A magical and surprising journey, anyone? We look forward to seeing you at the Atelier des Lumières, at 38 Rue Saint-Maur in the eleventh arrondissement of Paris. Immersive exhibitions that send us thrills and emotions. Monet, Renoir… Chagall, Voyages en Méditerranée is the featured exhibition until January 3, 2021. However, you can also discover at night (from 6:30 pm to 8 pm) until November 15, 2020 the exhibition on the photographer Jimmy Nelson.
What is the Atelier des Lumières?
Monet, Renoir… Chagall, Travels in the Mediterranean
The exhibition Monet, Renoir… Chagall, Voyages en Méditerranée illustrates the evolution of art and its movements such as impressionism or pointillism through Fauvism. More than twenty artists from various eras meet, such as Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, Matisse, or Vlaminck, Dufy, Chagall and many others. This forty minutes brings together more than 500 works scattered all over the world. The play between lights and music is just incredible. The scenery sometimes seems almost cosmic, the ground seems to move under our feet. Children run into this large space, touching the walls to try to understand the magic that surrounds them. The adults themselves look confused and let themselves be enchanted by these decorations by sitting on the floor, their eyes enchanted. We even end up wondering if what surrounds us is not a dream?
From Vernet to Pissaro via the Impressionists
A wide range of artists is revealed during this exhibition. The paintings are depicted before our eyes, the storms of the works representing the port of Marseille by Claure Joseph Vernet seem real. The lightning moves as if to come out of the paintings and the sounds of thunder accompany them. In this exhibition, every detail counts. Monet's works, for example, are accompanied by a projection of water lilies that cover the ground. When Renoir's paintings appear, this time it is a parquet floor, typically Parisian, that comes to draw on the floor. It surely symbolizes the city that inspired this artist, as in his famous painting Bal du Moulin de la Galette, a place located in the heart of Montmartre. 
When this painting appears on these huge walls, emotion overwhelms us. The music, La Rêverie (Valse Musette) by Luca Longobardi, accompanies the dance of the people painted by Renoir. Indeed, thanks to the technology used, some couples in the painting are highlighted and enlarged to twirl around us. We are then taken to the south of the France, where the sky is blue and the colors are warm. For Henri-Edmond Cross, for example, the discovery of the Mediterranean was a revelation. A precursor of Fauvism, he abandoned dead painting and portraiture and freed from his palettes bright colors in soft and warm landscapes. The climate and contrasts of the sea and the south have conquered more than one painter. 
If you want to go to the Atelier des Lumières during the day, this exhibition will be preceded by the one on Yves Klein, originally from Nice. A short program where the colors seem alive… To visit this place, it will take 14 € for a full price ticket and 12 € for reduced rates. Do not forget to book in advance on their website to ensure a place. L'Atelier des Lumières is not just a projection of famous paintings on walls. It is really an immersion to make us feel the emotions of the painter and to include us in the masterpieces. Fun and educational for the little ones, this Digital Art Center also allows the older ones to disappear, for an hour, from the outside world.
