Four exhibitions worth travelling to Paris for in summer 2025

Summer in Paris invariably serves up a generous menu of exhibitions. The city is never short of diversions, but for those who have already ticked off the classics – from the restored Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Rodin Museum to the opulent Opéra Garnier it is time to turn to this season’s new shows. Among the highlights are Matisse and Marguerite, a sweeping David Hockney retrospective at the Louis Vuitton Foundation, Art on the Streets: The Golden Age of the Poster at the Musée d’Orsay and an exquisite fashion survey at the Louvre. Margarita Bagrova, editor-in-chief of Afisha.London, art expert and host of cultural programmes for our community, shares her curated picks.

This article is also available in Russian here

Matisse and Marguerite – Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris

Paris always feels special, yet now and then the city still manages to spring a quiet surprise. One of the most affecting discoveries on our recent trip with fellow art lovers was this intimate exhibition devoted to Henri Matisse’s daughter, Marguerite. I relish such projects: they expose subtle facets of personality and practice that standard narratives overlook. (Only this spring we travelled to see the paintings of Nadia Léger – also a revelation, and the first large – scale retrospective of her work.)

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Little is known about Marguerite Matisse. Most biographies consign her to the margins, preferring to dwell on vivid colour, formal experiment, and celebrated patrons – chief among them Sergei Shchukin, without whom my own childhood might have passed without Dance and Music in the Hermitage, the canvases that shaped my eye. Not to be missed: an excellent book on Shchukin by Russian art historian Natalia Semenova, now based in France. Available in English, it is insightful and elegantly written. Equally impressive is the catalogue produced by the Louis Vuitton Foundation for its Paris exhibition of his collection.

Much more ink has been spilled on Lydia Delectorskaya, Matisse’s muse and assistant – we recently ran an extensive feature on her – but Marguerite has remained largely unheard.

Yet she was her father’s touchstone and, as this show reveals, a pivotal figure in his life. Born to the model Caroline Joblaud, Marguerite was acknowledged by Matisse and, after her mother left, folded into his new family. Amélie, the artist’s wife and earliest champion, accepted the child as her own, sustaining the household for years on the modest income from her millinery shop.

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Shchukin arrived later; his commissions freed Matisse to focus on painting, travel (including his journey to Russia) and family life. Meanwhile Marguerite – frail, home-schooled and ever-present in the studio – became one of his most frequent sitters. The exhibition assembles numerous portraits: Marguerite reading, dreaming, drawing, asleep, with a cat. The best known, Marguerite with a Black Cat, never left the painter’s possession and now fronts both poster and finale, adjacent to a children’s interactive zone.

Childhood illness left its mark: diphtheria resulted in a tracheotomy and a permanent scar, hence the bandages, high collars and velvet ribbons recurring in her likenesses. A painful operation at 26 removed the disfigurement; later portraits reveal an uncovered throat.

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Adult life brought marriage, divorce and a flat in Paris, while Matisse spent his years in Nice. Their correspondence remained warm, domestic and unguarded. Marguerite began to paint herself: vigorous, recognisable canvases, though without her father’s airy touch – brushwork brisk, palette restrained. Five are displayed here, alongside works by her brothers Pierre and Jean; you may find yourself drawn to their efforts, too. Being Matisse’s daughter meant living beneath a canopy of expectation.

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She tried her hand at fashion, sending costumes to London – without great success. One dress survives in the show, its line strikingly contemporary. History is silent on why the venture stalled.

More lastingly, she became her father’s archivist and manager, cataloguing works and steering exhibitions until his death in 1954.

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Her own story, though, extends beyond family and shadow. With Amélie she joined the Resistance, distributing leaflets in occupied Paris. Arrested in 1945, tortured by the Gestapo and deported to Germany, she escaped when the train transporting her was bombed. She spoke of it only once. Marguerite died in Paris in 1982, aged 87, still at work on her father’s archive.

The exhibition brings together more than 110 pieces–paintings, drawings, photographs and personal objects – most from private collections never before shown in France. On view until 24 August 2025. 

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David Hockney 25 – Fondation Louis Vuitton

The largest exhibition of the British master ever mounted in France gathers over 400 works spanning seven decades (Hockney is now 87): early 1950s portraits, the iconic Californian pools, Yorkshire landscapes and the latest iPad paintings from lockdown in Normandy. Londoners may recognise sections first shown at the Royal Academy shortly after lockdown lifted, yet in Paris the retrospective reads more like a painted biography. The final gallery, an immersive wash of colour, sound and light, moves beyond the conventional retrospective. The Guardian called it “almost a farewell… a pilgrimage of joy and sincerity”.

David Hockney, Play Within a Play Within a Play and Me with a Cigarette (2025). Photo: Jonathan Wilkinson, © David Hockney

Interestingly, a controversy erupted in Paris over the exhibition’s promotional campaign. The organisers selected an iconic self-portrait by Hockney as the main poster — a vibrant image of the artist in his spring garden, chalk in one hand and a barely visible cigarette in the other. On closer inspection, he is seen drawing the very same scene, a picture within a picture, forming a visual loop. This artistic device is known as mise en abyme — a compositional technique where the artwork contains a smaller version of itself. It’s hard to imagine a creative figure from the 1970s to 1990s without a cigarette in frame — it was part of the era’s culture and aesthetic. However, the Paris metro authority deemed the image out of step with contemporary standards and refused to display the poster. Hockney’s response was blunt: he called the decision “sheer madness.”  Expect queues: reserve ahead. A beautifully produced Hockney monograph makes a fitting souvenir. Open until 31 August 2025.

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Фото: Afisha.London

Art on the Streets: The Golden Age of the Poster – Musée d’Orsay

This is no mere historical overview but a manifesto of urban visual culture. More than 250 works from the late 19th century – Mucha, Toulouse-Lautrec, Bonnard and lesser-known virtuosi – populate galleries styled as Parisian boulevards. Here the poster serves not simply as advertisement but as a confluence of technology, design and social energy. The theme resonates with us: Afisha.London borrows its name from the French kiosks once plastered with such posters with announcements. On view until 6 July. 

Leonetto Cappiello, Chocolat Klaus, 1903. Photo: BnF

Louvre Couture: Art Objects, Fashion Objects – Musée du Louvre

For the first time in its history, the Louvre presents a fashion exhibition. Concept-driven and striking, it traces no brand chronology but stages a conversation between art and haute couture. More than 100 pieces mingle with the decorative arts collection: a Dolce & Gabbana gown trimmed with Byzantine-style mosaic faces an 11th-century original; an armour-like Balenciaga creation holds its own beside mediaeval plate. Galleries abandon linear narrative – garments appear to choose their own neighbours, speaking through texture and silhouette. Extended due to demand until 24 August 2025.

If you plan to visit, consider booking your ticket in advance to skip the queue – it’s well worth it: Louvre Fast Track Entry.
For a more in-depth experience, you can join a guided tour to better understand the museum’s treasures: Louvre Guided Visit.
Or, if you prefer to go at your own pace, there’s an excellent audio guide option: Louvre Audio Tour.

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If you find yourself on the banks of the Seine this summer, set aside a day for art. In Paris it is not confined to museums – it drifts in the air. Follow Afisha.London online and join our Telegram channel for more cultural inspiration.

Cover photo: Afisha.London 

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Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts

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