Paris always offers a superb choice of art expositions at all of its museums – large and small – throughout the city.  A visit to Paris is never complete without a stop to see the latest show at the Grand Palais or the Musée d’Orsay, or a smaller show in your own favorite museum.  Last spring, I was introduced to Chris Boïcos, the founder of Paris Art Studies, who organizes guided lectures in English to many of these exhibits as well as giving art lectures at his own apartment.  He is erudite in his knowledge of the history of art but also thoroughly understandable to the layman.  He is an excellent lecturer.  This winter I attended a guided visit with Chris of the Andy Warhol show at the Musée d’Art Moderne where I learned much about Warhol’s famous “Factory” as well as his own enormous personal ambitions and business driven goals.

I also was riveted by a fascinating tour of “The Dresses of Countess Greffulhe” at the beautiful Palais Galliera, the museum of fashion, which was led by Chris’ colleague and fashion design expert, Dimitri Papalexis.  The Countess of Greffulhe was the inspiration for the Duchesse de Guermantes in Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time” and this gorgeous exhibition was a Proustian madeleine of the fashion splendor of the Gilded Age.  By consulting the website below, you can obtain the details of the monthly museum guided visits at a charge of around 25 euros, plus exact change for the museum ticket.

For lovers of art history, Chris also gives slide lectures on themes of various époques in his art filled home in the 10^th arrondissement.  Last December, he concluded an 8-week series on “Symbolism and the Belle Époque: the Portrait in the Late Nineteenth Century”.  In January and February of 2016, he continued this series with “The Belle Époque II:  the Portrait in Europe 1890 – 1920” with four additional lectures.  The lecture on Toulouse-Lautrec was entitled “The Dark Side of the Belle Époque”; it was a fascinating glimpse into the aristocratic upbringing and interior psyche of this 19^th-century artist who so memorably depicted the cabaret world of his era.  Happily, you can attend any of these lectures on an individual basis which might coincide with one of your Parisian sojourns.  The charge is 25 euros for each morning lecture; coffee or tea is offered for the preceding half hour before the presentation.

For those of us who are frustrated art scholars, Chris’ guided museum visits and lectures are just the needed cure.

Chris Boïcos
Paris Art Studies
parisartstudies.com