Germaine Richier

In homage to Germaine Richier, the first female sculptor exhibited in the National Museum of Modern Art, in 1956, this retrospective brings together nearly 200 works – sculptures, engravings and drawings.

Drawing on previously unpublished research, the exhibition demonstrates the degree to which Germaine Richier occupies a central position in the history of modern sculpture, as a link between Rodin and the first César. Having trained in the tradition of Auguste Rodin and Antoine Bourdelle, over a period of little more than 25 years, between the 1930s and her premature passing in 1959, Germaine Richier asserted herself as profoundly original and radical in scarcely more than 25 years. The layout of the exhibition traces her artistic trajectory in chronological order, highlighting the major themes (the human, the animal, myths) that nurtured her practice as a sculptor. It reveals how Richier affected a revitalisation of the figure, forging new images of men and women in the post-war period.