In Colour, Polychrome Sculpture in France, the exhibition at Paris Musée d’Orsay

Discover sculptures in color at the Musée d'Orsay, from June 12 to September 9, 2018. In a beautiful exhibition, the Musée d'Orsay highlights the work of certain artists who applied color to a medium often left the white of marble in the 19th century.

The Musée d'Orsay surprises with its beautiful exhibition En couleurs, la peinture polychrome en France de 1850 à 1910, from June 11 to September 16, 2018. On the 2nd floor of the Musée d'Orsay, a museum dedicated to the art of the 19th and 20th centuries, this presentation reveals little-known works, sculptures painted in the 19th century!

In three sections, the En couleurs exhibition offers a fascinating insight into a little-known aspect of sculpture: by introducing pieces from the 17th century, immaculate thanks to white stone, theexhibition explains how theAcadémie excluded color from sculptures.

In the 19th century, when the "official" color for statuary was the white of marble (and monochrome patinas for bronzes), artists began to return to color, drawing inspiration from ancient sculptures.

One of the first to do so was Charles Cordier. He took advantage of the rediscovery of Algerian marble-onyx quarries to add color to his sculptures. Thanks to his experiments, artists dared to use waxes and painted marbles, colored marbles assembled, gilded and silvered bronzes , pâte de verre, enamelled stoneware, all materials used to magnify the figures depicted and make them more realistic.

Henry Cros, Louis-Ernest Barrias, Jean Carriès, Paul Gauguin, Degas - many took up the challenge of sculpting in color or painting their sculptures. Degas even caused a scandal with his Petite danseuse de quatorze ans, a wax statue of Marie Van Goethem, a Paris Opera rat staring out at the audience, dressed in real clothes (bodice, muslin tutu, stockings, slippers and wig). For the first time, the realism of the piece makes us realize that the models are naked when they pose! Shock and awe...

Come and discover over 100 sculptures brought together in the spaces of the Musée d'Orsay, in a beautiful presentation on view from June 12 to September 9, 2018.

Please note that it's been over 4 years since our last visit, so the place and experience may have changed.

En couleurs, the polychrome sculpture exhibition at the Musée d'Orsay

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