POITIERS.- Following the exhibition recently presented at the Palais Lumière in Evian, the Musée Sainte-Croix welcomes twelve major works from the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes concerning the female figure, showing both women as artists and as models.

Women are very much present in the collections of the Musée Sainte-Croix in Poitiers. From the engraved female figures on the tablets from the La Marche caves, to the peacemaking women on the Romanesque capital of the dispute, alongside the Roman tomb of the women of Naintré, the archaeological collections can easily be explored through a female presence.

The theme becomes more explicit in the painting and sculpture collections, especially from the Second Empire onwards. Whether they are themselves artists (Camille Claudel, Romaine Brooks, Sarah Lipska, Valentine Hugo, Chana Orloff, Kay Sage, Odette Pauvert), or models (Misia Sert, Colette, the Marchesa Casati, Ida Rubinstein, Nathalie Paley), these iconic figures invite the visitor to discover both famous personalities and anonymous muses, all of them witnesses to changing eras and attitudes, in times of urbanisation, industrialisation and modernity.

Inserted into the permanent collections, specially rehung for the occasion, these guests painted by Suzanne Valadon, Félix Vallotton, Kees Van Dongen, Tamara de Lempicka or Sigmar Polke, are accompanied by complementary loans (Musée d’Orsay, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen and private collections) evocative of famous figures such as Misia Sert, Colette, Lucie Delarue-Mardrus and Anna de Noailles.

The paintings allow visitors to rediscover the fine art collection under a new angle, echoing in a complementary or unexpected way the works of Camille Claudel, Romaine Brooks, Sarah Lipska, Valentine Hugo, Chana Orloff, Kay Sage, Odette Pauvert, as well as Pierre Bonnard, Edouard Vuillard and Aristide Maillol. From motherhood to the world of fashion, from the courtesan to the muse, from the model to the artist, women are seen as a symbol of truth, fantasy and freedom.

A catalogue and an international symposium (septembre 23-24th 2016) will allow a deeper investigation into this very current field of art history.

This exhibition in the Musée Sainte-Croix of Poitiers was produced in cooperation with the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes and the Palais Lumière of Evian. The Musée Sainte-Croix pursues its exchange and partnership policies with national and regional museums, allowing the public to welcome regularly a “new museum guest” (artist or institution), and to encourage the discovery of works related to its own collection.