What’s on in Paris this September

1 September 2016

Attend Leading Art & Design Exhibitions During a Late-Summer Stay at Hotel Balzac

Famed for its outstanding galleries and museums, Paris is the perfect holiday destination for any art and design fan. However, this September, the capital will be a particularly attractive prospect for a cultural city break with both Paris Design Week and the launch of the Centre Pompidou’s new Magritte exhibition. Read on to find out more about these unmissable events and plan your perfect five-star stay at Hotel Balzac this September.

Paris Design Week

Various Locations

3rd-10th September 2016

Design fans will be flocking to the capital to see cutting-edge contemporary homeware, fashion, art and cuisine at Paris Design Week this September. An extension of the MAISON & OBJET trade fair at Paris Nord Villepinte, this free-entry event will offer the chance to see the latest work by 200 designers and brands in venues such as galleries, studios, concept stores, museums, design schools and restaurants. Alongside viewing collections and prototypes by designers from 20 countries, there’ll also be the opportunity to attend conferences, cocktail parties and workshops.

The variety of work on offer will vary from wallpaper, furniture and lighting, to jewellery, ceramics and even skateboards. The Y’s Yohji Yamamoto boutique will be exhibiting six textile works created by architect of pleats, Pietro Seminellei, while Hermès will be showcasing its new outdoor fabric collection on Rue Bonaparte. There’ll be a celebration of a collaboration between Estonian and Finnish designers at the ‘Now! Le Off’ exhibition on the 3rd, which will also offer the chance to catch Estonian musician, Mick Pedaja. While a display called ‘Flowing Landscape Furniture’ at 9 Rue Legraverend will be entirely dedicated to objects made from a 100% recyclable material called Swisspearl.

The 4th edition of the ‘Now! Le Off’ exhibition will be displaying work by 100 designers at the Les Docks, Cité de la Mode et du Design, while other venues will be spread across St Germain, Le Halles, Opéra and Barbes. Those keen to learn more can also look forward to four conferences that explore topics such as whether it’s enough just to be a designer, or different production options, led by the likes of designer, interior designer and teacher, Marie-Christine Dorner. With the city transforming into the Capital of Design, this eight-day festival will offer an exciting and inspirational line-up of events to attend.

Magritte Exhibition

Centre Pompidou

21st September 2016 – 23rd January 2017

Later this month, modern and contemporary art gallery Centre Pompidou will be presenting a new exhibition titled “Magritte: La trahison des images”. The display will be dedicated to works by Belgian Surrealist artist René Magritte, and in particular, his interest in philosophy. This fresh angle will see some of Magritte’s most famous and lesser-known works accompanied by narratives that explore the meaning or relationship to be found between the objects within his paintings. With approximately 100 paintings, drawings and documents on show, this will be an unmissable event for any art fan.

Famed for his iconic depictions of bowler hats, pipes, apples and umbrellas, the artist began changing his approach to work in 1932. At this time he painted Les affinités électives, an egg in a cage, which marked his transition from creating works without intention and placing his objects randomly, to seeking reasoning. He sought to explore a ‘problem’ within his works, shifting from seeking to shock the viewer with unrelated objects, to those that had a relationship or significance. There were particular objects and images that he returned to and these will form the focus for the exhibition; curtains, shadows, words, flames and body parts.

Images of the curtain will be linked to the contest between Zeuxis and Parrhasius. The two Greek painters wished to find out who was the better painter; while Zeuxis painted grapes so life-like that they attracted the attention of birds, Parrhasius painted a curtain that looked so real that Zeuxis attempted to pull it to one side when asked to. Zeuxis responded "I have deceived the birds, but Parrhasius has deceived Zeuxis". Meanwhile, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and Pliny the Elder’s account of the invention of painting relating to shadows will also feature. Displaying the likes of 1935’s Le modèle rouge, which depicts feet that transform into what appear to be leather lace-up boots and 1938’s Les marches de l'été; a broken ceramic bust set against a realistic backdrop painted as if was formed from blocks, this exhibition will provide fascinating insight into one of modern art’s key figures.

With such outstanding art and design events on offer, an unforgettable cultural city break awaits in Paris this September.