise: the archives of the unjustly neglected French photographer Rémy Duval, for which the museum, built in 1937, provides the perfect setting. The beauty of the prints—Duval started out with Laure Albin-Guillot—display an incredibly wide color palette, and the classicism of the subjects (nudes, landscapes, portraits, still lifes) combined with the modern treatment make Duval a prime example of what La Nouvelle Photographie could be like in France in the 1930s.
Read the full article on the French version of L’Oeil.
