the essential
Until Sunday, the Soulages museum is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its inauguration, through various activities and around a clear desire: to make this anniversary a great popular celebration.
From his experience, it seems that Pierre Soulages hated birthdays. What would he have said for the 10th anniversary of his museum? Nobody knows the answer but those responsible for the Ruthenian building have done things in a big way.
Between now and Sunday, several events are planned to honor the memory of the most famous Ruthenian artist and his wife Colette. “We intend to do something good, worthy of a second opening,” says Benoît Decron, the museum’s director. And to achieve this, new collections by the painter have been hung within the establishment’s permanent collection.
Since yesterday, seven ultranoirs from 2008 to 2022 have been displayed following a fourth grant made by Colette Soulages in 2023. One of the last of them was worked with a knife by the artist, a new work. By counting the deposits, the Ruthenian museum with 1.5 million visitors now has around twenty ultrablacks, making it the structure with the most in the world.
Free opening all weekend
In addition to the new exhibitions, the museum offers creative workshops in the garden (continuously) and outdoor flash tours (every 30 minutes) during the weekend, allowing the public to discover different aspects of the building’s architecture. . Various shows are also put on by the museum and the Friends of the Museum association.
New exhibitions on display
A fan of encounters and discoveries, Pierre Soulages would certainly have appreciated the synergy found in the permanent collections room between his works and those of Jeanne Vicérial. Using textiles and notably black monofilaments, the young visual artist creates hand-embroidered pieces. In a place usually of meditation and reflection, real power emerges. “I am moved to present my work here,” confides the former resident of the Villa Medici. I discovered the works of Soulages at 17 years old and, since then, I have borrowed his relationship with the material, with gestures…” This clever mixture has already proven itself in a museum, in Nîmes, the city where the Ruthenian painter died . This creation will be visible until November 3.
In terms of temporary exhibitions, an original installation has taken place until Sunday. Named “Polysemy IV”, it is the fruit of ÉpouxP, Pascale and Damien Peyret who offer several hundred broken screens in the darkness. Accompanied by a sound corridor, this vast immersive installation reveals the last abstract and dreamlike image of recycled computers. “It’s a form of digital archeology, which raises the question of the memory of archives,” confide the artists.
In addition, 34 intimate portrait photos of Pierre Soulages in his studio, dating from 2009, are displayed in the museum. They are the work of photographer Claude Gassian.
To begin with, a tribute concert to Pierre Soulages is being held this evening, at 9:30 p.m., at the La Baleine theater, in Onet-le-Château. Accompanied by the national orchestra of the Capitole de Toulouse, William Blanck’s composition, “Reflecting black”, is inspired by the work of the Ruthenian painter. Places are still available and are accessible on site and via the museum website. To maintain the magic, vertical representations, on the north face of the museum, will occur on Saturday, at 9:30 p.m., and on Sunday at 3 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. The “Rétouramont” company will dance on the walls of the establishment, to offer a real number of shadows and backlighting.
With these activities, the museum is expecting a festive weekend, thanks in particular to free access for all. “I tend to say that the collections here belong to everyone and in particular to the public,” Benoît Decron repeats over and over again. With this strategy, the museum director, faithful to his philosophy, reinforces his desire to make art accessible to as many people as possible.
Relief in ten dates
- December 24, 1919. Birth in Rodez of Pierre Soulages. He grew up in rue Combarel, a stone’s throw from the Soulages museum, in a house which should be entrusted to the care of the “Friends of the Soulages museum” association.
- October 14, 2009. From October 14, 2009 to March 8, 2010, the Pompidou Center in Paris presents the major retrospective devoted to Pierre Soulages. With more than 500,000 visitors and despite an interruption of the exhibition due to a staff strike, this retrospective ranks fourth among the most attended exhibitions at the Pompidou Center since 1977, behind Salvador Dali (840,600 visitors in 1979). , Henri Matisse (734,900 visitors in 1993) and Wassily Kandinsky (702,905 visitors in 2009).
- October 20, 2010. This is the laying of the first stone of the Soulages museum. Alongside the president of the region Martin Malvy, the president of the department Jean-Claude Luche, the president of the agglomeration Ludovic Mouly and the mayor Christian Teyssèdre as well as the prefect Danièle Polvé-Montmasson, Pierre Soulages himself seals the first stone .
- May 30, 2014. Inauguration and opening of the Soulages museum in the presence of the couple Pierre and Colette Soulages and the President of the Republic François Hollande. “Pierre Soulages, you are the most exceptional living painter and you give Rodez the most beautiful gift,” the latter tells him, also in reference to the donation made.
- December 11, 2019. To salute his centenary, Pierre Soulages is exhibited at the Louvre from December 11, 2019 to March 9, 2020. At the time of his death, Paris Match titled “The Last King of the Louvre”, underlining the exceptional nature of this exhibition.
- September 10, 2021. Seven years after its opening, the Soulages museum welcomes its millionth visitor. This is Agnès Dumarché, originally from Saint-Hilaire in Isère. She was accompanied that day by Jean-Claude Bazier and their Ruthenian friend Françoise Fraysse-Gérard.
- November 16, 2021. That day, the Sotheby’s auction house in New York sold a painting by Pierre Soulages, entitled “Painting 195 x 130 cm, August 4, 1961” for the record sum of 20.2 million euros. The work was estimated at between $8 and $12 million. This painting, which is part of the series of red paintings, is considered an “exceptional” work.
- May 15, 2022. This is the date and name of Pierre Soulages’ last work. An ultrablack measuring 102 x 130 cm which is exhibited within the Rodez museum.
- October 25, 2022. Death of Pierre Soulages at the Nîmes hospital, where he had entered for eye surgery.
- August 1, 2023. That day, a record attendance peak was reached at the Soulages museum with 1,628 tickets sold.
