Félix Fénéon and non-western arts, the exhibition at Paris Musée du Quai Branly

In 2019, Musée du Quai Branly and Musée d’Orsay compelling exhibitions give pride of place to Félix Fénéon. All in all, about a hundred works that belonged to Félix Fénéon are exhibited from May 28 to September 29, 2019.

This journalist, editor, art dealer and prodigious collector always espoused an open-minded vision of creation and strove for the recognition of non-western arts.

First working at the Minister of War, where “he was happy to write reports about the others, for whom this intellectual work was harrowing, a torture and often an unbearable difficulty” (Octave Mirbeau), Félix Fénéon will quickly start working for literature magazines.

Félix Fénéon quickly writed for La Vogue, La Cravache Parisienne, Le Chat Noir and will even create magazines such as La Libre Revue (1883) and La Revue Indépendante (1884). His business will lead him to meet Joris-Karl Huysmans, Jules Laforgue, Stéphane Mallarmé, Paul Verlaine, Emile Zola and painters such as Gauguin, Pissarro and Signac.

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In 1886, he signs a manifesto about a new painting, pointillism or neo-impressionist, Les Impressionnistes in 1886. But he is also known for the recognition of non-western arts.

In 1920, Félix Fénéon wonders about the status of faraway arts in an investigation, “Seront-ils admis au Louvre” [Will they be admitted into the Louvre?] and for which he interviews 11 celebrities including Paul Guillaume, Robert Dreyfus and Arnold Van Gennep.

If non-western arts will take a few decades to be known, Félix Fénéon creates his very own art collection – that will become one of the most important collections – with arts from Africa, Oceania and works to see alongside paintings by Seurat, Vuillard, Toulouse-Lautrec, Braque, Matisse or even Modigliani (who became his friends).

A retrospective returning on his collection, "the vital role in the evolution of the look on extra-European artists". An exhibition also revealing - through a selection of major works - how impressive his collection is. The occasion to discover a rather unknown collector... Shall we go there, friends?

Please note that it's been over 4 years since our last visit, so the place and experience may have changed.