Summer 2018 Exhibition List Paris, France

I initially made this list for first time visitors to Paris.  It is not an exhaustive list and I would say that it isn’t even very adventurous, but it covers the basics.  I apologize for not including everything and this list may seem redundant and basic to most Parisians.

Laure Provost at the Palais de Tokyo

For first time visitors, there are the major “survey” museums: the Louvre for Antiquities and the Old Masters, the Orsay for 19th century paintings (from Courbet through to the Post-Impressionists, including Van Gogh, Gauguin, Bonnard, and, of course, Cézanne).  At the Orsay, this summer, their main temporary exhibition is the painting of the Symbolists in the Baltic region in the early 20th century. And the Pompidou Center for Modernism to some contemporary art.

Apart from these three main survey museums, there are quite a few temporary exhibitions going on in Paris, which is actually all the time:

1.  Gordon Matta-Clark has a small sort of retrospective at the Jeu de Paume (inside the Tuileries gardens, by the Rue de Rivoli, by the Louvre) http://www.jeudepaume.org/index.php?lang=en
2. The lyrical abstractions of Zao Wou-Ki, the Sino-French modernist master is at the Musée de l’art moderne de la ville de Paris, which is right next to the Palais de Tokyo http://www.mam.paris.fr/en/expositions/exhibitions-zao-wou-ki
3. The early work of Tintoretto is the focus of a show at the Musée du Luxembourg, right by the Senate/Luxembourg Gardens, but only until July 1      https://en.museeduluxembourg.fr/?_ga=2.138634490.85874182.1529945536-1018614474.1529945536
4. La Maison Rouge, which is a sort of Kunst Hall which will be closing its doors in the Fall, has a last hurrah through October  http://lamaisonrouge.org/en/exhibitions-currently/
5. Kupka also has a retrospective at the Grand Palais through most of July https://www.grandpalais.fr/en/event/kupka
6. At the Palais de Tokyo, Laure Provost has an installation called “Ring, sing and drink for trespassing.”  One would call this a continuation of her oneiric celebrations of all and everything: childhood, motherhood, Alice in Wonderland, HER personal narrative.  All starting with the ecological recycling of breasts in the form of a fountain,  which has garnered a series of negative reviews in the Parisian press  http://www.palaisdetokyo.com/en/event/laure-prouvost
7. And at the newish-ly minted exhibition space, in what was once the MINT of Paris, which mainly exhibits the “Art of the Conquerors,” “La Monnaie de Paris” currently is having a show of another one of its contemporary art stars, $obodh Gupta,    In fact, La Monnaie de Paris has been called “pas snob et décomplexé” by some, which in essence means that it willingly  exhibits  whatever the monied class collects and doesn’t care if it offends some sensibilities.  The true new museum in the age of Macron.  https://www.monnaiedeparis.fr/en/temporary-exhibitions/subodh-gupta

It would depend on how much time one plans to spend in Paris, but just doing the few main museums will take quite a bit of time.  Smaller museums worth a visit for someone who has more time or interest:

1.  Musée Delacroix, housed in the painter’s last home/studio in the 6th arrondissement.  With the pass to the Louvre, one has access also to this museum.  It is an intimate way to see the last few years of Delacroix’s life and there are some interesting etchings that are always shown amongst a scattering of portraits and less important paintings, as his best pieces are at the Louvre and also scattered around the world. http://www.musee-delacroix.fr/en/

2.  Musée de la vie romantique, this small museum is centered around French Romanticism and is housed in the home/garden/studio of Ari Schaefer, the 19th century “follower” of Delacroix.  It has been under renovation for a few years but  reopened on June 22.  George Sand and Chopin spent a lot of time there and the museum has the plaster casts of Chopin’s hands and death mask, if one is into that kind of thing.   http://www.museevieromantique.paris.fr/en

3.  Musée Marmottan Monet, a private collection that has quite a few Monets, including his famous “Impression Sunrise” as well as some startlingly virtuoso pieces by Berthe Morisot.  http://www.marmottan.fr/mobile/

4.  And for more recent contemporary fare, more on the “establishment/bluechip” side of the equation, there are the two foundations of the fashion and luxury conglomerates which could be interesting for some, like a peep into the cavern of Alibaba:  La Fondation Cartier https://www.fondationcartier.com/en/, and La Fondation Louis Vuitton http://www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr/en.html.

Obviously, this list can go on and on, as there are many more museums here, including the Jacquemart-André, where there is Mary Cassatt through July https://www.musee-jacquemart-andre.com/en/home, as well as the  Musée Nissim de Commando http://madparis.fr/en/museums/musee-nissim-de-camondo/, but I think I will stop here for now, as this is getting really long. 

One could spend ten years in Paris and still not have finished with all their exhibitions of art.  It is really a complete industry here.