Art Exhibits 2016 [1]
ONGOING EXHIBITIONS
Of Gold and Silver - Discovering Gaulish Coinage
Marseille (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur)
Préau des Accoules
October 21, 2015 to May 21, 2016
preau-des-accoules.marseille.fr [2]
The coin is such a familiar object, but is always worth exploring. Based on a selection of Gaulish coins of great visual and aesthetic interest, this exhibit looks at the monetary system as well as the history it reveals: the story of tribes and their trades.
Borders
Paris
Musée de l’Histoire de l’immigration
November 10, 2015 to May 29, 2016
www.histoire-immigration.fr [3]
This exhibition attempts to understand the role and contemporary issues of borders in the world and to trace the special stories of those who cross them today.
Robert Capa and Color
Tours (Loire Valley)
Château de Tours with the Jeu de Paume
November 21, 2015 to May 29, 2016
www.jeudepaume.org [4]
For the first time ever, Robert Capa's color photographs are being put on display, many never before printed or seen. Better known for his masterful black-and-white images, Capa also worked in color from 1941 until his death in 1954.
Beasts of War
Marseille (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur)
Palais Longchamp - Museum of Natural History (Muséum d’histoire naturelle)
October 16, 2015 to June 19, 2016
www.museum-marseille.org [5]
As part of the First World War commemorations, this exhibition is dedicated to the millions of animals caught in the hostilities. Historic documents, literary excerpts, original photographs, audiovisual documentation and stuffed animals allow for an understanding of the war's impact on animals and nature.
Founding Myths: from Hercules to Darth Vader
Paris
Louvre Museum, La Petite Galerie du Louvre, Richelieu
October 17, 2015 to July 4, 2016
www.louvre.fr [6]
Illustrators, sculptors, painters, puppeteers, filmmakers and musicians have always drawn inspiration from myths, giving them form and bringing them to life. This exhibition displays some 70 artworks and looks at creation myths, nature's cycles, mythological heroes and modern-day interpretations of myths and metamorphoses.
Masterpieces from Africa in the Dapper Museum collection
Paris
Musée Dapper
September 30, 2015 to July 17, 2016
www.dapper.fr [7]
Approximately 130 of the world's most important works of African art – pieces of outstanding form and beauty representative of the great cultures of Africa – have been brought together for the first time. Some have no equal, like certain sculptures from Gabon, Cameroon, Benin and Mali.
André Masson, an Homage to Varian Fry
Marseille (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur)
Cantini Museum
November 2015 to July 2016
musee-cantini.marseille.fr [8]
Through the automatic drawings and sand pictures of Surrealist artist André Masson, tribute is paid to American humanist Varian Fry. Appointed by 'The Emergency Rescue Committee,' a private American humanitarian organization that aided anti-Nazi refugees, Fry spent 13 months in France and, through a vast, partly underground network, played a decisive role in helping over 2,000 people escape from Vichy France.
All About Dinosaurs: A Journey from the Jurassic to the Cretaceous
Paris
Palais de la Découverte
September 29, 2015 to August 16, 2016
www.palais-decouverte.fr [9]
Seven animatronic dinosaurs – from the giant Camarasaurus and wild Tarbosaurus to the little-known Gallimimus – 60 fossils, real dinosaur bones, plant casts and a sequence of videos fill out two immersive, scientifically accurate, natural habitats, one from the Jurassic period and the other from the Cretaceous.
What Remains of the Great War?
World Peace Centre (Centre Mondial de la Paix)
Verdun (Meuse)
June 14, 2014 to December 11, 2018
www.cmpaix.eu [10]
This exhibition, an enhancement of the Verdun Memorial, aims to explain the impact of the Great War on the 20th and 21st centuries in Europe and the rest of the world. The drama and the importance of conflict will be felt through modern technologies (3D, augmented reality, video).
The Jews in Europe After the Shoah
Paris
Mémorial de la Shoah
January to April 2016
www.memorialdelashoah.org [11]
The exhibition focuses on the persecution of the Jews in France, from the rise of antisemitism in Europe through until the end of the Second World War,
Nicolas Tourte - Twilight State
Roubaix (Hauts-de-France)
January 12 to May 8, 2016
www.roubaix-lapiscine.com [12]
For the World War I's commemoration, 11 artists relieve each other
Gustave Moreau - Georges Rouault. Studio Memories
Paris
Musée national Gustave Moreau
Janvier 27 to April 25, 2016
en.musee-moreau.fr [13]
After huge successes in Tokyo and Matsumoto, Japan, this exhibition returns to its roots. Georges Rouault was one of Gustave Moreau's favorite students at the arts academy. Rouault eventually became the first curator of the Gustave Moreau National Museum.
Morris - Lucky Luke
Angoulême
Musée de la bande dessinée d’Angoulême
January 28 to September 18, 2016
www.citebd.org [14]
The Comics International Festival celebrates the 70th anniversary of the famous cartoon.
Modern Bacchanalia
Bordeaux (Aquitaine)
Musée des Beaux-Arts
February 3 to May 23, 2016
www.musba-bordeaux.fr [15]
This exhibition brings together artworks – paintings, sculptures, graphic arts – from the most prestigious public collections of France to tackle the subjects of nudity, drunkenness and dance in the 19th century. Right in the city of wine, review of the use of the bacchant figure, a loyal priestess of Bacchus, demonstrates how she became a unifying and original theme.
Explorer Mars
Paris
Palais de la Découverte
February 9 to August 28, 2016
www.palais-decouverte.fr [9]
Recent explorations have taught scientists a great deal about Mars. "Explore Mars" is a novel and multi-sensory exhibition through which visitors make surprising discoveries about the reality of the conditions on Mars – the winds, the fog, the sand, the air – and how they compare to those on earth.
Mashups
Paris
Grand Palais
March 2 to July 4, 2016
www.grandpalais.fr [16]
More than 150 works of art (by Boucher, Giacometti, Rembrandt, Man Ray and Annette Messager, among others) have been assembled for no other reason than their formal or figurative affinity. The idea is to set aside traditional definitions and create the kind of visual poetry that teaches about the senses and the surprises that inspire art.
Chagall: Midsummer Night’s Dreams
Baux-de-Provence
Carrières de Lumières
March 4, 2016 to January 8, 2017
carrieres-lumieres.com [17]
Produced by Culturespaces with the assistance of the Comité Marc Chagall, and created by Gianfranco Iannuzzi, Renato Gatto and Massimiliano Siccardi with the musical collaboration of Luca Longobardi, this new audio-visual show offers audiences a remarkable opportunity to discover the impressive oeuvre of Marc Chagall, an artist of Russian origin who obtained French nationality in 1937.
Marc Chagall and Music
Nice (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur)
Musée national Marc Chagall
March 5 to June 13, 2016
www.musee-chagall.fr [18]
Chagall was fascinated by the theme of music and musicians; he designed the sets and costumes for several ballets, and completed great works of art for the Opéra de Paris and the Metropolitan Opera of New York. But he also loved music itself and, while he was alive, pushed for the creation and regular use of an auditorium in his museum. This exhibit reveals Chagall's intimate appreciation for music.
Hubert Robert, 1733-1808
Paris
Louvre Museum, Hall Napoléon Bas, Richelieu
March 7 to May 30, 2016
www.louvre.fr [6]
Known fondly as "Robert des ruines" because of his penchant for painting ancient ruins, Hubert Robert was regarded during his lifetime as one of France's most successful and prominent artists. In this first monographic exhibition showcasing Robert's full achievement as a draftsman and painter, some 50 paintings and 50 drawings will chart his development in Rome and subsequent high level of accomplishment after his return to Paris.
Picasso. Sculptures
Paris
Musée Picasso
March 8 to September 18, 2016
www.museepicassoparis.fr [19]
Occupying the Hôtel Salé's ground and first floors, thus providing the sculptures display in the museum's largest and most beautiful spaces, the project’s intention is to reveal to the public a little-studied aspect of Picasso’s sculptural work: its multiform dimension. This will be shown through series and variations, casts, reproductions and enlargements, based on a selection of original sculptures.
Yoko Ono: Light
Lyon (Rhone-Alps)
Musée d’Art contemporain
March 9 to July 10, 2016
www.mac-lyon.com [20]
The entire museum will be turned over to the experimental and interactive work of Yoko Ono. This first French retrospective – a grand collection of performances, installations, films and much more – presents Ono's undertakings from 1952 and today.
Barbie
Paris
Les Arts Decoratifs
March 10 to September 18, 2016
www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr [21]
This is the first time that Barbie has received such an unconditional invitation by a French museum. Known for its design, fashion, toy and advertising collections, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs is the ideal venue to pay tribute to this iconic doll, whose story has many dimensions and has made an indelible mark on the socio-cultural history of toys in the 20th and 21st centuries. 700 Barbie dolls are thus deployed on 1500 m2, next to works from the collections of the Museum (dolls, gowns), but also works by contemporary artists, documents (newspapers, photos, video) that contextualize the « Barbie’s lives ».
Delacroix as a Model
Paris
Louvre Museum
March 16, 2016 to August 1, 2016
www.louvre.fr [22]
This exceptional exhibition, presented in the painter’s private studio, is an opportunity to show some recent acquisitions for the first time, including the magnificent interpretation of Women of Algiers in their Apartment by Henri Fantin-Latour (1836–1904), acquired in 2015 thanks to a generous donation from the Société des Amis d’Eugène Delacroix.
Normandy, the Open-Air Studio
Paris
Musée Jacquemart-André
March 18 to July 25, 2016
www.musee-jacquemart-andre.com [23]
By way of 40 paintings, including those of Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Boudin and Gauguin, this exhibition aims to evoke the decisive role played by Normandy in the emergence of the Impressionist movement. It also shows just how much the landscapes and, above all, the luminosity of Normandy were crucial in the attraction that this region exercised over all the masters of Impressionism.
Le Douanier Rousseau: Archaic Candor
Paris
Musée d’Orsay
March 22 to July 17, 2016
www.musee-orsay.fr [24]
This exhibition compares Le Douanier Rousseau's painting with several of his sources of inspiration, which included both academic painting and new painting, and with the avant-garde artists who enthroned him as the father of modernity. Archaic Candor is a critical investigation of his art based on a consideration of the notion of archaism.
Gustave Caillebotte, Painter and Gardener
Giverny (Normandy)
Musée des impressionnismes
March 24 to July 3, 2016
www.mdig.fr [25]
Caillebotte, long considered a wealthy amateur painter, collector and the patron of his Impressionist friends, is today seen as one of the group’s major figures. A large part of his work was dedicated to gardens. Some 100 paintings, drawings and sculptures will reveal many inspirations for his art, from the Paris of Baron Haussmann to Yerres, from the Seine to Le Petit Gennevilliers and his garden, and his relationship with Monet.
The Velvet Underground
Paris
Philharmonie de Paris
March 30 to August 21, 2016
www.philharmoniedeparis.fr [26]
For the 50th anniversary of the mythic “Banana Album,” this exhibition shares the legacy of the Velvet Underground, the illustrious but short-lived band (1965-1970) that marked a major turning point in the history of music.
Soulages - Papers
Antibes
Musée Picasso
April 2 to June 26, 2016
www.antibesjuanlespins.com [27]
Papers from publique and private art pieces from Solanges museum and from pieces of the artist too.
Poussin and God
Paris
Louvre Museum
April 2 to June 29, 2016
www.louvre.fr [22]
To mark the 350th anniversary of the artist's death in 1665, this exhibition at the Musée du Louvre sets out to review possible Christian readings of Poussin's painting and one of his signature features: his merging of the antique and Christian notions of the sacred.
In the Studio: Artists Photographed, from Ingres to Jeff Koons
Paris
Musée du Petit Palais
April 5 to July 17, 2016
www.petitpalais.paris.fr [28]
Since the creation of photography, photographers have been fascinated by artists' studios and have continuously explored these places in which art is crafted. Never before has an exhibit dealt so spectacularly with studio photography. Approximately 300 images bring viewers as close to the creative process for artist from Ingres to Jeff Koons via Picasso, Matisse and many more.
Paul Klee, Irony at Work
Paris
Centre Pompidou
April 6 to August 1, 2016
www.centrepompidou.fr [29]
Approximately 250 pieces of art have been gathered from the largest international collections for this Paul Klee retrospective. The renewed focus on this great artists of the first half of the 20th century is with a new review of his work in mind, one that focuses on romantic irony and its corollaries, satire and parody.
Eva Jospin: Panorama
Paris
Louvre
April 12 to August 28, 2016
www.louvre.fr [30]
Displayed atop the central fountain of the Louvre’s Cour Carrée, Eva Jospin’s Panorama is designed as an architectural artwork in itself. Its external mirror-polished steel walls reflect the stony aspect of Paris and the façades of the Louvre palace.The public is invited to enter the structure to enjoy a 360° panorama that will plunge them into an immersive plant realm, echoing the world of forests and caves.
Urban Changes
Paris
Cité des sciences
April 12, 2016 to January 1, 2017
www.cite-sciences.fr [31]
Today, more than half the world's population lives in cities, a proportion that is still increasing. This exhibit examines the urban challenges of aging populations, climate change, new technologies and more. And examines the means at cities' disposal for adapting.
Mara Hoata: Art and Society in the Marquesas Islands
Paris
Musée du Quai Branly, Galerie Jardin
April 12 to July 24, 2016
www.quaibranly.fr [32]
An assemblage of 300 works of art demonstrates the degree to which artists have been fascinated by the Marquesas Islands, drawn in by the cultural influence of these islands on history over several centuries.
Between Sculpture and Photography
Paris
Musee Rodin
April 12 to July 17, 2016
www.musee-rodin.fr [33]
Responding to the singular place of photography in Auguste Rodin’s work, and following on from the Mapplethorpe Rodin exhibition in 2014, the Musée Rodin continues to explore the fruitful relationship between sculpture and photography.
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
Scenes of Impressionist Life
Rouen (Normandy)
Musée des Beaux-Arts
April 16 to September 26, 2016
www.mbarouen.fr [34]
Portraiture lies at the heart of this display of about 100 paintings by Manet, Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Degas, Caillebotte, Fantin-Latour, Morisot, Cassat and many more. Sculptures, photographs and personal letters too will help lift the veil on the personal worlds of the great masters. This exhibition of masterworks will also shed light on major developments in French society during the 19th century in terms of the status of women and children, and the role of the artist.
Frits Thaulow, Landscapist by Nature
Caen (Normandy)
Musée des Beaux Arts
April 16 to September 26, 2016
mba.caen.fr [35]
This is the first retrospective of the work of Frits Thaulow (1847-1906), leader of the Norwegian painters in France during the Impressionist and Postimpressionist years. A cousin of Edvard Munch and the brother-in-law of Gauguin, Thaulow adopted nature as his central theme, and his body of work is characterized by "pleinairisme" and "atmospheric" painting that does not abandon the ecological and humanist vision of the countryside typical of Scandinavian culture. The exhibition also looks at Thaulow’s European and American career and the generation of artists affected by his genius, including Monet, who traveled to Norway in 1895.
The Studio of Light: Portrait of Eugène Boudin
Musée d’Art Moderne André Malraux
Le Havre (Normandy)
April 16 to September 26, 2016
www.muma-lehavre.fr [36]
Throughout his life Eugène Boudin was a writer. His letters, notebooks, journals and even a short autobiography tell us about the man, his relationships, his profession and his artistic ambitions. This exhibit will compare approximately 100 works (watercolors, pastels, drawings, paintings) of this pioneer of Impressionism with the thoughts and aspirations contained in his writings, many of which deal with his desire to master the depiction of natural light.
Living in Camp
Paris
Cité de l’Architecture, Galerie Haute
April 19 to August 29, 2016
www.citechaillot.fr [37]
At this time of global crisis, there's good reason to ask about how to live in less traditional ways – in unsanitary and inhospitable conditions, with total freedom and only what's immediately at hand. This exhibit is about the architectures of nomads, travelers, exiles, the hapless, conquerors and protesters.
Gus Van Sant
Paris
Cinémathèque française
April 20 to July 31, 2016
www.cinematheque.fr [38]
In this first exhibit about the famous American film director, Van Sant's ability to alternate between independent projects and popular mainstream movies is made clear. His trilogy of films about youth and death (Gerry, Elephant, Last Days), started in the year 2000, is the work of someone unafraid to experiment with form or of creating poetic and metaphysical scenes.
Picasso, " A Genius Without a Pedestal"
Marseille (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur)
MuCEM
April 27 to August 29, 2016
www.mucem.org [39]
The MuCEM presents a major exhibition of 270 works demonstrating how Picasso, both established in his era and attached to his roots, nurtured his influences stemming from the popular arts and traditions. The exhibition itinerary, divided into four parts, mirrors the artist’s masterpieces with reference-objects from the rich collections of the MuCEM. The exhibition brings together essential and iconic works, placed in perspective with surprising discoveries.
Eastern Gardens
Paris
Institut du Monde Arabe
April to September 2016
www.imarabe.org [40]
This comprehensive history of gardens and cities from Antiquity to the present day folds in all the latest innovations and spans multiple locations, from the Iberian Peninsula to the Arab-Muslim world to the Indian subcontinent. A special 20,000-square-foot popup garden is planned for the forecourt of the institute.
Charles Gleyre, 1806-1874: The Reformed Romantic
Paris
Musée d’Orsay
May 10 to September 11, 2016
www.musee-orsay.fr [24]
To date, France has never devoted a solo exhibition to Charles Gleyre. Yet he was a major figure in academy painting in Paris in the mid-19th century. Research into the history of art draws attention to the important role played by his studio, which gave us artists like Jean-Léon Gérôme, Claude Monet and Fréderic Bazille.
Contemporary art – JR at the Louvre
Paris
Louvre Museum
May 25 to June 28,2016
www.louvre.fr [22]
JR has chosen the biggest gallery in the world to showcase his art: public spaces. For some ten years now, the artist’s monumental photographic collages have been popping up on the walls of cities in all four corners of the globe. “The most important thing,” he explains, “is where I put my photos and the meaning they take on depending on the place”.
Face to face : Glances at dis(re)figurement
Péronne (Picardy)
Museum of the Great War
June 22 to November 11 2016
www.historial.org [41]
From the history of the «Broken Faces», these disfigured fighters of the First World War, «Face to Face» will allow the development of medical thought and medical practices to be recalled, using documents and items chosen in studied collections of a few illustrious surgeons of the Great War.
Stay Alive by Michael Houellebecq
Paris
Palais de Tokyo
June 23 to September 11, 2016
www.palaisdetokyo.com [42]
This is not a show “about” Michel Houellebecq, but a show “by” Michel Houellebecq, demonstrating how the writer has produced a form that contributes to the reinvention of exhibitions, by mixing up literature, photography and cinema, between fact and fiction.
Being Young at the Time of the Impressionists (1860-1910)
Musée Eugène Boudin
Honfleur (Normandy)
June 25 to October 3, 2016
www.musee-eugene-boudin.com [43]
This display of both portraits and genre scenes will round out an understanding of what it meant to be young, especially in Normandy, during the years 1860-1910. The classical traditions of portraiture stemming from the 18th century – such as imagining the subject of a painting as a mythological or religious hero – will be represented, as will, at the other extreme, the aesthetic novelties of naturalism. Impressionism, the link between the two extremes, will also sit in the mix.
Backstage
Le Havre (Normandy)
Muséum d'histoire naturelle
July 4, 2015 to April 30, 2016
www.museum-lehavre.fr [44]
Le Muséum is offering a new way to discovery its heritage: an exhibit of more than 200 objects from its collection, some never shared before, all grouped according to contrasting themes: small/large, unique/multiple, visible/invisible, secular/sacred, here/elsewhere, appearance/disappearance, complete, incomplete, known/unknown and yesterday/today.
Sorolla and the Paris Years
Giverny (Normandy)
Musée des impressionnismes
July 14 to November 6, 2016
www.mdig.fr [45]
From his very first show in Paris in 1906, Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla was a resounding success and began establishing his international reputation. This new exhibition of approximately 100 paintings, including 50 oil sketches featuring landscapes, portraits and beach scenes, will demonstrate how he created a surprising and innovative style.
Great Rembrandt!
Paris
Musée Jacquemart-André
September 16, 2016 to January 23, 2017
www.musee-jacquemart-andre.com [23]
The first part of the exhibition is dedicated to the Leyden period (1625-1631), when Rembrandt came into his own as a painter, while the second part focuses on Rembrandt’s years of triumph in Amsterdam (1631-1635). It will enable visitors to grasp the evolution of Rembrandt’s art, highlighting the artist’s perfect mastery of technique, light and shadow, and psychology.
René Magritte, the Treachery of Images
Paris
Centre Pompidou
September 18, 2016 to January 9, 2017
www.centrepompidou.fr [29]
This new René Magritte retrospective, the first since 1979, redeploys his body of work according to five new thematic areas: fire, shade, curtains, words and split bodies. Following the threads of these themes, the exhibition unveils the deep reflections of the artist around the issues of likeness and realism,, and showcases his work on misrepresentations of the world.
The Spectacular Second Empire, 1852-1870
Paris
Musée d'Orsay
September 27, 2016 to January 16, 2017
www.musee-orsay.fr [46]
To celebrate its 30th anniversary in autumn 2016, the Musée d’Orsay is looking at the entertainments and festivities of the Second Empire and at the different "stages" on which our modernity was invented.
Oscar Wilde, Completely Cheeky
Paris
Musée du Petit Palais
September 28, 2016 to January 15, 2017
www.palais-decouverte.fr [9]
Here's a staging of Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) – in his life and in his work. He was a great writer of perfect English, who nevertheless chose French for his play Salomé, the title role of which he intended for Sarah Bernhardt.
Hergé
Paris
Grand Palais
September 28, 2016 to January 15, 2017
www.grandpalais.fr [47]
There is no longer any need to present the career of Georges Remi, known as Hergé, Belgian cartoonist best known for The Adventures of Tintin. Often referred to as "the father of the European comic strip", he was one of the first French-speaking authors to use American-style comic strip with speech bubbles.
Ten Centuries of Sea Adventures Between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean
Paris
Institut du monde arabe
Autumn to winter 2016
www.imarabe.org [40]
An embrace of the travels undertaken (and travel routes used) by sailors, adventurers and merchants, all hitting the road in search of fortunes to build, souls to be converted and discoveries to be made.
Albert Besnard, 1849-1934. Belle Epoque Modernities
Paris
Musée du Petit Palais
October 25, 2016 to January 22, 2017
www.petitpalais.paris.fr [28]
The first painter to receive the honor of a state funeral, Albert Besnard was late to embrace symbolism, but a champion of turn-of-the-century women's curves, a portraitist and muralist. His life merits further review.
Richard Avedon
Paris
French National Library (Bibliothèque national de France)
October 2016 to January 2017
www.bnf.fr [48]
The American fashion and portrait photographer Richard Avedon achieved enduring international fame. This show covers the whole of his portfolio, from his Vietnam War images to his closeups of Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot and Sophia Loren.
Picasso-Giacometti
Paris
Musée Picasso
October 2016 to January 2017
www.museepicassoparis.fr [19]
This exhibition will bring to light the formal, friendly or iconographic interactions between Alberto Giacometti and Pablo Picasso. Focus will be placed on a particular theme illustrating the links between them, while confronting the multidisciplinary domains of creation and approaches used by Picasso and Giacometti: painting, sculpture, graphic art.
Rodin. The Gates of Hell
Paris
Musée Rodin
October 17, 2016 to January 22, 2017
www.musee-rodin.fr [33]
The Musée Rodin is giving special focus to Rodin's world-famous sculpture, called the The Gates of Hell (La Porte de l'Enfer), which was unique in Rodin’s oeuvre. Working feverishly on this project for several years, he created over 200 figures and groups that formed a breeding ground for ideas which he drew on for the rest of his working life. Also on view will be L'Homme au serpent (1887), which hasn't be displayed in public since its sale at auction in 1914.
Major Works from the Serguëi Chtchoukine Collection
Paris
Fondation Louis-Vuitton
Autumn 2016
www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr [49]
This international exhibition of masterpieces from the private collection of the great Russian collector Serguëi Chtchoukine includes Impressionists and Postimpressionists like Monet, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Picasso and Matisse, normally on loan to the Hermitage Museum and Pushkin Museum. Chtchoukine was one of the biggest collectors in art history.