As part of the Bicentennial of Photography, led by the French Ministry of Culture in 2026–2027, the Musée d’Art moderne de Fontevraud is inaugurating an ambitious exhibition dedicated to the intimate and fertile connections between photography and painting.

Following the success of its major summer exhibitions, the museum continues its exploration of dialogues between artistic forms with La chambre et l’atelier : photographie & peinture, an original exhibition tracing how, from the 19th century to the present day, the two mediums have responded to, challenged, and reinvented one another.

The exhibition brings together:

• A selection of photographs connected to the artists and works featured in the museum’s permanent collection: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degas, Alfred Stieglitz, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Brassaï, Man Ray, Andy Warhol…
   
• Contemporary photographic works illustrating the relationships between painting and photography, organized into several sections: photography as tool, photography as rival, emancipated photography, painted photography, painting as reference, painting as subject, and finally, animated painting. The featured artists include Juliette Agnel, Stéphane Couturier, Véronique Elena, Elger Esser, Nicolas Floc’h, Anselm Kiefer, Elizabeth Lennard, Patrick Tosani, and Paolo Ventura.
   
• Monumental installations by David Claerbout, Anne-Charlotte Finel, Ange Leccia, and Bill Viola, presented throughout various spaces of the Abbaye royale de Fontevraud.

For this exhibition, the Musée d’Art moderne de Fontevraud is collaborating with artists and galleries, museums, FRAC collections, foundations, as well as photography specialists.