Expo

They have kept us company for millennia, there are nearly 23 million of them in French homes, they sometimes lead us by the nose… Dogs and cats are making their mark on the Cité des sciences et de l’industrie. You will learn everything about canines and felines in this exhibition.

Portraits, gallant scenes, and historical textile pieces engage in dialogue to explore the diversity of representations of femininity as they unfolded in 18th-century staging.

The exhibition highlights the rise of a French style whose elegance captivated European courts and aristocracy, revealing a history of costume both rooted in material reality and nourished by imagination.

At the heart of this era, France established itself as the essential stage for refinement and prestige.

Artists such as Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Jean-Marc Nattier, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, and Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun excelled at translating the brilliance of fabrics as well as the depth of souls, offering their models an aura of grace and power.

The exhibition's journey, which showcases these virtuoso works, is enriched by portraits marked by a new psychological dimension, where intimacy and naturalness take a central place, under English influence.

In parallel, the pastorals of François Boucher and the fêtes galantes of Antoine Watteau shaped an idealised and poetic femininity.

Finally, contemporary photographs by Steven Meisel, Esther Ségal, and Valérie Belin, as well as a Chanel creation by Karl Lagerfeld, offer a counterpoint reflection on the persistence of codes and the legacy of the 18th century in current fashion, between social demands and the imagination of beauty.