Matisse: “The Red Studio” and Ellsworth Kelly. Shapes and Colors, 1949-2015: two major exhibitions at the Fondation Louis Vuitton
Other activities
·
© ARR
Following the resounding success of its Mark Rothko retrospective, the Fondation Louis Vuitton is presenting two concurrent exhibitions from May 4 to September 9, 2024, in a tribute to two major figures in the history art. “Matisse: The Red Studio” and “Ellsworth Kelly. Shapes and Colors, 1949-2015” bring together an exceptional selection of paintings, sculptures, photographs and drawings. In addition, to mark the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024, the Fondation is also presenting selected works from its Collection around the theme of sports, offering a novel and poetic take on this major global event.
Matisse: The Red Studio.
In collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York and the SMK – Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen (National Gallery of Denmark), the Fondation Louis Vuitton is hosting the exhibition “Matisse: The Red Studio”, centered on the genesis and history of the famous 1911 masterpiece, one of MoMA’s iconic works since its acquisition in 1949. In this vast canvas, the artist depicts his studio, filled with his paintings and sculptures and decorative objects. The exhibition reunites the artworks shown in The Red Studio for the first time since they left Matisse’s studio in Issy- les-Moulineaux, and also includes rare archival material and related paintings and drawings, placing the creation of the painting and its exceptional itinerary in perspective. The core of the exhibition is the painting The Red Studio itself, displayed along with the six paintings, three sculptures and ceramic shown in the painting, which were done between 1898 and 1911.
Ellsworth Kelly. Shapes and Colors, 1949-2015
Celebrating the centenary of the artist’s birth, “Ellsworth Kelly. Shapes and Colors, 1949-2015” is the first exhibition in France to offer a broad overview – both in terms of its chronology and the range of media on display – of the work of this significant artist of the second half of the 20th century and a major figure in American abstract painting and sculpture.
Organized with Glenstone Museum (Potomac, Maryland) and in collaboration with the Ellsworth Kelly Studio, the exhibition brings together more than 100 works: paintings and sculptures as well as drawings, photographs and collages. The exhibition also includes works on loan from international institutions (the Art Institute of Chicago, Kröller-Müller Museum, Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Tate, Whitney Museum) as well as from private collections.
Ellsworth Kelly. Shapes and Colors, 1949-2015 traces the artist’s exploration of the relationship between shape, color, lines and space through key works from pivotal periods in his career.
Presented on two floors of the Foundation across nearly 1,500 square meters, the range of works encourages viewers to see beyond the deceptive simplicity of Ellsworth Kelly’s vocabulary and appreciate a body of work with surprising vitality and richness.
The Fondation Louis Vuitton once again reaffirms its mission in the Spring of 2024: enable the broadest possible audience to engage directly with art. The Fondation is committed to presenting works that are “landmarks of modernity”, and at the same time celebrates artists with strong connections to the history of modernity who proposed new models and disrupted perceptions.