Explore the World of Pierre Soulages

It’s always a pleasure to visit the Musée de Luxembourg. The exhibits are carefully curated and beautifully laid-out. This December, that pleasure is magnified by the exquisite nature of the modestly titled exhibit, “Soulages, another light. Paintings on paper.”   

Pierre Soulages created a remarkably coherent body over six decades. Known as “the painter of black and light,” his  abstract work was narrowly focused but extraordinarily moving.  

Soulage belived  — and, in his case, he was most certainly correct — that meaning could be communicated solely and completely through form. Using only a limited palette of black, and occasionally brown and blue, he painted a world full of energy, joy and, above all poetry. His work is closely akin to Zen calligraphy in its economy of expression yet powerful presence.

The Luxembourg’s retrospective does Soulages full justice. Each room thrums with energy as each succeeding decade takes on its own charecter. Sometimes too much of a good thing is too much. Here, that is defintely not so. The more paintings I saw, the more I wanted to see. Even after two hours, I found it hard to leave.  

The Soulages exhibit closes on January 11, 2026. Try to get there if  you can!

DETAILS
Musée du Luxembourg
19 Rue de Vaugirard, 6th
Tel: +33 (0)1 40 13 62 00
Full-price ticket: 14 €
Free for kids under 16