Oudry, hunting painter. The royal hunts of Louis XV

The Château de Fontainebleau is spotlighting the work of Jean-Baptiste Oudry, famous for his depictions of King Louis XV’s hunts and his animal portraits.

Paintings, editions, porcelain pieces, drawings, clothes and tapestries will plunge you into the world of hunting, the king’s favourite activity, which he wanted to capture for eternity by commissioning a series of tapestries.

For the first time, this exhibition will present side by side Oudry’s original cartoons, four of which have recently been restored, and the preparatory drawings and tapestries for which they served as models.

Preparatory drawing - detail - Stag at bay in the Franchard rocks, Forest of Fontainebleau, Jean-Baptiste Oudry, 1733 (Château de Fontainebleau)

Christofle, a Brilliant History

The Musée des Arts Décoratifs showcases the creations and exceptional craftsmanship of the prestigious silversmithing house Christofle by organizing a major exhibition dedicated to this French manufacturer, rich with nearly two hundred years of history.

Through an immersive and magical exhibition, this large retrospective features a selection of over six hundred pieces of gold and silverwork, paintings, drawings, and posters, from the Bouilhet-Christofle Collection and other major national collections.

Coffee Pot Unity Makes Success, Christofle & Albert-Ernest CarrierBelleuse (18241887), sculptor, Model from 1880, produced after 1935 Silver-plated metal, ivory, Bouilhet Christofle Conservatory © Gwenaëlle Dautricourt for Christofle

Ribera. Darkness and Light

The Petit Palais presents the first French retrospective dedicated to Jusepe de Ribera, a great 17th-century painter of Spanish origin who made his entire career in Italy.

The exhibition retraces his entire work thanks to the latest scientific discoveries that have expanded the corpus of his early years with a set of paintings previously attributed to the 'Master of the Judgment of Solomon'.

The exhibition covers the two main periods of his career, his stay in Rome and then in Naples, and aims to demonstrate the major and pioneering role of the artist in the interpretation of Caravaggio.

Jusepe de Ribera, Saint Jérôme et l’ange du Jugement dernier, 1626, Oil on canvas, 262×164 cm. Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Naples. © Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte.

Bruno Liljefors. Wild Sweden

Less known than Carl Larsson and Anders Zorn, Bruno Liljefors is a key figure in the Scandinavian art scene of the late 19th century.

Through this very first presentation to the French public, the Petit Palais aims to reveal Liljefors' pictorial virtuosity and original contribution to the construction of the imagery of Swedish nature.

This unprecedented exhibition will present a set of 100 works (paintings, drawings and photographs) whose subjects are exclusively dedicated to Swedish nature and the animals that inhabit it.

Bruno Liljefors, The Landing of Wild Geese, 1899, Oil on canvas, 69×173 cm. Prince Waldemarsudde, Stockholm. © Prince Waldemarsudde, Stockholm

François Chifflart. The Rebel

A major retrospective of 170 pieces paying tribute to François Chifflart (1825-1901), master of black and white.

His independent and rebellious spirit against academicism and the ruling power curtailed the promising career that awaited him after winning the Grand Prix de Rome in 1851.

This admirer of Victor Hugo expressed his talent in the graphic arts: an exceptional etcher, he contributed to the revival of etching with his "improvisations on copper"; an inspired draftsman, he created illustrations for Toilers of the Sea in 1869, then executed the drawings for The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and The Legend of the Ages, which have since become iconic Hugo works. For Le Monde illustré, he also captured in the collective memory the Parisian fires of the Commune.

Figures of the fool. From the Middle Ages to the Romantics

This ambitious and enlightening exhibition aims to examine the emblematic figure of the medieval fool through its various representations.

The chronologically and thematically organized journey will present more than 300 works of art, including sculptures, art objects (such as ivories, caskets, and small bronzes), medals, illuminations, drawings, engravings, panel paintings, and tapestries.

Hyeronimus Bosch, La Nef des fous, Paris © RMN - Grand Palais (Musée du Louvre), Franck Raux

Jacques Prévert, creating dreamscapes

On the occasion of surrealism's centenary and the 70th anniversary of his settlement near the Moulin Rouge, the Musée de Montmartre celebrates this artist known as a poet and screenwriter, whose work extends far beyond.

Lyricist, playwright, committed humanist and surrealist, he also devoted himself to visual arts through illustrated screenplays, artistic collaborations and surrealist collages.

This exhibition highlights these more intimate and personal creations by Jacques Prévert, often overshadowed by his writings but equally revealing of his genius.

Jacques Prévert, Le désert de Retz, vers 1960, collage réalisé à partir d'une photo argentique d'Izis, collection Eugénie Bachelot Prévert, © Succession Jacques Prévert / Adagp, Paris, 2024

Birth and Rebirth of Italian Drawing

Among the large variety of collections held by Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam can be found one of the most noteworthy holdings of Old Master Drawings in the world. Eager to introduce this prestigious collection to a wider public, the Fondation Custodia presents a selection of 120 of the finest fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italian drawings from the Rotterdam museum.

The aim of the exhibition is to reveal those talented draughtsmen whose artistic innovations were at the core of the Italian Renaissance. Pisanello, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Veronese, Correggio... Thanks to recent research carried out at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, in collaboration with international experts and the Fondation Custodia, a number of important discoveries have been made regarding the drawings and some have been re-attributed to leading artists including Pontormo, Federico Zuccari, Aurelio Lomi and Pellegrino Tibaldi.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Leda and the Swan, c. 1505-07, Black chalk, pen and ink. – 128 × 109 mm, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam. Loan Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (former Koenigs Collection), inv. no. I 466

Elles. Jean-Jacques Henner students

When the École des Beaux-Arts was forbidden to them, how did women train in art during the second half of the 19th century?

The museum is devoting an exhibition dedicated to Jean-Jacques Henner's female students, who followed the painter's teachings.

Through more than 80 paintings, drawings, letters and photographs, this exhibition highlights the work and lives of around ten women artists from the second half of the 19th century. Some had emblematic careers, yet all remain too little known to the general public.

Marie CAYRON-VASSELON, Carnet de dessins. Portraits d’élève de l’atelier : Mlle Durif, entre 1881 et 1882, graphite sur papier. Collection de la famille Carcenac-Cabrol, descendante de Marie Vasselon © Jean-François Peiré - DRAC OCCITANIE.

Louise of Orléans. First queen of the Belgians

Louise of Orleans (1812-1850), eldest daughter of Louis-Philippe, married Leopold I in 1832, the first king of a newly created kingdom, Belgium. The first Queen of the Belgians is nevertheless often referred to as the "forgotten queen".

This exhibition brings this figure of Romantic Europe back into the spotlight.

Having received a solid artistic education, passionate about politics and a prolific letter writer, the Queen of the Belgians was at the heart of a wide network of knowledgeable patrons and wise monarchs, while demonstrating entirely personal preferences and holding a unique position in diplomatic relations.

Many previously unseen works from her collection are being presented for the first time, along with moving mementos, as well as official and intimate representations that are often unknown, although executed by the greatest artists of the time.

Marie of Orleans ,Full-length portrait of Princess Louise seen from behind, 1832, watercolor, H. 17 cm; W. 9 cm, Chantilly, Condé Museum, PD 505 © GrandPalaisRmn - Domain of Chantilly - Michel Urtado

A new look at Watteau

An actor with no lines : Pierrot, known as Gilles

Pierrot, formerly known as Gilles, by Watteau is one of the most famous masterpieces in the Louvre's collection.
This mysterious painting has raised numerous questions among historians for decades. Following its restoration, currently underway at the Center for Research and Restoration of Museums of France, it is the centerpiece of a unique focused exhibition.

The exhibition brings together numerous works by Watteau (paintings, drawings) as well as those of his contemporaries, painters, draftsmen, engravers (Gillot, Pater, Lancret, Oudry, Fragonard, etc.) and men of letters (Marivaux, Lesage, Regnard, Evaristo Gherardi), with an emphasis on the rich theatrical repertoire of the period.

The exhibition also explores the painting's "cast shadow," that is, its remarkable critical and artistic legacy.