Winter exhibitions in Brittany Give culture a try

Winter exhibitions in Brittany

The museums of Brittany invite you to explore a range of contrasting emotions and sensations, such as the cheer and fantasy of Dufy, the gripping sense of tragedy of Velickovic, the saga of the Jules Verne trophy, the charm of everyday life seen through the lens of the Géniaux brothers, the incredible modernity of Chaplin, and more. So, put some energy into your winter and give culture a try!

“Jules Verne Trophy, the extraordinary record”

Brest, Musée de la Marine, 28 June 2019 to 3 January 2021

Turning their childhood dreams into reality, at the start of the 90s sailors launched a crazy bet to sail around the world in less than 80 days, from east to west, non-stop and without assistance It was the launch of the “Jules Verne” trophy, to pay homage to the saga’s hero, Phileas Fogg. As 2019 marks the 500th anniversary of the first circumnavigation by Magellan, the Marine Museum invites you to follow in the footsteps of these extreme navigators. Models of boats, an original manuscript, a giant world map, drawings, sailors’ outfits, items from life on board, and more, take you behind the scenes of this incredible adventure. Led by the figure of the hero, a circuit of eight ports takes you through Jules Verne’s novel, reminds you of five centuries of circumnavigation and leads you to the genesis and realisation of a challenge imagined by sailors, for sailors. You’ll learn about the design and preparation of these exceptional multi-hull vessels, understand life on board, relive the 27 attempts, nine victories and records. It promises to be a thrilling, exciting and impressive crossing alongside

Musée de la Marine

Raoul Dufy, les années folles

Quimper, Musée des Beaux-Arts, 29 November 2019 to 5 May 2020

The Quimper Fine Arts Museum invites you to discover the multifaceted work of Raoul Dufy, who was a painter, draughtsman, ceramist, creator of fabrics, decorator, etc. It’s the opportunity to discover an artist who did away with the frontiers between major art and minor art, a champion of fantasy and the joy of living. Among the 300 works presented, taken from a private collection, you’ll naturally see paintings and drawings that extol the sea, regattas, music and festive celebrations. But you’ll especially discover an unexpected side of Dufy, that of a man who worked for fifteen years or so with a large silk-making company in Lyon and created over one thousand original motifs. A poetic bestiary combining birds, butterflies, elephant and also flowers in bouquets, seedlings, thrown, mixed with pure tones and arabesques that decorated the designs of the greatest couturiers to the delight of the elegant. A meeting of the bold and the fantastic that is bound to make you smile!

Musée des Beaux-arts de Quimper (FR)

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Velickovic

Landerneau, FHEL, 15 December 2019 to 26 April 2020

One of the most visible representatives of the New Figuration movement is occupying the Capucins gallery until spring 2020. Internationally-known painter, draughtsman, engraver and sculptor, Velickovic’s work is powerful, marked by the tragic dimension of the human condition. Around one hundred works examine the major themes explored by the artist. A painter of paroxysm, of the “great style”, he seeks to integrate the representation of time by indicating a path, a direction. Seeking harmony, he examines the relationships between black, white and greys, using colour sparingly to avoid any decorative effect. Rhythm is omnipresent; no figure is static. The culminating Grünewald series probes Velickovic’s fascination for the Renaissance painter and the theme of the Passion of Christ. It’s a work of dazzling modernity that echoes the major questions of our time!

FHEL (FR)

Charles and Paul Geniaux. Photography, a destiny

Rennes, Musée de Bretagne, 18 October 2019 to 26 April 2020

Testimony to the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the photographs of the Géniaux brothers resurrect architecture, landscapes and scenes of everyday life. Born in Rennes from a bourgeois and cultured family, Charles and Paul Géniaux, whose father was a military doctor, travelled greatly in their childhood, which sharpened their curiosity and how they saw things. As adults, Paul became a photographer-reporter and Charles a journalist-writer. Both turned out to be forerunners in the field of photography and reporting. Glimpses of small street trades, scenes of fairs and markets, snapshots of seamstresses and workers at work in tobacco and sweet factories depict an industrious France. From their childhood holidays in Morbihan, you will discover views of churches and calvary crosses, but also the festivals and customs of this late 19th century. In the 1910s, while Paul was dedicated to fashion photography, filming sophisticated women at horse races, Charles tracked the details of local life on long trips in Tunisia and Morocco. Black and white shots for a very colourful journey!

Musée de Bretagne

“Corneille, un cobra dans le sillage de Gauguin”

Pont-Aven, Musée de Pont-Aven, 1 February to 24 May 2020

Through an exhibition of 70 paintings, drawings, sculptures and ceramics, you are invited to discover 50 years of creation of an innovative and travelling artist. Thanks to a chronological circuit, you will understand the artist’s journey, from founding the Cobra movement in the 1950s to the renewal of figuration, including abstract landscaping. Influenced by Gauguin, Miro, Klee, surrealist poetry and also children’s drawings or popular arts, his work is identifiable through the use of bright, pure and expressive colours. His spontaneous style and his free lines led to the creation of fantastic creatures and an entire imaginary world imprinted with poetry. The desert and its dazzling light inspired in him a period focused on “abstract landscaping”, featuring a complex interplay of colours and interlacing lines, dominated by ochre hues. A champion of free figuration from the 1960s, he celebrated women, birds, snakes, flowers and the sun. A hymn to the joy of living and painting!

Musée de Pont-Aven (FR)