From modern and classical art exhibitions to historical revivals and innovative formats… Paris's museums are promising some exciting discoveries with their exhibitions for the start of the 2024 academic year. Here's a quick rundown of what you don't want to miss!
Every new season brings its own fascinating exhibitions. This autumn 2024, we'll be wandering the aisles of the Musée d'Orsay, which has two wonderful exhibitions in store for us. « Gustave Caillebotte. Peindre les hommes » from 8 October 2024 to 19 January 2025 will highlight male figures, one of his favourite subjects, to mark the 130th anniversary of his death. The former station transformed into a museum will also be showcasing the Norwegian painter Harriet Backer, known for her use of colour, on the theme of "The Music of Colours" from 24 September 2024 to 12 January 2025. There's plenty to discover alongside the permanent collection.
For its part, the George Pompidou Centre will be celebrating 100 years of Surrealism with a major exhibition from 4 September 2024 to 13 January 2025: Salvador Dali, René Magritte, Dorothea Tanning, Tatsuo Ikeda, Giorgio de Chirico, Leonora Carrington, Max Ernst, Helen Lundeberg, Joan Miro... The greatest masters will be revealed in 14 chapters. It's a not-to-be-missed opportunity to (re)discover Beaubourg's permanent collection, which will then be closed for 5 years of renovation.
To continue to feast your eyes, head to the Louis Vuitton Foundation for an immersion in the Pop-Art artistic movement with the exhibition "Pop Forever, Tom Wesselmann &..." or to the Paris Picasso Museum for a retrospective on "Jackson Pollock, the early years" from 15 October 2024 to 19 January 2025.
The great classics are all very nice, but perhaps you'd prefer to get off the beaten track? That's what the Bourse de Commerce is proposing with its "Arte Povera" exhibition from 9 October 2024 to 27 January 2024. This Italian artistic movement of the 1960s remains relatively unknown, even though its proud representatives include artists such as Giovanni Anselmo, Alighiero Boetti, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Luciano Fabro, Jannis Kounellis, Giulio Paolini, Pino Pascali, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Emilio Prini and Gilberto Zorio, all of whom will be featured in this exhibition.
For its part, the Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac Museum will be opening new horizons this autumn with its eagerly awaited exhibition "Zombis: la mort n'est pas une fin?" from 8 October 2024 to 16 February 2025. From the history of beliefs and the rites of Haitian voodoo to historical and anthropological elements, to today's vision of the zombie, it's the perfect way to learn and thrill.
Fashion is not left out this season with the launch of the Palais Galliera's new exhibition. This season, the Paris fashion museum is offering a majestic retrospective on hatmaker Stephen Jones from 19 October 2024 to 16 March 2025. Some 400 works, including 170 hats, 40 complete silhouettes and drawings, photos and videos, will be on show, tracing the career of this designer who worked with some of the biggest names in fashion, including Jean-Paul Gaultier, Vivienne Westwood, Thierry Mugler and Christian Dior. For its part, the Yves Saint Laurent Museum will be organising a joint exhibition between Paris and Marrakech on the theme of Yves Saint Laurent's Flowers, a theme dear to his creativity. In Paris, the exhibition will be punctuated by pieces by American artist Sam Falls. A poetic stroll with a gentle hint of spring.
Photography is increasingly taking pride of place in Paris museums. This autumn, don't miss the chance to plunge into the world of Tina Barney at the Family Ties exhibition, which looks back over 40 years of the photographer's career, from 28 September 2024 to 19 January 2025 at the Jeu de Paume. A total of 55 large-scale prints by the artist have been selected for this retrospective, the largest European exhibition devoted to her to date. While it focuses mainly on family relationships and the human figure, the Fondation Henri-Cartier Bresson is devoting an exhibition to another style of photography: Stephen Shore's "Vehicular & Vernacular" landscapes. Some one hundred photographs taken between 1969 and 2021 in North America by the photographer are on show until 15 September 2024 in this, the artist's first retrospective in Paris for nineteen years. Two exhibitions that will undoubtedly take us on a journey.
From 28 September 2024 to 19 January 2025, the Jeu de Paume will also be staging a never-before-seen retrospective devoted to the Belgian filmmaker, artist and writer Chantal Akerman. In addition to exhibits exploring the artist's biography, films, installations, writings and favourite locations, the venue will also be organising events such as readings and meetings in tribute to the filmmaker. For its part, the Cinémathèque will be offering visitors a chance to immerse themselves in the rich and creative world of James Cameron through its exhibition "The Art of James Cameron", which will be open until 12 January 2025. It's an opportunity for film fans to find out more about the amazing complexity of the genius of the 7th art.
Lovers of the history of Paris will find something to suit them at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and the Cité de l'Architecture, which are devoting an exhibition to "The Birth of Department Stores", from 10 April to 13 October 2024 at the MAD and from 16 October 2024 to 16 March 2025 at the Cité de l'Architecture. The first part of this double exhibition at the MAD looks back at their creation and advent during the Belle Époque between 1852 and 1925, while the presentation at the Cité de l'Architecture focuses more on heritage and architecture, offering visitors the chance to discover shops outside Paris too.
Paris City Hall is devoting a fun, immersive exhibition to the city of today, while the Musée Carnavalet, which specialises in the history of Paris, will be revisiting a darker part of its history with its exhibition "1793-1794, a revolutionary year" from 16 October 2024 to 16 February 2025. 250 items (paintings, sculptures, decorative art, posters, furniture, etc.) will be on display to explain this pivotal year.
To find out more about two-wheeled transport, visit the Pavillon de l'Arsenal, where the exhibition "À Vélo, Paris Métropole 1818-2030" looks at the development of this mode of transport from a social and urban point of view, until 29 September 2024. And to get there, take your bike of course! In Versailles, the history of the Château will be told in the new Galerie de l'Histoire du Château from 21 September.
For something different from the ‘classic’ exhibitions, head to the Château de Vincennes for the Château de Lumières digital art festival from 18 October to 2 November 2024, to the Grandes Serres in the Jardin des Plantes for "Tropical Autumn: Drawing Botany", a living exhibition in nature from 17 October to 25 November 2024, or to the Atelier des Lumières for a journey through "The Egypt of the Pharaohs, from Khéops to Ramsès II’ or the land of the "Orientalists" until 25 January 2025.
