French Art Vocabulary & Art Scene in Paris
By Thomas V
Paris is known for its dense cultural and artistic networks.
Whether it be regular exhibitions, famous venues or secret art galleries in vibrant neighborhoods, art holds an important place in the Parisian cultural landscape.
In this week's post we will share French art vocabulary and give an overview of the French art scene with new venues and more famous ones.
1. Les grandes expositions – the big temporary exhibitions
In Paris, there are worldwide well-known major museums . The most famous of all is of course Le Louvre, followed by Le musée d’Orsay. We can also list among the famous ones Le centre Pompidou, le Musée de l’Orangerie, le Musée Marmottant-Monet, le Musée Jacquemart-André, le Musée Rodin, la Fondation Louis Vuitton etc. just to name a few.
These famous museums have impressive permanent collections, from which pieces sometimes travel around the world, or are loaned temporarily to other museums.
These museums regularly hold temporary exhibitions that punctuate the calendar of every art enthusiast in Paris.
2. Where to find information on the artistic scene in Paris
There are also many websites where you can track down information related to the art scene in Paris. Here are a few choices of websites to check out:
A website that lists general information about what’s going on.
The famous English magazine.
For extensive selections, you can take a look at the French website Parisbouge (Paris is moving) and its list of art venues, which includes a lot of information about the gallery scene, and what’s on:
-To know what’s going on in the art calendar, you can get an issue of the main art publications, which are Beaux Arts Magazine and Connaissance des Arts. These magazines also provide more in-depth information with interviews of artists and art curators. These monthly magazines come in a printed version or online.
3.The big venues of contemporary art, the Centre Pompidou and Palais de Tokyo
-Le Centre Pompidou
Le Centre Pompidou (also named Beaubourg), was built four decades ago and has been since a major center of contemporary art in Paris.
If you are more into contemporary and cutting-edge avant-garde, you will enjoy this museum. The Pompidou displays a permanent collection of 20th century art, and some more recent artistic work, as well as major shows or retrospectives of famous 20th or 21th century artists.
This museum is located in the heart of Paris. It has many different points of interest such as a library that opens late, a movie theater, a restaurant on the roof, and many exhibition spaces.
Here is the story of the museum.
-Le Palais de Tokyo
For something more contemporary and unexpected, you can also have a look at the Palais de Tokyo, a building built in 1937 and dedicated to contemporary art, whose original name was “Palais des Musées d’art moderne”. Located in the 16th arrondissement, a stone's throw from Trocadéro and the Eiffel Tower, it houses one of the largest centers for creation and contemporary art in Europe. Le Palais de Tokyo displays exhibitions, meetings, screenings, concerts and performances.
It has many interesting events, and a lot of “performance art” where art can be seen and experimented in the form of a live show.
Here is an example of a recent exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo ( Nov 2021 ) by the artist and performer Anne Imhof (English subtitles available)
The show was followed by a performance:
4. French vocabulary related to Art shows and art exhibitions in Paris
-The places
Un musée : A museum
Une fondation : A foundation
Une galerie d'art : An art gallery
Un salon, une foire : fair
-The exhibitions
Une exposition : An exhibition
Une exposition temporaire : A temporary exhibition
Une rétrospective : A retrospective
Un vernissage : A vernissage/ an art opening
Une performance : A performance
Art plastique : Visual art
-The artists
Un artiste : An artist
Un artiste plasticien : A visual artist
Un sculpteur : A sculptor
Un peintre : A painter
Un photographe : A photographer
Un graphiste : A graphic designer
Un illustrateur: An illustrator
Un critique d’art : An art critic
Une critique : A review
Le marché de l'art
Un commissaire d'exposition : An exhibition curator
Un collectionneur (euse): A collector
Un amateur d'art: An art lover
-The forms of art
Une oeuvre d’art : A piece of art
Un chef d’oeuvre : A masterpiece
Une peinture : A painting
Une sculpture : A sculptor
Une gravure : An engraving
Une photographie : Une oeuvre d’art
Une installation : An installation
Une performance : A performance
Un happening : An happening
Un graffiti : A graffiti
Une couleur : A color
Une matière : A material
Un volume : A volume
-The type of arts
L’art classique : Classical art
L’art figuratif : Figurative art
L’art abstrait : Abstract art
L’art moderne : Modern Art
L’art contemporain : Contemporary art
L’art conceptuel: Conceptual art
-A few expressions to speak about an artiste, a piece of art
C’est novateur : It’s innovative
C’est visionnaire : It’s visionary
C’est abstrait : it’s abstrac
J’adore son œuvre : I love his/fer work
Ça m’ennuie : it is boring
C’est déjà vu : It’s already seen
5. The private foundations: new players in the art scene
La Fondation Cartier
In addition to the main art centers, private foundations have more recently appeared in the Parisian scene. One of the first ones was the Cartier Foundation, founded in 1984 by the jewellery and watch company “Maison Cartier”. Entirely dedicated to contemporary art, this foundation holds temporary exhibitions in its building created by the famous French Architect Jean Nouvel in 1994.
You can take a look at the current exhibition on their website:
La Fondation Louis Vuitton
Recently opened ( 2014) la Fondation Louis Vuitton quickly became a major player in the Parisan art scene.
The building is an architectural masterpiece born out of the meeting of two men: Bernard Arnault, chief executive of LVMH and collector and patron of contemporary art, and Frank Gehry, architect of international renown. The foundation’s regular and often blockbuster temporary exhibitions focus on modern and contemporary art.
The Foundation houses an exceptional collection of works from 1960 to the present day, with artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Gilbert & George, Jeff Koons.
The Fondation Louis Vuitton currently exhibits the treasures of the Morozov collection.
La Fondation Pinault - Bourse du Commerce
This new center in Paris opened in June 2021, and is housed in a historic 19th-century commercial building redesigned by Tadao Ando. It stages some 10 annual exhibitions– from displays highlighting certain artists or themes held within the permanent collection, to solo shows from commissioned contemporary artists.
The exhibitions will draw on the Pinault Collection’s: more than 10,000 works of modern and contemporary art, which includes masterpieces from the likes of Braque, Picasso, Ferdinand Léger, Piet Mondrian, Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, and many others. It also comprises thousands of works from rising-star global artists, from painters to video artists and photographers.
6. The gallery scene
There is a wide variety when it comes to art galleries in Paris! They are located all over Paris but some areas have specific concentrations of them, like in Saint Germain-des-Prés in the 6th arrondissment, or in the 3rd in the north of le Marais district.
Depending on your personal tastes and the art period that you are interested in, you might be content with your local gallery or prefer the more trendy, superstar institutions which display more sought-after works by famous contemporary artists.
Art openings usually take place on Thursday evenings. It is tradition for Parisian art enthusiasts to go to galleries on that day and sometimes even from one gallery to another to enjoy the quality of the show, as well as the champagne!
Most shows have free access, so you can just show up, but the more prestigious galleries can require an official invitation.
A good website to locate the galleries and see what’s open and what’s on
Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin
Located in an elegant historical mansion in le Marais area since 1989, Emmanuel Perrotin runs several galleries around the world.
In 1991, when he was only 23, he staged Damien Hirst's first commercial show. He has since worked closely with his roster of artists, some for more than 25 years, to help fulfill their ambitious projects. Among them: Maurizio Cattelan, Takashi Murakami, Jean-Michel Othoniel, Xavier Veilhan, or Sophie Calle. He likes pop and provocative artists, and a few more conceptual ones.
Galerie Templon
Daniel Templon is one of the longest lasting independent galleries in Paris, open since 1966.
He introduced major American art figures in France, and launched the most famous French contemporary (and bilingual) Art magazine, called “Art Press” in the 1970’s. This gallery displays well established artists but also new rising profiles of art.
The magazine he created Art Press is still published today, and is relevant as ever.
Galerie Thaddeus Rompac
Thaddeus Ropac is Austrian and represented Warhol and Basquiat for Europe. He has galleries in London, Paris, and Salzburg, and is now representing artists such as Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Mapplethorpe, as well as artists like Gilbert & George. He has also opened a big space in the north of Paris, in the vibrant neighborhood of Pantin (so called “the Brooklyn of Paris”) just one metro stop outside of Paris.
And to explain in detail the meaning of the word « vernissage » ( opening in English) you can watch the video below from “Karambolage”. You will learn everything on the salons, galleries and vernissage.
https://youtu.be/isulzx8ME2w?t=181
6. Art fairs and salons
Paris is historically the home to famous art fairs and salons, which saw the birth and the recognition of many artists over the past centuries.
Nowadays, art fairs and salons are still active, and regularly take place throughout the year :
One of the most famous today is the FIAC, that stands for “Foire Internationale d’art contemporain” and is regularly held in the fall.
There’s also Art Paris a new fair in the spring:
And the Paris Biennale, every two years:
To get an idea of what a Parisian fair looks like, you can have a quick view of Mary Lynn Buchanan’s video about the 2021 Paris FIAC:
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