Three very different exhibitions mark the start of the new season: Sargent at Orsay, master of modern portraiture inspired by Impressionism; Georges de La Tour at the Jacquemart-André Museum, embodiment of classical chiaroscuro; and Colette at the BnF, which unveils the rich universe of a multifaceted creator. We also present a preview of the exhibition that the Louvre will devote to Jacques-Louis David, scheduled for October.
From September 23, 2025, to January 11, 2026
The Musée d’Orsay houses the world’s largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, with over 1,000 works. In total, it holds nearly 6,000 works, 4,000 of which are on permanent display across three floors, in a contemporary setting and an exceptional location.
The temporary exhibition presents the most French of American painters. He is one of the great portraitists of the 19th century. The exhibition focuses on Sargent’s decade in Paris (≈ 1874-mid-1880s), a period of artistic training and early success, before the scandal surrounding Madame X prompted him to settle mainly in London. His admirers say that the painter captures the personality of his models with elegance and audacity.
Musée d’Orsay
Esplanade Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, 75007 Paris
https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/whats-on/exhibitions/sargent-dazzling-paris
From September 11, 2025, to January 25, 2026
The Jacquemart-André Museum is a beautiful old private residence built at the end of the 19th century. Its collections mainly focus on Italian Renaissance paintings and 18th-century French furniture and art Objects.
Georges de La Tour was a painter from Lorraine in the first half of the 17th century who was famous during his lifetime but fell into obscurity after his death. It is estimated that only around 40 paintings by Georges de La Tour remain in the world. The Jacquemart-André exhibition is therefore exceptional, as it brings together around 30 of his works.
The tour is thematic and highlights genre scenes and religious subjects, often using dramatic chiaroscuro and a style influenced by Caravaggio.
The museum has a tea room that is well worth a visit.
Musée Jacquemart-André
158 Bd Haussmann, 75008 Paris
https://www.musee-jacquemart-andre.com/en
From September 23, 2025, to January 18, 2026
The rich exhibition brings together more than 300 pieces and delves into the world of a multi-talented creator. Novelist and short story writer, playwright, journalist, and critic… she reveals an independent woman ahead of her time, whose innovative, daring, and sometimes transgressive work remains surprisingly relevant today.
Manuscripts, paintings, photographs, prints, and emblematic objects shed light on Colette’s major themes: femininity, identity, emancipation, nature, desire, but also the constant echoes between Colette’s life and her characters, where fiction is constantly intertwined with autobiographical writing.
Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand
Quai François Mauriac, 75706 Paris
https://www.bnf.fr/fr/agenda/les-mondes-de-colette
From October 15, 2025, to January 26, 2026
The exhibition will trace the career of an artist who witnessed six regimes and played an active role in the Revolution, bringing together around a hundred major loans, including the fragment of The Tennis Court Oath (on loan from the Palace of Versailles) and the original version of The Assassination of Marat (Brussels).
Musée du Louvre
75001 Paris
https://www.louvre.fr/expositions-et-evenements/expositions/jacques-louis-david