Discover Southern Europe | Culture Special - France
Pompidou draws visitors from a huge variety of cultures and walks of life, but not by dumbing down.
Cultural powerhouse Exhibitions aim for excellence and live up to France’s reputation for intellectual rigour in the visual arts. As home to the National Museum of Modern Art, the Pompidou is renowned for its rich 20th- and 21st-century art collections. Presented chronologically, from 1905 onwards, the museum traces pioneering art movements, ranging from Fauvism, Cubism and Surrealism to Pop Art. The core collections include masterpieces by such luminaries as Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, Braque, Chagall, Miró and Kandinsky. The contemporary period, from 1960 to the present day, meanwhile, covers greats such as Francis Bacon, Mark Rothko, Andy Warhol, Niki de Saint Phalle, Yves Klein and Anish Kapoor. Enriched by private donations, the museum is still at the cutting edge of contemporary art. Underlining the depth and eclecticism of the Pompidou are the additional collections, which appeal to differing tastes. The graphic art collection, with works by Chagall, Matisse and Miró, vies with the photographic collection, featuring masterpieces by Man Ray and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Design fans might prefer the design section, with creations by Eileen Gray, Ettore Sottsass and Philippe Starck, while film buffs head to the cinema collection, which runs from cinematic history to film installations.
Robert Delaunay, Manège de cochons © Bertrand Prévost, Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI /Dist. RMN-GP
La Vénus d’Amiens, Bertrand Lavier © Bertrand Lavier, Adagp – Paris
Anthropométrie-ANT 84, Yves Klein © Succession Yves Klein c/o Adagp, Paris 2019 Photo: Muriel Anssens / Ville de Nice
free-spirited poster girl for the 1930s, Dora Maar deserves her place in art history, as does the Pompidou itself. Conceived of as a national institution for culture and the arts, the Centre Pompidou still
cultivates global ambitions. As the inspiration for a new generation of museums and multi-tasking cultural hubs, the Pompidou continues to attract new fans. The Parisian powerhouse now boasts cultural outposts outside Paris, from Metz to Malaga, with a new outpost due soon in Shanghai – the museum’s first foray outside Europe.
In addition to the permanent collections, regular blockbuster exhibitions bring extra novelty to visiting art-lovers. This summer, Prehistory, a Modern Enigma, delves deep into the mythology we have created around this murky period, lost in the mists of time. Seen through the haunted eyes of artists such as Picasso, Cézanne and Louise Bourgeois, Prehistory reveals primeval fears around our origins.
The Centre Pompidou is a cultural beacon for our times, quintessentially Parisian yet with an increasingly global vision. Curiously, one of the most provocative buildings of the 20th century remains at the heart of Parisian life in the 21st century. Art fans can take in an exhibition, head to the rooftop and, with a cocktail in hand, watch the light dance over the Eiffel Tower and the Sacré Coeur. This could only be Paris, timeless yet in touch with its times, much like the Centre Pompidou itself.
Exploring an entirely different area, an exhibition on Dora Maar (1907-97) is the biggest ever French retrospective of this French photographer-painter’s work. Often sidelined as Picasso’s muse or treated as the
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Tempting temporary exhibitions
Bleu de ciel, Vassily Kandinsky © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI /Dist. RMN-GP
Issue 5 | June 2019 | 15