ODETTE PAUVERT. PAINTING WITH AMBITION IN THE ART DECO PERIOD
Exhibition from 11 October 2025 to 11 January 2026
In the autumn of 2025, La Piscine is celebrating the anniversary of the Art Deco movement at the same time as the centenary of the first Grand Prix de Rome awarded to a female painter, with an exhibition dedicated to the work of Odette Pauvert (1903-1966).
As a daughter and sister of artists, Odette Pauvert at first glance followed a clearly marked path. After several years spent at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, in 1925 she became the first female painter to win the prestigious Grand Prix de Rome, which paved the way for her to attend the Villa Medici for three years. There, she explored the full extent of her talent in works that reveal her esteem for the masters of the Italian Quattrocento. On her return to Paris, the painter made her grand decor ambitions clear. Her marriage in 1937 and the Second World War dealt a blow to this meteoric rise and, in the 1950s, the triumph of the avant-garde movement left little room for the proponents of classicism.
Throughout her career, Odette Pauvert pursued a resolutely classical and decorative goal which was at odds with a certain perception of modernity. This is what made her a natural choice for the picture rails of La Piscine. The exhibition aims to shine the spotlight on this forgotten figure of the world of painting and reinterpret her work through the prism of recent research by investigating the place of women in the academic curriculum of the École des Beaux-Arts at this time. For La Piscine, this initiative is also therefore a sign of its firm commitment to celebrating the female artists of the interwar period, which are present everywhere in its collections.
Curator: Adèle Taillefait, curator of the Fine Art collections, La Piscine – André Diligent museum of art and industry.
Scientific advisor: Thibaut Gemignani
The scenography was completed thanks to the generous support of Tollens paint.
This exhibition has been prepared with exceptional loans from the Beaux-Arts in Paris, the Villa Medici in Rome and with the collaboration of the artist’s family. It is held as part of seventh lille3000 event, entitled Fiesta.
Caption: Odette Pauvert (1903-1966), Self-portrait with a red scarf, 1926. Pastel on grey paper, 41 x 33 cm. Special collection.
