Jean Frémon's 'Rue du regard' Explores Art and Storytelling

Jean Frémon's book 'Rue du regard', published by P.O.L., collects invented and recounted stories united by a passion for observing the world and turning it into images. Frémon, known for his novels, poems, essays, and art writings, examines narrative as an intertwining of life and reverie, constantly assembling puzzle pieces. He opens Mondrian's studio, fascinated by pencil shavings; notes Pontormo's penchant for eggs in all forms; and points out the incongruity of a dog lifting its leg against a stable pillar in Titian's 'Adoration of the Magi' at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana. He recalls Gilles Aillaud remembering his grandmother's potatoes while painting elephants, Alberto Giacometti seeking light in his model's gaze, Picasso visited by the devil, and Géricault contemplating an old nag for twelve days to internalize horses. The book's resonance stems from the singularity of its insights, subtlety of approaches, and effective writing. Frémon gives each text its own rhythm and density within a network of correspondences where truth and falsehood, anecdote and imagination balance through audacious mastery. Didier Arnaudet reviewed the work.