Contemporary women artists were the first to be made visible in public space. In 2009, the “elles” show displayed 150 artists of the Pompidou collection, with Louise Bourgeois, Diane Arbus, Cindy Sherman as highlights.
However the Montmartre bohemia, cubism, surrealism and pop art all reasserted the identity of the misunderstood male genius, when cultural institutions started to be accessed by women. The 20th century acclaimed quite a few artists’ couples, sometimes reducing its female protagonists to companions: Sonia and Robert Delaunay, Dora Maar and Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Niki de St Phalle and Jean Tinguely.
Can the avant-garde be defined in female terms then? We’ll investigate on these topics by looking over the modern and contemporary galleries on the top floors of the museum, after enjoying a spectacular view of Paris.