Contemporary Art Programs at the Musée d’Orsay and Musée de l’Orangerie

AFMO supports the Contemporary Art programs at the Orsay and Orangerie Museums. Since 2019, world-class artists have been invited to share their vision of either museum.

Contemporary artists create exhibitions, installations and cultural programming. Inspired by the museums’ collections, they share their special viewpoints with the public in innovative ways, that emphasize the ever lasting relevance of 19th century fine art.

At the Musée d’Orsay:

The Orsay’s permanent collection covers a time, from 1848 to WW1, of major political, economic and socio-cultural changes which are reflected in the arts, from literature to music and fine art. Over a century later, again at a time of deep economic, political and socio-cultural changes, 21st century contemporary artists still draw inspiration from their elders and from the history of the former train station that had welcomed elegant visitors to the 1900 World fair.

For instance, Kehinde Wiley’s painting Women Bitten by a Serpent (Mamadou Gueye) is directly inspired by Femme piquée par un serpent (1847) by the French sculptor Auguste Clésinger. Standing a few meters apart in the Orsay nave in late 2022, the giant painting named after a Senegalese athlete and the very classic white marble statue created a unique dialogue and bridge across centuries and cultures.

Featured Artists: Julian Schnabel, Glenn Ligon, Tracey Emin, Christodoulous Panayiotu, Yan Pei-Ming, Francesco Vezzoli, M/M (Paris), Laurent Grasso, Marlene Dumas, Jean-Philippe Delhomme, Maylis de Kerangal, Sophie Calle, Kehinde Wiley and Claude Rutault.

At the Musée de l’Orangerie:

The Musée de l’Orangerie reserves two spaces  for modern and contemporary works. The first gallery is integrated into the Jean Walter-Paul Guillaume permanent collection in a fascinating exchange between the past and our present via painting, sculpture, graphic arts, audio and film installations.

The second space favors a creative dialogue between Claude Monet’s Waterlilies and contemporary works across media, as beautifully illustrated by Mickalene Thomas : Avec Monet.

Featured Artists: Richard Jackson, Ann Veronica Janssens, Alex Katz, Patrick Tosani, Janaina Tschäpe, Isabelle Cornaro, David Hockney, Ange Leccia, Mickalene Thomas and Philippe Cognée.

Our special thanks to:
Elizabeth and Bruce Dunlevie
Elizabeth and Dean Kehler
Watson McMillan
Elisa Nuyten
Scott and Judy Phares
Felicia and Jeffrey Weiss