Center Pompidou: The sanctuary of modern art Relais des Halles

The Centre Pompidou houses one of the three largest collections of modern and contemporary art in the world, alongside New York’s MoMA and London’s Tate. This collection, comprising over 100,000 works by 6,400 artists, is an exceptional artistic treasure trove.

Additionally, the museum offers a magnificent view of Paris, adding a unique visual experience to the richness of its collection.

The collections

It can be difficult to explore everything in a single day, so it’s wise to make choices. The collections are divided into six distinct themes:

• Modern Collection (1905-1960): 7,000 works covering the visual arts.
• Contemporary collection (1960 to the present): Paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs and installations.
• Photography collection : The largest in Europe.
• Design collection: Furniture, objects, prototypes.
• New Media Collection: The world’s leading collection, with 160 multimedia installations and nearly 2,000 documents.
• Cinema Collection: Films by experimental filmmakers, films and installations by visual artists. 1300 works, including «Voyage dans la lune» by Georges Méliès.

Here are some of the works we particularly liked:

Fernand Léger – Reading, 1924

Auguste Herbin – Bowls players, 1923

Salvador Dali – Guillaume Tell, 1930

Jean Miro – One of the paintings in the «Three Blues» triptych. In foreground, Huastec sculpture

Erro – Mao in Saint Marco, 1975

Pierre Paulin – “Tongue”, 1967 and Olivier Mourgue – Armchair Djinn, 1964

Françis Bacon – The Fugures in a room, 1964

Rafaël Rozendaal – Horizon 31, 2021

A singular architecture

A visit to this building is a unique experience. The initiative to create this museum arose from the desire of President Georges Pompidou, a great lover of modern art, to re-establish Paris‘s central position on the world art scene. To realize this vision, he launched the project to create an exceptional venue dedicated to contemporary art in the heart of Paris.

Following an international architectural competition in 1971, chaired by Jean Prouvé, the project by Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers and Gianfranco Franchini was selected. It stands out by creation of a forum in front of the museum. Furthermore, the main building, with a scale of 500,000 cubic meters, is presented as an entirely metal structure freeing eight floors of 7,500m², without any partition, staircase, elevator or logistics zone. This design gives the museum total freedom in the use of space.

Although criticized by some Parisians, who dubbed it «Notre Dame de la “piping», the project quickly gained support. At the same time, memories of the neighborhood’s pre-project condition also faded.

Beaubourg in 1969

CENTRE GEORGES POMPIDOU
Place Georges-Pompidou, 75004 Paris
Wednesday to Monday, 1am to 9pm. Nocturne on Thursday until 11:00 p.m.
https://www.centrepompidou.fr/en/