The summer is behind us, and the museum curators are hard at work on the newest exhibits in Paris, which you don’t want to miss. It’s been a bit bleak over the last year. Thankfully, we are past the numerous sports exhibits that took over the museums before and during the Olympics. However, all that is in the past because the upcoming exhibits make up for all the lost time.
Of course, we start with my favorite Musée du Louvre. Two hundred years ago, the Neoclassical master Jacques-Louis David passed away, leaving a massive legacy within the walls of the Louvre. Successfully navigating the egos and politics of six different regimes and surviving prison, and just missing the guillotine.
The remarkable exhibit opens on October 15 in the Hall Napoleon and runs until January 26.
Dr Pozzi by John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent is always labeled as an American artist, but he is much more a child of Europe than anything else. Born in Florence, Italy, on January 12, 1856, to American parents, he was raised on a diet of art and history, with frequent visits to museums throughout Italy, France, Germany, and Switzerland. With an early aptitude for art, the family moved to Paris, and he began working under Carlos Durán.
Sargent’s “Madame X” shocked the art world and all of Paris, and would become his most famous painting. The off-the-shoulder strap drove him from Paris to live out the rest of his life in London. More on that painting on the podcast soon.
The exhibit opened on September 23 and will close on January 11 at the Musée d’Orsay.
Berthe Weill, a name forgotten for too long, has thankfully been remembered in the last few years. Who is she, you may ask? She is the first woman to own an art gallery in Paris. With a keen eye, she noticed many of the young artists and did all she could to promote them.
In 1900, Pablo Picasso was just 19 years old and had just arrived in Paris. Berthe had met Pedro Manach, who was Picasso’s early art dealer, and presented a handful of paintings to Berthe. She purchased three of his pastels, all with a bullfighting theme, and resold them quickly to Adolphe Steens, a literary critic in Paris.
In her Galerie B. Weill on Rue Victor Massé, she focused on contemporary artists, something only she and Ambrose Voliard were doing. It opened the door for her to hold the first exhibits for Matisse, the Fauves, Picasso’s Blue Period, and the first and only for Modigliani, which almost landed her in jail.
In December 1917, with 32 of Modiglini’s paintings, she lined her walls with his distinctive works, including four nudes. Berthe would occasionally use her windows to make a political statement, and this time was no exception. The four nudes “with hair” were placed by the window and caused a stir outside. The authorities closed it down before it ever opened and brought the tiny Berthe to the prefecture. The show was reopened after she removed the nude paintings, but it was sadly a total flop. Not a single painting was sold, and Modigliani would die a few short years later.
Berthe never wanted to get married and pushed away many advances; she had one love, and that was the young artists. An active feminist, she also promoted the work of many women artists in Paris, providing them with a venue to display their art. Suzanne Valadon, Emile Charmy, Valentine Prax, and Jacqueline Marvel curated shows on themes, not just artists.
While she provided a platform for artists to share their work in the early years, they didn’t develop a sense of loyalty to her as their careers took off. As the prices rose, she didn’t have the money to compete, and in the end, it destroyed her gallery. Listen to more of her story on the podcast episode I did a few years ago.
Exhibit runs October 8 to January 26, 2026, at the Musée de l’Orangerie
French artist Georges de la Tour lived during the reigns of Henri IV and Louis XIII, and even resided in the Palais du Louvre, much like David. No other artist captured light like him, and a fantastic exhibition has opened in the Musée Jacquemart André, where you can see that gift for yourself.
One of the loveliest museums in Paris is the former home of two art-loving collectors.
In 1872, Edouard André contacted Nélie Jacquemart to paint a portrait of the wealthy French banker who lived in the grand mansion on Boulevard Haussmann. Nine years after he first sat for Nélie, the two would meet again, and shortly after, on June 29, 1881, they would marry. Edouard was now 48 and in ill health due to syphilis, and his family pushed for the marriage and convinced Nélie of the union. There wasn’t a lot of love there, but they did get along well and both shared a love for art. Edouard even had one of the large rooms transformed into a studio for her painting, but as soon as they were married, she put down her brushes and never picked them up again.
After his death in 1894, she continued to travel, adding to her personal gallery. On a 1902 voyage around the world, she got word that the Abbey de Chaalis, the former property of Rose de Vatry, was for sale. Cutting the trip short and just before she was to leave for Japan, she returned to Paris and purchased the former abbey.
For ten years, Nélie enjoyed the abbey, filling it with her art and furniture, and spending long periods there. On May 15, 1912, Nélie died, leaving both the mansion in Paris and the abbey to the Institut de France with very specific instructions on how her art was to be displayed.
Listen to her story in the episode we recorded in 2021
Because the exhibit is held in a former home, the rooms are very small and tend to get crowded. Plan your visits for the first thing in the morning or later in the day, just before they close. Avoid weekends and Mondays if possible.
The exhibit concludes January 25, 2026, and is open every day of the week.