Hector Obalk, art critic and stand-upper, presents his show “The whole history of painting in less than two hours”

Hector … a hero’s first name from ancient Greece, related to Pâris de surcrôit.

Perched on his chariot, Hector takes us on a fantastic ride through seven centuries of masterpieces of European painting.

Breathtaking and brilliant.
I had fun, more than in the museum, by frolicking from muse to muse with the mischievous Hector.

It is also a very contemporary show. Hector Obalk, historian and art critic, turns out to be a performer, a showman with a real talent as a humorist.

Telling the history of painting in 2h15, a real challenge!
This is the challenge of Hector Obalk who, in a way both learned and funny, presents us with a fireworks display of masterpieces retracing the evolution of painting from the 14th to the 20th century, from Giotto to Yves Klein, from the Renaissance to abstract art.

In the background, a giant screen on which are projected the photos of 4000 paintings, well known or not, all in very high definition, which allows you to zoom in the image and reveal amazing details in an impressive way.

And on stage, a violinist, a cellist and a singer, to take us to music on a prodigious journey back in time, through the history of European art.

Passionate and fascinating expert, Hector Obalk comments, with humor and brio, the evolution of techniques over the last seven centuries, the favorite subjects of painters, the different fashions, fashionable “manners” …

The author’s relaxed tone helps desacralize art and art criticism by making them accessible.
He mixes fantasy, academic criticism, personal points of view, while constantly interacting with the public.

“In front of excellence, we have to have fun, not curtsy,” says Hector Obalk.
“I am art criticism within art history and I like to convey taste rather than knowledge,” he adds.
… “Painting for Dummies”? … “Tintin at the Grand Masters” … a Fabrice Luchini, a Raymond Devos …. In any case, a remarkable educational popularization work by an eminent specialist in pictorial art who made the bet of ‘analyze the ceiling of the Sistine, famous Vatican chapel, Michelangelo’s masterpiece, after having obtained permission to install a twelve-meter high scaffolding to capture the smallest details of this famous work !!

And there are many museums where he went to photograph paintings.

With Raphaël PERRAUD on cello, alternating with Florent CARRIÈRE, Pablo SCHATZMAN on violin, alternating with You-Jung HAN,
Author and director: Hector OBALK

Next dates:
Festival Off d’Avignon 2021 – Théâtre de la Condition des Soies, July 6 to 23, at 4:30 p.m. (break on Mondays)
This show was performed on June 13, 2021 at the Olympia and has already attracted more than 25,000 spectators.
It will be picked up at the Atelier and at La Cigale at the start of the school year.
Théâtre de l’Atelier, Paris, July 24, 25 and 26, 2021. July 24 at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., Sunday 25 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. and Monday July 26 at 8:30 p.m.
Other times: every Monday, at 8:30 p.m., from September, at least until the end of January 2022.
Sunday November 14, at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., at La Cigale

Historian and showman, Hector Obalk is the director of the documentary series GRAND-ART broadcast on arte (23 episodes), columnist for the newspaper ELLE for 20 years, author of ANDY WARHOL IS NOT A GREAT ARTIST (Champs Flammarion, 1991), CORRESPONDENCE BY MARCEL DUCHAMP (Ludion, 2000), AIMER VOIR / Comment one looks at a painting (Hazan, 2011), MICHEL-ANGE (in two volumes, Hazan; 2017 and 2019).

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