Face à l'histoire

What perspective does the modern artist take on the major political events that have marked the past sixty years of history?
This is the question explored by the exhibition Facing History (1933–1996). Through confrontations between works of art and events that have occurred since 1933—the rise of Nazism and other totalitarian regimes, international and civil wars, political crises—artists, grappling with the issues of modern art, give visual form to the upheavals of the century and express what is at stake in them.

The exhibition is structured around 200 artists and 450 works: paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations, photomontages, videos, a substantial body of press photographs and posters, as well as 250 literary works (original editions, journals, clandestine resistance documents, etc.).

The aim is to grasp the key moments in the relationship between the modern artist and the historical event, and the crucial stages in the development of a possible “history painting” in the twentieth century. Bringing together, in a single place, works inspired by the same demand for aesthetic and political truth may allow us to see how our century has judged itself through the representations it has produced.

The exhibition unfolds across two spaces: the Grande Galerie (5th floor) and the Galerie Nord (Mezzanine).

The Grande Galerie presents the periods covering the years 1933–1980. All the spaces are connected by a circulation axis that runs through the entire gallery, providing access to the rooms where the works are displayed. This “corridor of history” houses published press photographs, posters, and literary documents. Visitors can thus confront these essential testimonies—indispensable for understanding the period—with the works exhibited in the galleries.

Around thirty artists representing the contemporary period from 1980 to 1995 are presented in the Galerie Nord (North Mezzanine), bringing the exhibition to its conclusion. This final section offers a perspective on how artists view the present day.

This exhibition is dedicated to André Malraux, as part of the national tribute paid to him in the autumn of 1997.