On the occasion of its summer season, the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Limoges has invited independent curator Maribel Nadal Jové to collaborate once again on a new project* exploring the theme of reading through the history of art. Dispersed throughout the permanent fine arts collection, spanning from the Italian Renaissance to the 20th century, a selection of contemporary figurative paintings creates a dialogue between works of the past and present-day creation. The exhibition highlights reading in all its forms, celebrating both the act of reading and the book itself. Whether held in the hand, integrated into a composition, or depicted on its own, the book appears as the guiding thread of an inspiring journey, leading visitors from room to room.

A recurring theme in art, reading spans eras and styles, appearing in numerous compositions. At the heart of this reflection, La Chambre bleue (1923) by Suzanne Valadon (1865–1938) — a key work in the permanent collection — offers a striking and modern vision of the female reader in the early 20th century. Beyond the two books placed at the foot of Valadon’s odalisque’s bed, the representation of books and reading appears repeatedly in the museum’s painting collection: in a Book of Hours held by a Renaissance Virgin, in books placed on the ground in Gérard Seghers’ The Assumption of the Virgin after Rubens, in Paul-Élie Ranson’s Vanity with Mice, or in Suzanne Lalique’s The Chess Game, where books and newspapers are casually arranged at the centre of the composition.

Although figurative painting was for a time set aside in France in favour of abstraction, it has experienced in recent years a strong vitality and a clear revival. In the wake of several recent exhibitions and events (“Immortelle,” a two-part exhibition presented at M.O.C.O & M.O.C.O PANACÉE in Montpellier in 2023, and “Le jour des peintres” at the Musée d’Orsay in 2024), this contemporary counterpoint offers an overview of current pictorial production. Mostly drawn from the French art scene, the twelve artists brought together for the occasion come from diverse backgrounds. They present a wide variety of situations and perspectives while exploring major themes in art history: the nude, the bather, still life, and self-portraiture.

Thus, concentration and the intimacy of reading appear in the works of Lise Stoufflet and Françoise Pétrovitch. Humour in relation to a children’s book is expressed by Marcos Carrasquer. The artist’s studio, with its library, is depicted by Frédéric Léglise, while a domestic interior is evoked in the work of Mathieu Cherkit. Real books appear in the works of Shu Rui and Clémence Bruno, while invented books are featured by Marc Molk and Lise Stoufflet. Books as research tools appear in the work of Isabelle Braud, and a book in the process of being written in that of Chéri Samba. New forms of reading on screens are also addressed in the works of François Mendras and Frédéric Léglise. Finally, outdoor reading is explored by Farah Atassi. Reflecting this multiplicity, the title Lecture(s) evokes the plurality of interpretations, stimulates the imagination, and opens up a space of sensory and psychological freedom, questioning even our contemporary practices in the digital age.

Exhibition Au fil des toiles presented at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Limoges from 18 May to 26 August 2019.