André Malraux - Art and Friendship

In 1964, André Malraux inaugurated the Fondation Maeght with a speech that has since become famous: “This is not a museum. (…) But here, something is being attempted that has never been attempted before: to create a universe, to create instinctively and through love the universe in which modern art could find both its place and that otherworld which was once called the supernatural.” He had worked alongside Marguerite and Aimé Maeght to devise the statutes of France’s first foundation dedicated to modern and contemporary art.

In 1973, the couple presented André Malraux with an exhibition devoted to his Imaginary Museum, bringing together exceptional works from cultures across the world.

In this year marking the fiftieth anniversary of Malraux’s death, the Fondation pays tribute to a man who left a lasting mark on the history of the arts through his vision and his ability to forge connections between cultures and across periods. This major exhibition traces a journey through the arts and the works of the artists he so deeply admired. Art and friendship, in perfect symbiosis.

“The exhibition seeks to reveal the profound and often close personal ties between André Malraux and a number of twentieth-century artists, including Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, Demetrios Galanis, Alberto Giacometti, Max Jacob, Fernand Léger, Joan Miró, Emile Giglioli and André Masson.

It also highlights several artists who illustrated his books: Léger (Lunes en papier), Alexeieff (La Condition humaine), Spitzer (La Voie royale and Les Noyers de l’Altenburg), and Chagall (Antimémoires, followed by Et sur la terre…).

Malraux’s years as Minister of Cultural Affairs will also feature: his delivery of Georges Braque’s funeral oration before the Louvre; his commission to Marc Chagall for a new ceiling for the Palais Garnier in Paris; and his role in making possible the creation of Jean Bazaine’s stained-glass windows for the church of Saint-Séverin.

Finally, the exhibition sheds light on the friendship between André Malraux and Marguerite and Aimé Maeght, particularly the inauguration of the Fondation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence on 28 July 1964 and the major exhibition André Malraux – The Imaginary Museum, held in the summer of 1973.

Along the way, visitors will discover significant works that informed André Malraux’s thinking about art, notably engravings by Goya and African sculptures,” explains guest curator François de Saint-Chéron.