Sophie Calle Exhibition "À Toi de Faire, Ma Mignonne" at The Picasso Museum, Paris
Sophie Calle Exhibition "À Toi de Faire, Ma Mignonne" at The Picasso Museum, Paris
MuséePicassoParis
PRESS KIT
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
À toi de faire, ma mignonne.
A Sophie Calle exhibition at the
Musée national Picasso-Paris 2
Exhibition route 3
Artist and curator 15
Book editions 16
Educational programs
and family visits 17
Programming around
the exhibition 18
Exhibition partners 19
Current and upcoming exhibitions at
the Musée national Picasso-Paris 22
Exceptional events outside the
museum 23
Copyright-free visuals
for the press 25
Views of the Musée national Picasso-
Paris 28
Practical information 29
Contacts 30
1 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
À TOI DE FAIRE, MA
MIGNONNE.
A SOPHIE CALLE EXHIBITION
AT THE MUSÉE NATIONAL
PICASSO-PARIS
#MuseePicassoxSophieCalle
2 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
EXHIBITION ROUTE
PICALSO
Level 0
The ground floor of the Hôtel Salé marks Sophie Calle's debut at the Musée
Picasso. With the exception of the three self-portraits of Picasso that surround
the artist as his cutie, embodied here by the presentation of the detective novel
that gave title to the exhibition, the upstairs plays on a hollow presence of the
Spanish painter. Supported by a personal narrative, Sophie Calle initiates the
dialogue by using anecdotes and memories - some dating back to her childhood
- as well as visual counterpoints and diversions. In "Picasso in lockdown", we
see the paintings hung, protected from the light and photographed during
their confinement. The "Phantom Picassos", five of Picasso's major paintings
covered in large curtains, embroidered in the same format as the works, are
also absent, with descriptions gathered from museum staff at a time when the
works were on loan outside the museum. Finally, a monumental composition,
in the format of the famous painting Guernica, is a collective work, bringing
together nearly two hundred photographs, objects and miniatures from Sophie
Calle's personal collection, most of them the result of exchanges with artists
ranging from Christian Boltanski and Tatiana Trouvé to Miquel Barceló, Damien
Hirst and Cindy Sherman.
Room 0.1
2019. First rendezvous and proposal for occupying the Musée Picasso in 2023,
to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the artist’s death. Without HIM, if I prefer.
My mother’s words wend their way in, imposture syndrome in their wake. At
an opening at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, upon seeing my works
between those of Hopper and Magritte, she exclaimed: “You really fooled
them!” This time, I imagine her whispering, “Why you?”
Let’s recap.
There’s my very first work, or at least the one my father gave that status to by
framing it and retraced the caption penciled on the back which had faded.
I was maybe six years old, and this drawing made my grandmother say that
there was a Picasso in the family.
There’s Tête, a Picasso stolen from Chicago, whose composite portrait I’d made
from the recollections of those who’d known it.
It’s thin.
3 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
Sophie Calle
Tu les as bien eus !
2018
Black and white silver print in a silver frame
hung in a walnut box
© Sophie Calle / ADAGP, Paris 2023
Private collection
4 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
Sophie Calle
Ink on paper
© Sophie Calle / ADAGP, Paris 2023
Collection of the artist
5 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
Room 0.2
Picassos in lockdown.
Second rendezvous at the Musée Picasso, during the lockdown. No visitors. The
Picassos were under protection, wrapped up, hidden. Underneath — a ghost-
like, less intimidating presence that I immediately photographed. Even before
I knew it, I had accepted.
Sophie Calle
6 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
Sophie Calle
Pablo Picasso, Maya à la poupée, 16 janvier 1938,
huile sur toile, 87 × 74 cm, MP170
2022
Digital print
223 × 115 cm.
© Sophie Calle / ADAGP, Paris 2023
Collection of the artist
7 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
Room 0.5
Phantom Picassos.
Sophie Calle
Pablo Picasso, Paul dessinant, 1923, huile sur toile,
130 × 97 cm, MP81
2023
Silkscreen embroidery on voile, oil on canvas
Musée national Picasso-Paris
© Sophie Calle / ADAGP, Paris 2023
Collection of the artist
© Philippe Millot
8 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
Sophie Calle
Pablo Picasso, La Chèvre, 1950
2023
Bronze, tyvek paper
120,5 x 72 x 144 cm
Musée national Picasso-Paris
© Sophie Calle / ADAGP, Paris 2023
Photograph © Maxime Champion
9 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
WITH CLOSED EYES
Level 1
The first floor opens with an anecdote recounted by Cocteau about Picasso
observing a half-blind painter in Avignon painting the Château des Papes using
only his wife's words. In response to Picasso's well-known fear of losing his sight
one day, Sophie Calle has brought together a collection of objects, photographs
and videos devoted to the theme of the gaze - closed, unseen ("Voir la mer"),
private ("La dernière image", "Les Aveugles"), and so on.
Picasso told me he’d seen an old, half-blind painter in Avignon, in the square
of the Palais des Papes, painting the castle. His wife, standing next to him, was
looking at the castle through binoculars and describing it to him. He painted
based on his wife’s description. Picasso often said that painting is a blind
man’s job. He paints not what he sees, but how he feels about it, what he tells
himself about what he has seen.
Jean Cocteau
THE BLIND
Room 1.3
I met people who were born blind. Who had never seen. I asked them what
their image of beauty was.
Sophie Calle
Les aveugles. Le vert | The Blind. Green
1986
© Sophie Calle / ADAGP, Paris 2023
Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin
10 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
VOIR LA MER
Room 1.4
In Istanbul, a city surrounded by the sea, I met people who had never seen it. I
filmed their first time.
Sophie Calle
Detail of the series Voir la mer
2011
© Sophie Calle / ADAGP, Paris 2023
Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin
My mother wrote in her diary: ‘Sophie is so morbid that she will come and visit
me more often in my grave than in Rue Boulard.’ As for me, to keep death at
bay, I photographed cemeteries, filmed my dying mother, tried to organise a
dress rehearsal for my funeral, owned a burial plot in Montparnasse before
relinquishing it for family reasons, and scattered envelopes around my house
containing so many wills written in haste before each trip. So as then to move
on to other things.
11 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
MY MOTHER, MY FATHER AND ME...
Level 2
On the second floor of the museum, Sophie Calle inventories her possessions in
a spectacular display. Introduced by a series of works dedicated to the theme
of disappearance, from the disappearance of the artist's parents to his own
simulated death, the visitor passes through several rooms where more than
500 of Sophie Calle's objects - drawings, paintings, photographs, objets d'art
and curiosities, rare books, crockery and furniture - are exhibited in the manner
of the Hôtel Drouot.
In Picasso's personal archives kept at the museum, Sophie Calle found a letter
from an association for blind artists, asking Picasso for an original drawing to
be used to build the Maison des yeux clos with the proceeds from the sale.
Having failed to find the answer, Sophie Calle appealed to the generosity of
the Almine and Bernard Ruiz-Picasso Foundation to organise an online sale of
a Picasso ceramic during the exhibition, organised by Drouot Estimations, with
the proceeds going to an association for the visually impaired.
Sophie Calle
My mother, my cat, my father
2017
© Sophie Calle / ADAGP, Paris 2023
Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin
12 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
Room 2.4
Why should I throw away that which was kind enough to reach my hands ?
Pablo Picasso
My mother is dead, my father is dead, I have no children. When I’m gone, what
will become of my things? With no named heirs, a public sale may happen to
me; sold at auction. If I want to exorcise the fear that when I die their shared
history, as well as the one that links them to me, will be erased, I must begin with
the dress rehearsal of what will happen to my estate. So I asked the auctioneers
at Hôtel Drouot to stage my nightmare, to value the possessions in my house
in Malakoff and to draw up a descriptive inventory of my moveable assets, but
not an estimate.
In accordance with the practices of the profession, only those lots worthy of
description were listed. This means that household appliances, bedding and
paperwork were excluded. With the exception of those that form part of the
décor, I have chosen to exclude my own works of art, since their history has
already been catalogued, as well as the jewellery I wish to wear when dead.
13 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
Level 3
The third and final floor offers an overview of Sophie Calle's projects. An
inventory of the 61 completed projects is presented in the form of thrillers
whose titles echo the artist's series. This is followed by a series of unfinished
projects, bringing to life incidents along the way, sketches and attempts, works
on hold and in jeopardy. At the end of the exhibition, Sophie Calle takes physical
possession of an upstairs room, setting up her office, which she will keep open
at all times throughout the exhibition.
Room 3.1
But if everything stops, what will become of the ideas that are on hold, waiting
for their time, in boxes and coffins? Before dying, we must make an inventory
of the sketches, the attempts, the abandoned efforts, and bring the intentions
to life. A way of finishing with them. Finishing the unfinished.
14 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
ARTIST AND CURATOR
Sophie Calle has been the subject of numerous
exhibitions around the world since the end of
the 1970s. Alternately described as a conceptual
artist, a photographer, a videographer, and even a
detective, she has developed her own, immediately
recognisable approach, combining text and
photographs to create an idiosyncratic narrative.
Her works form a vast system of echoes and internal
references, interconnected like the chapters of
an overall work, in which Sophie Calle blurs the
boundaries between private and public, reality
and fiction, art and life. Her work meticulously
orchestrates an underlying reality – her own or that
of others – whilst leaving room for chance.
MUSEUM CURATOR
Cécile Godefroy is an art historian, with a doctorate from Paris
IV - Sorbonne University. She is a member of the International
Association of Art Critics, and the Director of the Picasso Study
Centre, which will open in December 2023 at the Musée national
Picasso-Paris. A specialist in the historical avant-gardes and
questions of interdisciplinarity in art, she has taught at French and
American universities in Paris and curated the exhibitions "Sonia
Delaunay. Les Couleurs de l'abstraction" (Musée d'Art Moderne
de la Ville de Paris - Tate Modern, London, 2014-15), "Marcelle
Cahn. En quête d'espace" (Musée d'Art moderne et contemporain,
Strasbourg; Musée d'art moderne et contemporain, Saint-Etienne ; Musée des beaux-
arts de Rennes, 2022) and several original exhibitions devoted to the work of Pablo
Picasso ("Picasso. Sculptures", Musée national Picasso-Paris - BOZAR, Brussels, 2016-
2017; "Les Musiques de Picasso", Musée de la Musique - Philharmonie-Paris, 2020;
"Picasso ibero", Centro Botín, Santander, 2021, and "Picasso et la Préhistoire", Musée
de l'Homme, Paris, 2023).
15 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
BOOK EDITIONS
Picalso
17 x 21,85 cm
204 pages + poster
French and English
Public selling price: €52 (tax included)
Atelier EXB
16 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
EDUCATIONAL
PROGRAMMES AND
FAMILY VISITS
EXHIBITION VISITS
À toi de faire, ma mignonne takes the opposite view from the events of the “Picasso
Celebration 1973-2023”, which put the spotlight on the Spanish artist. Rising to the
challenge of the invitation, Sophie Calle divided the exhibition into four sections
corresponding to the museum’s four levels. On the first floor, Sophie Calle takes a
quirky look at a selection of emblematic works by Picasso. The upper levels follow a
more retrospective approach; the artist explores some of her central themes, such as
blindness and death.
MUSÉO’PHIL
A PHILOSOPHICAL WORKSHOP AROUND THE EXHIBITION
For kids, without their parents
Is your child always wondering about the world around them, and are you out of answers?
Then sign them up for the Muséo’phil workshop! With our philosopher, children will take
part in a discussion on the question “What is an artist?” After a collective brainstorming
session, they will be able to directly compare their ideas to the works in the exhibition.
For families
Are you always looking for tips to entertain your child at the museum? Then bring
your family to the Muséophil’ workshop. You will certainly find inspiration with our
philosopher. This visit takes the form of a discussion: after a brainstorming session on
the question “Is art useful?”, parents and children will be invited to debate and directly
compare their ideas to the works in the exhibition.
17 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
PROGRAMMING AROUND
THE EXHIBITION
MEETING WITH SOPHIE CALLE
The meeting will be preceded by a book signing by the artist in the museum hall from
5pm.
Thursday, October 5th | 6pm - 10pm
18 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
EXHIBITION PARTNERS
DROUOT
Comprising several subsidiaries, the Drouot Group is a key player in the art market.In
the world of auctions, Hôtel Drouot is a unique model, the largest public auction house
in the world. Founded in 1852 in the heart of Paris, it is one of the oldest international
institutions dedicated to this activity and concentrates the largest number of physical
sales in a single location. In 2022, 74 auction houses auctioned nearly 250,000 works
of art at Hôtel Drouot.
Since its creation, Hôtel Drouot has been renowned for its major events, including the
sale in 1852 of the possessions of Louis Philippe I, King of the French, the legendary
sale of the "Peau de l'Ours" in 1914 and the André Breton collection in 2003. Alongside
these prestigious pedigree sales, it is also a marketplace where cultural goods of all
kinds are traded every day.
Auction news is reported every week in La Gazette Drouot, the leading art market
weekly since 1891.
19 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
MEDIA PARTNERS
LE MONDE
Founded in 1944 as a daily newspaper, Le Monde has become a media company that
also publishes themed supplements and its magazine M, with a focus on independence,
rigor and high editorial standards. Le Monde reaches 20 million readers, Internet and
mobile users every month. Continuous daily coverage of international, French, economic
and cultural news. Every day, four pages devoted to culture, with enriched content,
portfolios and videos, on its website and apps. That's why Le Monde is delighted to be
associated with the Musée Picasso on the occasion of the exhibition À toi de faire, ma
mignonne, and to share its enthusiasm for this event with its audience.
Find out more : lemonde.fr
MADAME FIGARO
A label of influence for 40 years, Madame Figaro is a global, multi-media brand. It is
distributed every Friday in the weekend pack of Figaro and also has a digital expression
through its website, its application and its social accounts. The Madame Figaro website
recorded 7.6 million unique visitors in December 2021 (source Médiamétrie) and
recorded 16 million visits and 10 million video views per month on all devices.
madame.lefigaro.fr
PARIS PREMIÈRE
Paris Première, a reference cultural channel for over 35 years, supports culture in all its
diversity: exhibitions, theatre, shows, cinema, music, festivals, etc.
By associating itself with events selected for their adequation with the spirit of the
channel, Paris Première affirms its attachment to the world of the arts, entertainment
and show business.
Paris Première is available on DTT, satellite, cable, ADSL and mobile phones.
Watch Paris Première free-to-air on DTT channel 41 every day from 6:00 pm to 9:00
pm and from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm on weekends.
INSERT
Insert is part of the Phenix group, which operates in the print and digital urban billboard,
mall and social media markets. Insert has 37,000 print displays and 12,000 advertising
tables in 800 establishments nationwide, covering all cities with populations of over
100,000. Its 4 formats: 1m², 60x80, 40x60 (dedicated to the cultural sector), 53.5
Rond offer a wide range of communication possibilities. Thanks to its presence in local
shops, Insert is part of French people's daily lives, with a 100% pedestrian audience of
16 million people a week.
20 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
PICASSO CELEBRATION
1973-2023
2023 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Pablo Picasso, and the year will be
devoted to celebrating his work in France, Spain and abroad.
Celebrating Picasso's legacy today means looking at what this major work of Western
modernism represents today. It's about showing that part of his work that is alive,
accessible and relevant today. The Picasso Celebration 1973-2023 was initiated by the
Musée national Picasso-Paris, the event's main lender and coordinator, and Bernard
Picasso, the artist's grandson and President of the FABA and the Picasso Museum in
Malaga. In Spain, the event is being organised by the Spanish National Commission
for the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Death of Pablo Picasso. This
celebration is based around some fifty exhibitions and events to be held in renowned
cultural institutions in Europe and North America, which together, thanks to new
interpretations and approaches, will make it possible to review the state of studies and
understanding of Picasso's work.
It's a "Picasso today" that embodies this Celebration, and lays the foundations for the
Picasso-Paris national museum of tomorrow.
21 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
CURRENTLY
AT THE MUSEUM
La collection du Musée national Picasso-Paris. Œuvres choisies
Until March 3, 2024
COMING UP
AT THE MUSEUM
22 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
EXCEPTIONAL EVENTS
OUTSIDE THE MUSEUM
It's pablo-matic: Picasso according to Hannah Gadsby
Brooklyn Museum, New York
06.02.2023 – 09.24.2023
L’effet Picasso
Museum of Recent Art Bucharest, Bucarest
09.26.2023 – 01.08.2023
Picasso in Fontainebleau
Museum of Modern Art, New-York
10.08.2023 – 02.17.2024
L’écho de Picasso
Museo Picasso, Málaga
10.02.2023 – 03.24.2024
23 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
Picasso. Dessiner à l'infini
Centre Pompidou
10.18.2023 – 01.15.2024
Miró – Picasso
Museu Picasso, Barcelona
Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona
10.19.2023 – 02.25.2024
24 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
VISUALS
COPYRIGHT-FREE VISUALS FOR THE PRESS
SOPHIE CALLE
EXPOSITION 3.10.2023 — 7.01.2024
MuséePicassoParis
Portrait of Sophie Calle at the Musée
Exhibition poster
Picasso
© Yves Géant
Sophie Calle
Ink on paper
© Sophie Calle / ADAGP, Paris 2023
Collection of the artist
Sophie Calle
Tu les as bien eus !
2018
Black and white silver print in a silver frame
hung in a walnut box
© Sophie Calle / ADAGP, Paris 2023
Private collection
25 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
Sophie Calle
Detail of the series Voir la mer
2011
Serena Carone
© Sophie Calle / ADAGP, Paris 2023
Le Cénotaphe de Sophie
Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin
2017
Glazed earthenware
173 x 54 x 70 cm
©Serena Carone/ ADAGP, Paris 2023
Photographie ©Béatrice Hatala/ ADAGP,
Paris 2023
Collection Sophie Calle and Serena Carone
26 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
Sophie Calle
Pablo Picasso, La Chèvre, 1950
2023
Bronze, tyvek paper
Sophie Calle 120,5 x 72 x 144 cm
Pablo Picasso, Portrait de Marie-Thérèse, Musée national Picasso-Paris
6 janvier 1937, huile sur toile, 100 × 81 cm, © Sophie Calle / ADAGP, Paris 2023
MP159 Photograph © Maxime Champion
2022
Digital print
141 × 141 cm
© Sophie Calle / ADAGP, Paris 2023
Collection of the artist
Sophie Calle
Les aveugles. Le vert | The Blind. Green
1986
© Sophie Calle / ADAGP, Paris 2023
Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin
Sophie Calle
Pablo Picasso, Maya à la poupée, 16 janvier
1938,
huile sur toile, 87 × 74 cm, MP170
2022
Digital print
223 × 115 cm.
© Sophie Calle / ADAGP, Paris 2023
Collection of the artist
27 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
VIEWS OF THE MUSÉE
NATIONAL PICASSO-PARIS
COPYRIGHT-FREE VISUALS FOR THE PRESS
28 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
29 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris
CONTACTS
PRESS RELATIONS
CLAUDINE COLIN COMMUNICATION
Alexandre Holin
[email protected]
+33 (0)1 42 72 60 01
SOCIAL NETWORKS
@MuseePicassoParis
@MuseePicasso
@museepicassoparis
@musee-picasso-paris
@museepicassoparis
www.museepicassoparis.fr
30 Press kit | À toi de faire, ma mignonne. A Sophie Calle exhibition at the Musée national Picasso-Paris