François Rouan. On imprint

May30 - September 21 2025

From the start of his career in the 1960s, François Rouan was associated with the Supports/Surfaces movement, although he was not officially affiliated to it. He has followed a singular path, deconstructing the traditional structure of painting to open up new research areas. From the 1980s onwards, he extended his practice to new media, first photography, then video. The museum of Fine Arts of Lyon has chosen to explore his work through the theme of the imprint, a constant theme in his work from the very beginning to the present day. Imprint understood both in its most literal form and in the conceptual exploration of the notions of recollection and quotation.  Read more

Etretat

November 29, 2025 - March 1, 2026

Over time, some of the paintings depicting Étretat have acquired an iconic status and become part of the collective imaginary. The museum, in partnership with the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, will present an exhibition devoted to representations of Étretat, based on four major works held in the collections of the two institutions, all of which were painted in Étretat: two Waves by Gustave Courbet (1869-1870), and two paintings by Claude Monet, The Luncheon (1868-1869) and Rough sea, Etretat (1883). These works testify of the central role played by this village, located on the Normandy coast, in the development of new pictorial languages over the course of the 19^th century. Through a selection of paintings, drawings, photographs and archives, the exhibition traces the story of the discovery of Étretat by artists, painters and writers alike, and highlights its construction as a mythical landscape, from Eugène Isabey to Henri Matisse. Read more

The exhibition is organised by the museum of Fine Arts of Lyon in association with the Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main.

Claude Monet,
Mer agitée à Étretat, 1883.
Image © Lyon MBA - Photo Alain Basset