Exhibitions not to be missed in Paris this year

October 17, 2025 to March 2, 2026

Gerhard Richter, a major figure in contemporary abstraction, is being honored at the Louis Vuitton Foundation. Abstract oils, painted photographs, glass and steel sculptures... this retrospective, bringing together 270 works created between 1962 and 2024, immerses visitors in the artist's unclassifiable universe. Refusing to be confined to one style or to deliver a personal message, Richter explores the different facets of painting. He often works from photographs, which he modifies or blurs, creating neutral images that are neither too expressive nor too narrative. The monumental installation 4900 Colours, composed of colored panels assembled in geometric patterns, embodies this desire to push the boundaries of painting and invite each viewer to form their own interpretation.

Visit the Louis Vuitton Foundation

From October 17, 2025, to March 30, 2026

Rick Owens, cult designer of contemporary fashion, takes over the Palais Galliera for his first major retrospective in Paris. More than 100 outfits, videos, archives, and a reconstruction of his Californian bedroom immerse visitors in the artist's radical universe, blending Gothic influences, contemporary art, and underground culture. Outside, draped statues and brutalist sculptures extend the visit.

Visit the Palais Galliera

From October 25, 2025, to August 23, 2026

To mark the reopening of the Fondation Cartier and its new spaces, the exhibition “Exposition Générale” invites visitors to revisit forty years of contemporary art through its collections. From architectural laboratories to poetic and technological installations, the exhibition winds its way through the museum's iconic works and extends beyond its walls to the Place du Palais-Royal and the underground Valois gallery, a former passageway that connected the metro to the Grands Magasins du Louvre department store. An immersive experience that reveals the Foundation's creative audacity and its role in contemporary creation.

Visit the Fondation Cartier for Contemporary Art

From October 30, 2025, to June 28, 2026

The Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris pays tribute to Maurice Girardin, a visionary collector and patron whose exceptional legacy contributed to the creation of the museum. Through some 100 works by Raoul Dufy, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, André Derain, and Chaïm Soutine, enriched with previously unseen archives, the exhibition highlights this gallery owner's passion for young contemporary artists, non-European arts, and illustrated books. The exhibition reveals Girardin's lasting influence on art history.

Visit the Museum of Modern Art in Paris

From November 26, 2025, to August 31, 2026

Rediscover one of the greatest masterpieces of early 16th-century French painting with Jean Hey's recently restored Moulins Triptych. This exceptional restoration has revealed the vibrant colors of the three panels and provided a better understanding of the pictorial experiments of the “Master of Moulins.” Presented in Paris for the first time since 1937, the triptych is accompanied by paintings, drawings, and illuminations from the Louvre's collections to explore the richness and finesse of French art at the turn of the Renaissance.

Visit the Louvre Museum

From December 10, 2025, to March 15, 2026

At the heart of the Grand Palais, two art galleries connected by a single entrance offer an immersion into contemporary creation, between heritage, mythology, and new artistic playgrounds.

One year after the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, artist Claire Tabouret unveils life-size models of the contemporary stained-glass windows she designed for the south aisle of the building, revealing the behind-the-scenes of a unique project combining monotype, stencils, and vibrant colors.

Through some fifteen original works, Eva Jospin unveils a grotesque universe where imaginary architecture, vegetation, and fantasy intertwine, inspired by the legend of a young Roman discovering frescoes buried under Emperor Nero's Domus Aurea.

Visit the Grand Palais

December 10, 2025 to March 8, 2026

Pterosaurs, mosasaurs, Velociraptors, Tyrannosaurus rex... This winter, the Atelier des Lumières invites you on a journey back to the time of the dinosaurs, 66 million years ago. Inspired by the hit documentary series Prehistoric Planet (Apple TV), this immersive creation, with French actor Gérard Lanvin as narrator and Hans Zimmer as composer, takes you on a journey through spectacular landscapes while exploring the mysteries of life on Earth and the deep connections between species.

Visit the Atelier des Lumières

From December 13, 2025, to October 18, 2026

Textile designer, embroiderer, feather worker, floral decorator... In 2026, the Palais Galliera will shine a spotlight on several often overlooked fashion professions in a series of exhibitions dedicated to the exceptional craftsmanship for which Paris is renowned. Through 350 works, this first installment reveals the extraordinary diversity of techniques, from the brocade fabric of an 18th-century waistcoat to the laser printing of a Balenciaga ensemble, not to mention the delicacy of Chantilly lace and Gabrielle Chanel's iconic camellia. The exhibition explores the floral decorations and motifs that enhance the creations of leading fashion houses and contemporary figures such as Lesage, Hurel, and Baqué Molinié.

Visit the Palais Galliera

From December 17, 2025, to March 15, 2026

Kandinsky, Klee, Penone, and the Duchamp brothers... Several masters of drawing are brought together at the Grand Palais. More than 250 major works from the Centre Pompidou, closed for renovation, reveal the richness of this practice throughout the 20th century and up to the present day. Immerse yourself in an art form without limits, from paper to digital, including photography and cinema.

Visit the Grand Palais

December 17, 2025 to April 5, 2026

Sparkling rhinestones, powerful portraits, vibrant patterns... Mickalene Thomas celebrates love and black femininity in a vibrant and engaging exhibition. Paintings, videos, and installations interact with the nudes and bourgeois interiors of Matisse and Manet, reinterpreting the dominant narratives of art history. A unique retrospective to discover this winter at the Grand Palais.

Visit the Grand Palais

February 1-8, 2026

French history comes to the Grand Palais this winter with an exceptional presentation of the monumental tapestries commissioned by Louis XIV in 1668 for the Grande Galerie du Louvre. For seven days, some thirty carpets, some measuring up to nine meters wide and woven at the Manufacture de la Savonnerie in Paris, will recreate the sumptuous royal decor designed by painter Charles Le Brun.

Visit the Grand Palais

February 18 to July 19, 2026

A surrealist artist, feminist, and early environmentalist, Leonora Carrington created a fascinating body of work that combines mythology, metamorphosis, esotericism, and spiritual quest. From Paris to the South of France and on to Mexico, where she became a cult figure, the Musée du Luxembourg traces her journey through a selection of paintings, sculptures, and graphic works, marked by travel and indomitable creativity, whose legacy remains deeply relevant today.

Visit the Musée du Luxembourg

March 4 to August 31, 2026

Through the works of some twenty modern and contemporary artists from the Pinault Collection, this new exhibition explores the legacy of chiaroscuro and transforms the Bourse de Commerce into an immersive landscape where light, shadow, and perception of the visible intermingle. From Bill Viola's iconic works to Victor Man's pictorial universe, via Pierre Huyghe's metaphysical ritual filmed under the dome of the Rotonde, the exhibition questions the materiality of light as well as the mysterious realms of the unconscious. A sensory journey that reveals how this visual language continues to illuminate our relationship with the world.

Visit the Bourse de Commerce

March 17 to July 5, 2026

Although Auguste Renoir is inextricably linked to Impressionist painting, his mastery of pencil drawing, often overlooked, was praised by Pierre Bonnard, Pablo Picasso, and Paul Gauguin. Through a hundred works from international collections, the Musée d'Orsay highlights the different techniques explored by the artist and their decisive role in the development of his compositions, using graphite, charcoal, pen, watercolor, pastel, and sanguine. This rare immersion into Renoir's private world reveals the close links between his works on paper and the evolution of his painting.

Visit the Musée d'Orsay

March 25 to July 20, 2026

A visionary painter and major figure in naïve art and post-impressionism, Henri Rousseau, known as “Le Douanier” (The Customs Officer), transformed the landscapes and figures of his imagination into unique works, combining apparent simplicity with subtle pictorial mastery. In 2026, the Musée de l'Orangerie will pay tribute to him with some fifty works, including The Sleeping Gypsy, from the Barnes Foundation and its own collections. Between frontal compositions and imaginary worlds populated by jungles and fantastical creatures, the exhibition immerses visitors in the artist's private world and highlights the lasting influence of his work on modern art.

Visit the Musée de l'Orangerie

April 2 to November 1, 2026

Pac-Man, Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy... Iconic video games, also famous for their soundtracks, which bring back memories of frenzied gaming sessions. From the first sound chips of the 1980s to contemporary symphonic arrangements, the Philharmonie de Paris explores the sound universe of video games through more than twenty interactive installations, where players become part of the musical creation. The exhibition also reveals how international artists such as Jean-Michel Jarre, Yellow Magic Orchestra, and Radiohead were inspired by video games to offer a unique musical and sensory experience.

Visit the Philharmonie de Paris

April 15 to August 16, 2026

Moving sculptures, suspended abstract forms, fragile balance: Alexander Calder, a major figure in modern art and abstraction, is celebrated in a major anniversary exhibition at the Louis Vuitton Foundation. His iconic mobiles and stabiles interact with works by his contemporaries, Barbara Hepworth, Jean Hélion, Piet Mondrian, Paul Klee, and Pablo Picasso, placing his inventive genius at the heart of the 20th-century avant-garde. Set within the spectacular architecture of Frank Gehry's museum, this immersive retrospective offers a unique visual and sensory experience.

Visit the Louis Vuitton Foundation

Claude Monet at the Carrières des Lumières in Les Baux-de-Provence, Eugène Delacroix and Les Orientalistes at the Bassins des Lumières in Bordeaux, Pierre Soulages at the Musée Fabre in Montpellier.

Discover our selection of must-see exhibitions in France in 2026.