Paris this autumn is a crossroads of history, experimentation, and new forms of creation. While the city’s museums rediscover classic names, independent galleries and new art fairs push the boundaries of contemporary art. From the Louvre’s grand retrospective dedicated to Jacques-Louis David after two centuries to Tyler Mitchell’s poetic photographs, Paris in the fall of 2025 is redefining art in every sense.
1- Jacques-Louis David – Musée du Louvre
October 15, 2025 – January 26, 2026
One of French art history’s most powerful figures, Jacques-Louis David, is reborn in the Louvre’s grand halls on the 200th anniversary of his death. Featuring masterpieces like Les Sabines (1799) and The Death of Marat (1793), this retrospective underscores the political intensity of post-Revolutionary art. The Louvre not only celebrates an artist but reconstructs the aesthetic memory of an era.
2- Jean-Baptiste Greuze: Childhood in the Spotlight – Petit Palais
Ongoing until January 25, 2026
Greuze’s exhibition, centered on the theme of childhood, mirrors the social transformations of the 18th century. Themes of education, family, care, and mortality converge in a philosophical dialogue through his paintings. With around 100 works, this selection reopens the Enlightenment’s tender emotional tones for contemporary discussion.
3- Georges de La Tour: From Shadow to Light – Musée Jacquemart-André
Until January 25, 2026
The chiaroscuro master Georges de La Tour emerges from the shadows of the 17th century. Influenced by Caravaggio, this retrospective reveals light as both a metaphysical and human form of expression. Each scene feels like a silent prayer within the darkness.
4- Tyler Mitchell: Wish This Was Real – Maison Européenne de la Photographie
October 15, 2025 – January 25, 2026
Atlanta-born photographer Tyler Mitchell, the first Black artist to shoot a Vogue cover, brings his poetic photographs from the past decade to Paris. Scenes set in nature carry the historical and aesthetic echoes of Black identity. Each image poses a dream and a question: “What is real?”
5- Gerhard Richter – Fondation Louis Vuitton
October 17, 2025 – March 2, 2026
This monumental exhibition, featuring 270 works from over 60 years of Richter’s career, invites viewers into his jarring dichotomies: abstraction versus photography, silence versus noise, detachment versus emotion. Following his decision to abandon painting in 2017, this retrospective reveals how Richter uses art as a memory archive.
6- Sargent: Dazzling Paris – Musée d’Orsay
Until January 11, 2026
Focusing on John Singer Sargent’s Paris period, this exhibition redefines his identity as a “portrait painter.” The scandalous Madame X (1884) takes center stage as an elegant challenge to the era’s social mores.
7- Minimal – Bourse de Commerce
Until January 19, 2026
The Pinault Collection’s new thematic exhibition liberates minimalism from the cliché of “less is more.” Spanning Japan’s Mono-ha to Brazil’s Neo-Concretismo, the selection transforms the spaces between objects into a dialogue. Light, balance, and surface redefine minimalism not as silence but as a form of thought.
8- Fondation Cartier – New Building Opening
From October 25, 2025, Palais-Royal
Designed by Jean Nouvel, the new Fondation Cartier, located opposite the Louvre, offers a flexible exhibition space with five movable platforms. The opening exhibition, drawn from the foundation’s 40-year collection, sparks a conversation about the “museum of the future.”
9- 7 Rue Froissart – New Art Fair
October 19 – 25, 2025
Bringing fresh energy to Paris’s contemporary scene, this new art fair breaks from traditional market norms. Curated by Brigitte Mulholland and Sara Maria Salamone, it offers an experimental program ranging from performances to drag shows. Art here is informal, collaborative, and alive.
10- My Name Is Orson Welles – Cinémathèque Française
Until January 11, 2026
Marking the 40th anniversary of Orson Welles’ death, this expansive exhibition highlights the cinema genius’s lesser-known works beyond film. Featuring radio, paintings, and drawings, it traces the multifaceted creativity of the man behind Citizen Kane.
Apartment No:26 Note
Paris this autumn feels like a city of memory: resonating with the giants of the past and the rhythm of the present. Between the Louvre’s marble silence and the neon glow of 7 Rue Froissart, the pulse of art beats stronger than ever.
