Image: Boris Lipnitzki, Foujita dans son atelier. Paris, vers 1925 © Boris Lipnitzki / Roger-Viollet
The Musée Bourdelle in Paris will open ‘L’étoffe de l’artiste. De Rosa Bonheur à Sonia Delaunay’ on 23 September 2026, bringing together more than 50 items of clothing and accessories that belonged to artists. The exhibition will remain on view through 24 January 2027 at the museum, located at 16–18 rue Antoine-Bourdelle in the 15th arrondissement.
The exhibition focuses on the ways artists use dress to construct and communicate their public image. According to the museum’s announcement, the garments and accessories present clothing as a means of self-assertion, provocation and freedom, as well as a form of creative expression. The selection is intended to offer another history of art, one in which the artist’s silhouette becomes a subject in its own right.
The objects associated with the artists take on several roles within that history. Clothing can function as a sign of distinction, a practical tool for work or an artistic gesture. The exhibition’s premise therefore extends beyond fashion as a category, considering the relationship between appearance, artistic identity and daily practice.
The presentation spans artists from different generations and fields. Its announced figures include Rosa Bonheur, Gustav Klimt, Léonard Foujita and Sonia Delaunay. The museum’s newsletter also includes an image credit for Boris Lipnitzki’s ‘Foujita dans son atelier’, dated to around 1925, alongside credits for works and images held by or associated with Paris Musées institutions, the Musée d’Orsay, the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, the Musée des impressionnismes Giverny and other collections. The available announcement does not provide a complete checklist of the exhibition’s contents.
The exhibition will be accompanied by programming at the Musée Bourdelle. A costumed evening and swing dance event on 9 October will invite visitors to interpret artists’ dress through such references as a painter’s smock, a lavallière tie or an atelier suit, followed by an introduction to lindy hop with the Shake That Swing collective. Admission is listed at €14, with a reduced rate of €12 and a further reduced rate for people attending in costume.
Other activities announced for the exhibition include adult modelling workshops titled ‘Copier / créer’ and ‘Du trait à la forme’, as well as family workshops including ‘Les héros de la mythologie’ and ‘Petit sculpteur à quatre mains’. The museum also states that visitors presenting a ticket for ‘L’étoffe de l’artiste’ can receive a reduced-price admission to ‘Un vestiaire à soi’ at the Palais Galliera. General admission to the Musée Bourdelle exhibition is listed at €12, with a reduced rate of €10.
