Anaïd Demir

Art critic, curator and author, Anaïd Demir writes for art catalogs and books, and has contributed to numerous media (Le Journal des Arts, Beaux-Arts Magazine, Technikart, Radio Nova…). Co-author of the only monograph on Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-Duk (Dis-Voir, 2006), she is also the author of novels rooted in the field of art: Le Dernier jour de Jean-Michel Basquiat (Anabet, 2010), Joconde Intime (Léo Scheer-Laureli, 2011), and Maison-mère (Plon, 2022). Her latest work, Les “Suffragettes de l’art” (Beaux-Arts de Paris, 2024) recounts the struggle of women, from the end of the 19th century, to obtain the right to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

1925: Odette Pauvert’s artistic career took off in the glitter of the Élysée Palace, where this shy, frail brunette, the first woman to win the Grand Prix de Rome for painting, was invited to the dinner given for the occasion. The following year, the 23-year-old artist stayed at Villa Medici in Rome, where she had a secret love affair with another student in her class. Caught between her artistic vocation and her life as a wife and mother, Odette Pauvert struggled to exist on an art scene that gave privilege to men. At Villa Medici, the author follows in the artist’s footsteps and retraces her journey, based on the artist’s works and photographs.