Sarah Bernhardt - And the woman created the star

Sarah Bernhardt, (1844-1923), was an emblematic figure who spanned the 19th and 20th centuries. The “Divine Sarah”, who was an artist as well as an actress, takes centre stage at the Petit Palais in an exceptional exhibition to mark the centenary of her death.

The museum holds important collections of works linked to the actress, including the spectacular portrait of her that was painted in 1876 by her friend Georges Clairin and donated by her son Maurice With over four hundred works, the exhibition traces the life and theatrical career of this “sacred monster”, as Jean Cocteau dubbed her. A legendary performer of the greatest roles from Racine, Shakespeare, Edmond Rostand and Alexandre Dumas fils, among others, Sarah Bernhardt went from triumph to triumph in theatres all over the world.

Exhibition organised with the exceptionnal support of the French National Library.

Jean-Jacques Henner portraitist

This exhibition-file offers to (re)discover Jean-Jacques Henner's great talent as a portraitist through some thirty preparatory drawings that can sometimes be related to the final works presented in the museum's permanent exhibition.

In pencil, charcoal, tiles, and oil, these works bear witness to the diversity of the painter's activity and his ability to grasp with acuity the personality of his models (friends, professional relations, sponsors).

Pastels from Millet to Redon

In the spring of 2023, the Musée d'Orsay will be exhibiting about a hundred pastels from its collection of approximately 500 works. The last exhibition of this scale devoted to the museum's pastels, "Mystery and Radiance", dates back to 2009. This new presentation will allow the public to discover or rediscover these jewels of the collection where works by Millet, Degas, Manet, Cassatt, Redon, Lévy-Dhurmer and many others shine.

The exhibition will be structured around eight major themes highlighting the renewal of pastel painting from the second half of the 19th century. From the portrait, in the continuity of the eighteenth century, to the chimeras of the symbolist artists through the landscape or social transformations, the course will bring together many artists and will honor the works of Millet, Degas, Lévy-Dhurmer, Redon, Mary Cassatt, and many pastelists.

Odilon Redon - Le Char d'Apollon, circa 1910
Musée d'Orsay © Musée d’Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt

Doucet and Camondo: a passion for the XVIIIth century

Between 1906 and 1912, the celebrated couturier and great patron of the arts, Jacques Doucet (1853-1929), lived in a town residence built especially to house his collection of 18th century art on the Rue Spontini in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. Drawings held a particularly important place in it.

The exhibition "Doucet et Camondo: une passion pour le XVIIIe siècle" evokes the mansion through the watercolors done by the decorator Adrien Karbowsky (1855-1945) and forges the link between Doucet and Moïse de Camondo (1860-1935), who purchased some of the items in his collection from Doucet.

Adrien Karbowsky, Studies for the Salon des Pastels, longitudinal cross-section [East elevation], watercolor on tracing paper, 1.2 × 1.4 cm each, 1907, Paris, Bibliothèque de l’INHA, Jacques Doucet Collections, OA 719/15a et b. Attachment.

Manet / Degas

The Manet / Degas exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay brings together more than 150 paintings, drawings and prints from public and private collections around the world. It presents an exceptional selection of the most representative works of these two great masters, with genre paintings, portraits, scenes of daily life and ballet paintings.

It takes a new look at the complicity of the two artists, showing the heterogeneous and conflicting aspects of pictorial modernity. It also looks at the lives and artistic backgrounds of the two painters

Edgar Degas, Jeune femme à l’Ibis The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, EtatsUnis © The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Surréalisme au féminin ?

A provocative and dynamic movement, Surrealism sparked significant aesthetic changes and an ethical revolution in the twentieth century. Men were not the only driving force behind Surrealism and its transgressive orientation: many women played a decisive role in the movement, but their works were neglected by museums and undervalued by the art market.
The Musée de Montmartre is holding an exhibition that explores the extent and various forms of involvement of female artists and poets in the Surrealist movement. The exhibition itinerary will feature fifty of these women, along with almost 150 works.

The Hate of the clans.
Wars of Religion, 1559-1610

The Musée de l'Armée is devoting an exhibition to the fascinating and excessive history of the Wars of Religion.
What were the forces behind them? The stakes? The high points? The protagonists?

The exhibition retraces the unrest that divided the kingdom** between the accidental death of Henri II in 1559 and the assassination of Henri IV in 1610, which marked the end of the reign of a sovereign who was a peacemaker and promulgator of the Edict of Nantes, but who, like his predecessor, was also the victim of regicide.

Pieces of warrior equipment, portraits, archival documents and ancient works  bring to life the destinies and individual paths of the great courtiers, warlords and party leaders, who in turn supported or fought against the monarchical power. The exhibition also evokes the international echoof the Wars of Religion, from Poland to the Netherlands and even to the ephemeral colonies of the New World.