Notre-Dame de Paris

In Paintings from the 15th to the 20th century

Curator : Jean Vergès

  • Synopsis of the exhibition

    Notre-Dame de Paris is a sanctuary: fundamentally religious, national above all. Iconic, silent witness of our History, reservoir of the dreams of artists and passers-by, its 850 years made it a central symbol of the French imagination. About sixty works, from the Middle Ages to the present day, survey this history. From Jean Fouquet’s Illuminations to the sharp features of Bernard Buffet, the exhibition carries the developments of the cathedral in its heart and in the artistic landscape.

    You will discover:

    • A free and contemporary 3D reconstruction of the Cathedral, like an architectural framework that evokes its essence
    • Sixty works, testimonies of the power of Notre-Dame over creation and the imagination

    After its construction in the 12th century, this masterpiece of Gothic architecture was quickly disowned for its barbaric appearance. It only becomes an anecdotal, trivial, occasional subject of artists landscapes. It is with the Coronation of Napoleon, painted by David, and especially the Victor Hugo’s novel, that it eventually finds grace in the eyes of the French and in the colors of painters. Now firmly anchored in Parisian landscape, it became a geometric volume, subject to variations in light, an object of exceptional representation for the painters of the Avant-Garde. Thereafter, it will never stop populate the dreamlike universes of Matisse, Picasso, Delaunay or even Chagall.

    With this exhibition, UMA pays homage to Notre-Dame.

    More than a building, an idea, a fantasy.

  • About the institution

    UMA is proud to have fully realized and produced the exhibition “Notre Dame in In Paintings from the 15th to the 20th century”. Announced the day after the fire ravaged the building, it pays tribute to this national monument celebrated beyond France and the arts. On the poster, steamships rising behind the towers of Notre-Dame fades as a symbol to evoke the sinister.

    The exhibition received the support of the Etablissement public Notre-Dame, responsible for conservation and restoration.

    This exhibition was produced with the curatorship of Jean Vergès, director of UMA, also responsible for writing content.

    
    
  • Synopsis of the exhibition

    Notre-Dame de Paris is a sanctuary: fundamentally religious, national above all. Iconic, silent witness of our History, reservoir of the dreams of artists and passers-by, its 850 years made it a central symbol of the French imagination. About sixty works, from the Middle Ages to the present day, survey this history. From Jean Fouquet’s Illuminations to the sharp features of Bernard Buffet, the exhibition carries the developments of the cathedral in its heart and in the artistic landscape.

    You will discover:

    • A free and contemporary 3D reconstruction of the Cathedral, like an architectural framework that evokes its essence
    • Sixty works, testimonies of the power of Notre-Dame over creation and the imagination

    After its construction in the 12th century, this masterpiece of Gothic architecture was quickly disowned for its barbaric appearance. It only becomes an anecdotal, trivial, occasional subject of artists landscapes. It is with the Coronation of Napoleon, painted by David, and especially the Victor Hugo’s novel, that it eventually finds grace in the eyes of the French and in the colors of painters. Now firmly anchored in Parisian landscape, it became a geometric volume, subject to variations in light, an object of exceptional representation for the painters of the Avant-Garde. Thereafter, it will never stop populate the dreamlike universes of Matisse, Picasso, Delaunay or even Chagall.

    With this exhibition, UMA pays homage to Notre-Dame.

    More than a building, an idea, a fantasy.

  • About the institution

    UMA is proud to have fully realized and produced the exhibition “Notre Dame in In Paintings from the 15th to the 20th century”. Announced the day after the fire ravaged the building, it pays tribute to this national monument celebrated beyond France and the arts. On the poster, steamships rising behind the towers of Notre-Dame fades as a symbol to evoke the sinister.

    The exhibition received the support of the Etablissement public Notre-Dame, responsible for conservation and restoration.

    This exhibition was produced with the curatorship of Jean Vergès, director of UMA, also responsible for writing content.

    
    
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