The Petit Palais is presenting a new exhibition devoted to the portrait and the artist’s self-portrait, a central theme in its collections and a major focus of its acquisition policy since its founding in 1900.
The exhibition brings together approximately one hundred works—paintings, sculptures, graphic arts, decorative arts, and photographs—combining highlights 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, such as the extensive gallery of busts of Impressionist painters sculpted by Paul Paulin. Throughout the exhibition and extending into the museum’s permanent collections, a dozen women artists—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—have been invited to contribute. Their works explore the legacy of the artist’s portrait—its conventions and practices—while offering a contemporary reinterpretation of its themes.
GENERAL CURATOR
Annick Lemoine, Chief Curator of Heritage, Director of the Petit Palais
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SCIENTIFIC CURATORSHIP
Anne-Charlotte Cathelineau, Chief Heritage Curator, in charge of the sculpture collection at the Petit Palais
Stéphanie Cantarutti, Chief Heritage Curator, in charge of modern paintings (1800–1890) at the Petit Palais
Sixtine de Saint-Léger, Head of Decorative Arts before 1800 and Contemporary Art at the Petit Palais
