The exhibition brings together some one hundred works—paintings, sculptures, graphic arts, decorative arts, and photographs—combining key pieces from the collections, such as Gustave Courbet’s Self-Portrait with a Black Dog, with lesser-known works brought out of storage especially for the occasion. These include the impressive busts of Impressionist painters sculpted by Paul Paulin.
As part of the exhibition and dotted amongst the museum’s permanent historical collections, visitors can admire works by Giulia Andreani, Sophie Calle, Nina Childress, Hélène Delprat, Nan Goldin, Camille Henrot, Nathanaëlle Herbelin, Annette Messager, Françoise Pétrovitch, Anne and Patrick Poirier, Cindy Sherman, Apolonia Sokol, and Claire Tabouret. Their works bring a contemporary perspective, that of the female artist’s portrait. They question the legacy of the artist’s portrait, its codes and uses, while offering a reinterpretation of its importance. Through this juxtaposition, a resolutely masculine past is put into dialogue with today’s world, where the female artist now has her rightful place.
Finally, this exhibition inaugurates a year dedicated to female artists at the Petit Palais. This will continue into the autumn with the first monographic exhibition devoted to Impressionist painter Eva Gonzalès and a carte blanche given to Prune Nourry.
General curator
- Head curator, director of the Petit Palais
Scientific curators
- Anne-Charlotte Cathelineau, chief heritage curator, head of sculpture at the Petit Palais
- Stéphanie Cantarutti, chief heritage curator, head of modern paintings (1800-1890) at the Petit Palais
- Sixtine de Saint-Léger, head of the decorative arts prior to 1800 and contemporary art at the Petit Palais