2025 and 2026 rich in beautiful exhibitions

After the success of the exhibition The Scepter and the Distaff (around 32,000 visitors) last spring, new events await visitors in municipal museums. The next one, Look at me (from October 18 to February 24, 2025), will focus on the subtle art of portraiture, with the presentation at the Museum of Fine Arts of around 150 works, almost all taken from its reserves in La Camusière (18,000 works for less of a thousand presented) and restored for the occasion. Educational thanks to a frieze, this exhibition will retrace the history of this fascinating exercise in the representation of humans.

“The museum has few works from the Renaissance, but rich collections from the 18th and 19th^e centuries, as well as beautiful paintings from the beginning of the 20^e century, also with beautiful representations of children. This presentation will provide the opportunity for new clashes in the permanent route”explains curator Hélène Jagot. The public will find cross-portraits of Georges Souillé, François Sicard, Victor Laloux and Félix Laurent.

A Virgin by Michel Colombe on loan from the Louvre

In the spring, the museum will host an exhibition that is modest in terms of the number of pieces presented (around thirty), but important in terms of quality. Rebirth of a masterpiece will see the presentation of the Madonna and Child of the Château de La Carte (Ballan-Miré), property of Jacques de Beaune. This terracotta sculpture by Michel Colombe was acquired for 4.7 million euros by the Louvre at the end of 2022.

“This is the first large terracotta, a little over 1 m, from the Renaissance. It is exhibited in the Michel-Colombe room at the Louvre. I hope that this partnership will be renewed”she continues. Rebirth of a masterpiece will extend over a long period, from May 16 to November 4, 2025, both for its interest but also for ecological reasons, to which museums are becoming increasingly sensitive.

Finally, in 2026, women will remain in the spotlight with a traveling exhibition dedicated to Camille Claudel and female sculptors. It will first be visible at the Nogent-sur-Seine museum (Aube), then at the Fine Arts museum and, finally, at the impressionist museum in Pont-Aven (Finistère). The artist Marie Cazin, whose husband Jean-Charles was curator of the Tours museum, will be highlighted in particular.

The Château de Tours is preparing to celebrate the 250 years of the Talm school in three stages, with first an exhibition of graduates, followed by one of the teaching artists and, finally, a last with a restitution of workshops. They will take place from November 7 until March 30, 2025. In 2026, this place will be talked about a lot with an exhibition on the American artist Separd Fairey, better known by his pseudonym Obey.

On the photo side, the Jeu de Paume will open its rooms to Letizia Battaglia (1935-2002), an Italian photojournalist known for her work on the mafia. On view from December 4 to the end of May 2025.