5 Parisian summer exhibitions in August 2025
Summer in Paris isn’t just about lounging on the terrace. It’s also a unique opportunity to discover strong, well-thought-out exhibitions, often less crowded. In August 2025, 5 major exhibitions transform the capital into an artistic playground. From icons to retrospectives and visual experiments, here are the must-sees.
David Hockney – A life in pictures at the Fondation Louis Vuitton
At the Fondation Louis Vuitton, the David Hockney 25 exhibition brings together over 400 works chosen by the artist himself, retracing seventy years of creation. From his colorful landscapes to portraits bathed in Californian light, to his latest digital works on iPad, Hockney demonstrates a rare freedom of tone and constant inventiveness.
This retrospective is as impressive for its scope as for its accessibility. The layout is fluid, the labels precise, and the whole exudes a luminous energy. A must-see last day: the exhibition closes on August 31, 2025.
📍Fondation Louis Vuitton, 8 Av. du Mahatma Gandhi, 75116 Paris
Paul Poiret – The couturier who shook up fashion
At the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, La mode est une fête revisits the radical career of Paul Poiret, an avant-garde designer of the early XXᵉ century. Known for abolishing the corset and introducing ample cuts, Poiret is here staged in an immersive, festive scenography.
More than a simple tribute, the exhibition questions the link between freedom of the body and clothing design. An inspiring visit for anyone interested in fashion as a political and artistic act. Open all summer, until January 2026.
📍Musée des Arts décoratifs, 107 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris
Niki de Saint Phalle & Jean Tinguely – A couple, two revolutions
At the Grand Palais, Niki et Jean tells the story of a mythical modern art couple. On one side, the joyful, committed Nanas of Niki de Saint Phalle. On the other, the mad, poetic machines of Jean Tinguely. Together, they sign an explosive four-handed work, where joy flirts with chaos.
The scenography is conceived as a dialogue between their worlds. The result is a vibrant, sensory, colorful and sometimes even disconcerting journey. One of the most dynamic exhibitions of the summer.
📍Grand Palais, 75008 Paris
In the Blur – Abstraction as a state of the world
At the Musée de l’Orangerie, this temporary exhibition (until August 18) brings together contemporary artists around a bold theme: blur, not as a defect, but as a plastic language. The blur becomes a symbol of instability, shifting identity and uncertain perception.
Here, we come across videos and pictorial installations in a deliberately unstructured environment. An intellectual and aesthetic experience, far from consensual, but profoundly in tune with our times.
📍Musée de l’Orangerie, Jardin des Tuileries, 75001 Paris
Jean Gaumy – The breath of the sea
Last stop at the Musée national de la Marine, with the exhibition Jean Gaumy et la mer, on view until August 17, 2025. The Magnum photographer takes a raw, poetic look at the maritime world, between solitude, work and infinite landscapes.
The 140 black-and-white photographs are striking in their realism and silence. One leaves this exhibition with a rare sensation: that of having truly traveled, without leaving Paris.
📍Musée national de la Marine de Paris, 17 Pl. du Trocadéro et du 11 Novembre, 75116 Paris
