Revealing the Feminine
Fashion and Appearances in the 18th Century
Musée Cognacq-Jay
- From 25 March to 20 September 2026
- 8 rue Elzévir, 75003 Paris
- museecognacqjay.paris.fr
In collaboration with the Palais Galliera, the Cognacq-Jay Museum explores the diversity of representations of women in the eighteenth century. By bringing together textile pieces and pictorial works, the exhibition highlights the close connections between costume and self-image.
The history of clothing and its representation during the Age of the Siècle des Lumières both a material reality and a creation of the imagination. It is these two dimensions—examined through portraits as well as pastoral scenes and fêtes galantes that the exhibition seeks to explore.
The new French style, which at the time radiated throughout European courts as well as urban centers, is embodied in portraits of the aristocracy and the upper urban bourgeoisie.
By combining paintings and costumes, along with contemporary counterpoints, the exhibition offers a reflection on the staging of femininity in the eighteenth century, poised between social expectations and ideals of beauty.
Portraits, virtuosity and sensibilities
At that time, France embodied refinement. De La Tour, Nattier, Labille-Guiard and Vigée Le Brun captured the brilliance of fabrics and the depth of souls, lending their models grace and power.
The exhibition highlights virtuoso works and portraits with a more assertive psychology, where intimacy and naturalness, under English influence, take centre stage. At the same time, the pastorals of François Boucher and the fêtes galantes of Antoine Watteau and Jean-Charles Nicaise Perrin shape an idealised and poetic femininity.
Contemporary counterpoints
and heritage
Finally, contemporary photographs by Steven Meisel, Esther Ségal and Valérie Belin, as well as a Chanel creation by Karl Lagerfeld, suggest, in counterpoint, a reflection on the persistence of codes and the legacy of the 18th century in today’s fashion, between social demands and the imaginary of beauty.
Maurice-Quentin de La Tour
Portrait of Madame la Présidente de Rieux, in ball gown, holding a mask
1742
Pastel, paper, canvas
116 x 90 cm
CC0 Paris Musées / Musée Cognacq-Jay
Commissariat
- Pascale Gorguet Ballesteros, Chief Curator of Heritage, Head of the 18th-Century Fashion and Dolls Departments at the Palais Galliera
- Adeline Collange-Perugi, Curator of Heritage and Head of the Ancient Art Collection, Nantes Museum of Art
- Saskia Ooms, Head of Collections at the Cognacq-Jay Museum
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