Berthe Weill, galerie d'avant-garde: the retrospective exhibition at the Musée de l'Orangerie - photos

A visionary art dealer who was unjustly forgotten after her death, Berthe Weill helped launch the careers of some of the 20th century's most important artists. The Musée de l'Orangerie has decided to pay tribute to this gallerist with an exhibition running from October 8, 2025 to January 26, 2026.

The exhibition Berthe Weill, galeriste d'avant-garde brings together some one hundred paintings, drawings, sculptures and archives, showing both the prestigious artists spotted by the art dealer, and the personality and career of this important woman in the Parisian art world of the early 20th century.

The exhibition features masterpieces by some of the greatest artists of the 20th century: Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, Otto Freundlich, Diego Riviera... Berthe Weill contributed to the rise of many of these painters and sculptors: she played an important role in the recognition of Fauvism and Cubism, and in the popularity of theavant-garde and its leading figures.

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From 1901, in her Pigalle gallery, Berthe Weill turned to new, innovative artists. Characterized by its many experimental movements, modern art had as many admirers as detractors. For 40 years, she supported these artists of a new genre, committing herself as much to famous artists as to young talents in search of fame.

Over the course of her career, she welcomed the work of over 300 artists, organized hundreds of exhibitions, and opened four art galleries at different addresses in Paris, before facing the horrors of the Second World War when, as a Jew, she was hidden by a friend and fell into poverty, only to be helped by her peers who enabled her to end her life more comfortably.

Like an art gallery, the Musée de l'Orangerie unveils numerous paintings one after the other, one artistic movement following the other. It's also an opportunity to discover a little more about the workings of the 20th-century art world, the sale of works of art, their discovery and the eye it took to make so many beautiful finds.

Berthe Weill, who had to face up to the sexism of the time, enabled many foreign artists to reach France, contributing to their success.

A great exhibition that should undoubtedly appeal to art-history enthusiasts, especially those with a passion for paintings, since it features a very large number of them. While it may appeal to children, thanks to a few mediation devices that invite them to find elements in the works, the exhibition is not very entertaining and is unlikely to enthrall them.