Pascal Bonafoux (born 1949) is a French writer, novelist,

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

and

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

, a specialist in

self-portrait Self-portraits are Portrait painting, portraits artists make of themselves. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, the practice of self-portraiture only gaining momentum in the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century ...

ure. He collaborates with various newspapers and magazines, he is the author of numerous essays dedicated to art and was a resident at the

French Academy in Rome The French Academy in Rome (, ) is an academy located in the Villa Medici, within the Villa Borghese, on the Pincio (Pincian Hill) in Rome, Italy. History The Academy was founded at the Palazzo Capranica in 1666 by Louis XIV under the dire ...

. He is professor of art history at Paris 8 University, and is also a curator who organises exhibitions either in France or abroad.

Biography

Bonafoux was born in Paris in 1949. After his doctoral dissertation ('Self-Portrait in Western Painting'), he resided at the

Villa Medici The Villa Medici () is a sixteenth-century Italian Mannerist villa and an architectural complex with 7-hectare Italian garden, contiguous with the more extensive Borghese gardens, on the Pincian Hill next to Trinità dei Monti in the historic ...

in Italy from 1980 to 1981, where he wrote essays for the

and fell in love with this country – the genius of

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

; the beauty of its churches and palaces; the charm of its squares, terraces and alleys. Since then, he has continued to travel the peninsula to explore its rich art and culture. From 1987 to 1988, he directed the exhibition office of , which is a delegated operator of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. He has curated various exhibitions devoted to

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artwork ...

, Renoir and

Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

, as well as those dedicated to the works of contemporary artists in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

, Dublin,

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, East Asia, et cetera. In 1988 and 1990, he chaired the jury of the first two biennials of film about art at

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

. He became a councillor of several Slovakian ministers of culture after

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

in 1989, he received the ('Prize of the Minister of Culture of the Slovak Republic') in 1991. As a journalist, he has collaborated with various newspapers and magazines, including ''

Connaissance des Arts ''Connaissance des arts'' is a monthly French art magazine devoted to the arts and their current events, published since March 1952 by the French Society for the Promotion of Art. Its headquarters are on the 10 Boulevard de Grenelle, 75015 Paris. ...

'', '' L'ŒIL'', ''

L'OBS (), previously known as (2014–2024), (1964–2014), (1954–1964), (1953–1954), and (1950–1953), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, ' is one of the three most prominent French news magazines a ...

'', '' Le Magazine Littéraire'', ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'' ... He is currently a columnist of the French magazine '. Bonafoux is also a professor who teaches art history at the Paris 8 University and has been leading conferences on topics related to art history for the reference organisation Clio, to quality audiences as well as to amateurs and the curious. He has published more than 20 books at

Éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003, it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by G ...

, including , a heavily illustrated book for the

pocket A pocket is a bag- or envelope-like receptacle either fastened to or inserted in an article of clothing to hold small items. Pockets are also attached to luggage, backpacks, and similar items. In older usage, a pocket was a separate small bag o ...

collection Collection or Collections may refer to: Computing * Collection (abstract data type), the abstract concept of collections in computer science * Collection (linking), the act of linkage editing in computing * Garbage collection (computing), autom ...

Découvertes Gallimard (, ; in United Kingdom: ''New Horizons'', in United States: ''Abrams Discoveries'') is an Collection (publishing), editorial collection of Book illustration, illustrated monographic books published by the Éditions Gallimard in Pocket edition, ...

", which was one of the bestsellers in France.

Selected publications

* ''Portraits of the Artist: The Self-Portrait in Painting'', Rizzoli International Publications, 1985 * ''Rembrandt: Self-Portrait'', Rizzoli International Publications, 1985 * ''The Impressionists: Portraits and Confidences'', Rizzoli International Publications, 1986 * ''Van Gogh : Le soleil en face'', collection «

» (nº 17), série Arts. Éditions Gallimard, 1987 ** UK edition – ''Van Gogh: The Passionate Eye'', '

New Horizons ''New Horizons'' is an Interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary space probe launched as a part of NASA's New Frontiers program. Engineered by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and the Southwest Research Institut ...

' series, Thames & Hudson, 1992 ** US edition – ''Van Gogh: The Passionate Eye'', "

Abrams Discoveries Abrams may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Abrams (surname), a list of notable people with the surname Places United States * Abrams, Wisconsin, a town * Abrams (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community * Abrams Mountain, Colorado * Abr ...

" series. Harry N. Abrams, 1992 * ''Van Gogh: Self Portraits With Accompanying Letters from Vincent to His Brother Theo'', Wellfleet Press, 1989 * ''Rembrandt : Le clair, l'obscur'', collection « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 76), série Arts. Éditions Gallimard, 1990 ** UK edition – ''Rembrandt: Substance and Shadow'', 'New Horizons' series. Thames & Hudson, 1992 ** US edition – ''Rembrandt: Master of the Portrait'', "Abrams Discoveries" series. Harry N. Abrams, 1992 * ''A Weekend with Rembrandt'', Rizzoli, 1992 * ''Van Gogh'', Konecky & Konecky, 1998 * ''Vermeer'', William S. Konecky Associates, 1999 * ''Van Gogh : L'atelier d'Arles'', collection « Découvertes Gallimard Hors série ». Éditions Gallimard, 2002 * ''Autoportraits du XX^e siècle'', collection « Découvertes Gallimard Hors série ». Éditions Gallimard, 2004 * ''Chefs-d'œuvre de la Collection Phillips'', collection « Découvertes Gallimard Hors série ». Éditions Gallimard, 2005 * With David Rosenberg, ''Louvre Game Book: Play with the Largest Museum in the World'', Assouline Publishing, 2005 * With Catherine Alestchenkoff, ''Yves Clerc'', Skira, 2008 * With Gilles Targat, ''Behind the Scenes in Versailles'', Hachette-Livre, 2010 * ''Cézanne, portrait'', Hazan, 2011 * ''Rodin & Eros'', Thames & Hudson, 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonafoux, Pascal 1949 births French curators French art critics French art historians 20th-century French writers Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Rembrandt scholars Living people