What to do in Paris in June? From the Palace of Versailles to the Arab World Institute: 5 exhibitions to visit
A sunny walk to the Palace of Versailles for an admirer of masterpieces, a trip to Algeria at the Institut du monde arabe or escapades among mischievous little princes in the gardens of the Domaine national du Palais-Royal… Knowledge of the Arts a selected for you 5 exhibition ideas to discover this weekend in Paris.
In this spring season, take advantage of the good weather to stroll through the Domaine national gardens of the Palais Royal to discover the little green princes of Fabrice Hyber or at the Palace of Versailles where majestic marbles are honoured. If the heat gets the better of your desires for outdoor escapes, don’t miss an escapade between abstract expressionism and the abstraction of Jaffe Reine at the Center Pompidou or an escape into the poetry of the enigmatic paintings of Toyen at the modern Art Museum. Or, take a detour via Algeria through 3 generations of artists at the Institut du monde arabe. Knowledge of the Arts has selected for you 5 exhibitions to visit in Paris this weekend.
1. Toyen, the poetry of painting
Conceived by the writer and poetess Annie Le Brun, this exhibition reveals an artist unknown in France, whose work seduced by her universe which is unlike any other. Born in Prague, Toyen (1902-1980) left her family at 17 to join anarchist circles and live her life as an artist. She became friends with the painter Jindrich Styrsky (1899-1942), with whom she exhibited regularly, both in her country of origin and in Paris, where she rubbed shoulders with the surrealists in the 1930s. his style, inspired by nature and tinged with eroticism. A great colorist, she likes to experiment with materials, alternately smooth or rough. Each of his paintings is an enigma. You have to take the time to enter his images, to try to pierce their mysteries and above all, to let yourself be enchanted by their poetry. Co-produced by the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, the National Gallery in Prague and the Hamburger Kunsthalle in Hamburg, this retrospective brings together one hundred and fifty paintings, drawings, collages, documents and books from museums and private collections. “I wanted to show the coherence of his trajectory, his way of questioning appearances, to translate the hidden forces of the world. Her visions are crossings of apparitions, shadows, nightmares and dreams”, explains Annie Le Brun.
“Toyen, the absolute gap”
Modern Art Museum
mam.paris.fr
from March 25 to July 24, 2022
2. Versailles, divine reunion
Died in 1715, Louis XIV had only seen a plaster version of his last major commission for the groves of the Grand Trianon, the marble group of Zéphyr et Flore. Sculpted by Philippe Bertrand and René Frémin, completed by Jacques Bousseau in 1726, this Baroque masterpiece touched by the grace of the 18th century was offered by Louis XV to the Marquis de Marigny, brother of Madame de Pompadour. In the gardens of his Château de Ménars also revealed Abundance, commissioned by Louis XV from Louis-Sigisbert Adam for the Château de Choisy. We had lost track of these two important royal marbles. They reappeared after a long investigation led by Lionel Arsac, curator at the Palace of Versailles. Acquired in 1881 at the sale of the sculptures of the Château de Ménars by Baron Alphonse de Rothschild, they joined the treasures of his famous mansion in rue Saint-Florentin. Looted by the Nazis, returned after the war, the two sculptures adorn the Hôtel Ephrussi, avenue Foch. This is where Lionel Arsac discovered them, in the gardens of the residence, which became the Angolan embassy in 1979. The Republic of Angola donated them to the castle. The exhibition replaces these two works in the context of their creation. Many works, unpublished documents revive Trianon, Choisy and Ménars and the wonder of their fabulous gardens.
“Masterpieces Found”
Castle of Versailles
www.chateauversailles.fr
from February 5 to June 5, 2022
3. Shirley Jaffe, queen of abstraction
Completed with studio notes and unpublished archives, this retrospective chronologically retraces the career of Shirley Jaffe (1923-2016), an American painter who settled in Paris in the 1950s. Around the twelve canvases received by donation to the he French State in 2016 and kept at the Center Pompidou, the hanging follows his stylistic evolution, from the abstract expressionism, very gestural, of his beginnings, to the paintings of the end of his life with free-form colored flat tints.
“Shirley Jaffe, an American in Paris”
Center Pompidou, Paris
www.centrepompidou.fr
from April 20 to August 29, 2022
4. The Little Green Princes by Fabrice Hyber
A facetious artist, Fabrice Hyber became famous for his plastic experiments combining painting, sculpture, drawing and video. Born from his wacky imagination, the Man of Bessines thus saw the light of day thirty years ago, a friendly little green prince symbolizing the ecological commitment of the artist. “He’s not a Martian, much less an evil invader, but rather some kind of benevolent genius. I also originally designed it as a self-portrait the size of a child”, reassures us with a touch of humor Fabrice Hyber. Like a friendly virus, his creature has continued to mutate and multiply over the orders, available in various materials and sizes from Portugal to China, via the United States. In partnership with the Center des Monuments Nationaux, the artist-turned-academician has installed some thirty of his sculptures in the fountain in the gardens of the national estate of the Palais Royal, under the mischievous eye of a Woman from Bessines apparently created for the occasion. . His aficionados can also purchase the futuristic bags in a beautiful soft green that he designed for the fine leather goods house Camille Fournet. Like a radiant pulse of life in this gloomy spring…
“Fabrice Hyber celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Man of Bessines”
Gardens of the National Estate of the Palais-Royal, Paris
www.domaine-palais-royal.fr
And “Capsule hyperFournet”,
Camille Fournet store, Paris
www.camillefournet.com
from April 5 to May 31, 2022
5. Algeria straight to the heart:
From Louis Nallard, who died in 2016 at almost 100 years old, to El Meya, born in Constantine in 1988, three generations of artists from Algeria and its diaspora attest to the fertile dialogue established with France, even in the dark hours of the ‘story. So much evidence drawn from the modern and contemporary art collections of the IMA, a wealth of six hundred works, thanks to the repeated donations of Claude and France Lemand. Among them, Le Jardin des moines by Abderrahmane Ould Mohand, a solar allusion to the Tibhirine massacre.
“Algeria my love, Artists of the Algerian brotherhood 1953-2021”
Arab World Institute, Paris
www.imarabe.org
from March 18 to July 31, 2022