Contemporary Art
Musée de l’Orangerie
Alexandre Lenoir. Par la force des choses
From March 25th to August 24th, 2026
Alexandre Lenoir, Ce qui nous porte, 2025, © Adagp, Paris, 2026 Photo © Delaissement Philippe
Born in 1992, Alexandre Lenoir’s paintings are based on photographs he selects as souvenirs of happy moments yet they are dominated by an imperious nature to which he deliberately allows a degree of arbitrariness. Lenoir works on images transformed by time – both the time elapsed between the photograph and the paintings, and the time required for the painting’s slow creation. His process starts by applying countless layers of paint, from the lightest to the darkest tones, onto a multitude of small pieces of adhesive tape that alternatively mask and reveal canvas. This process leads to a reconstruction of the projected image on which the painting is based while deliberately avoiding any ‘romantic’ effects.
Alexandre Lenoir plays with the tensions between an assertive realism and creative processes that are as elaborate as they are experimental. He works on “the action of seeing” in relation to the act that is going to create the image, the act of the water, that of the tree, organizing a kind of ecosystem comparable to the one sought by Claude Monet when he created his Waterlilies.
On the occasion of the 16th Contemporary Counterpoint at the Musée de l’Orangerie, Alexandre Lenoir unveils four previously unseen paintings.
Musée d’Orsay
Youssef Nabil. To Dream Again
From May 19th to September 13th, 2026
Youssef Nabil (1972), Self-portrait with Roots, Los Angeles, 2008, © Youssef Nabil Courtesy Youssef Nabil
Since the 1990s, the Franco-Egyptian photographer and videographer Youssef Nabil (born 1972) has been producing a body of work with a strong visual identity, to which the Musée d'Orsay has made a decisive contribution. His first visit to France and discovery of the museums collections in 1992 is still a source of inspiration that has imbued his work for more than thirty years, as evidenced by the self-portrait The Dream (2021), inspired by Puvis de Chavannes' Le Rêve. With this exhibition, Youssef Nabil is the first contemporary artist in the Orientalist galleries, offering an opportunity to put his works in perspective with those that have influenced him within this same space, which, along with symbolism, constitute the heart of their aesthetic rapprochement.
The title of this exhibition, ‘To Dream Again’, highlights the central role played by dreams in Youssef Nabil’s work, as well as in the Orientalist and Symbolist movements he is inspired by.