Just as many writers say they have learned to read better by starting to write, François Halard has certainly honed his spectating skills by discovering photography. Halard’s precocious taste for certain objects, artworks and houses began a movement that has taken him around the world— from Palladian palaces to New York lofts, from the haunted houses of Tangiers to artists’ dens. A continuous quest not explained merely by the urge to push open doors, nor by aesthetic curiosity. François Halard’s photographs are an ongoing exploration—a little like the child who, when visiting a château, pays less attention to the bed’s canopy than to the small door beside it, concealed by drapes.

Vincent Huguet

The photographs of François Halard highlight the conversation that he has been orchestrating for some years between artists, their work and their living environments. In black and white and sometimes in colour, he photographs the worlds of Cy Twombly, James Brown, Julian Schnabel, Robert Rauschenberg and Miguel Barceló. Fascinated by these artists’ houses, he strips them bare. They then provide him with inspiration. In this exhibition, François Halard stages photographs, objects and artworks in a sort of ideal studio.