This exhibition marks the 20th anniversary of the donation of twenty paintings, along with ten long-term loans, made by Pierre and Colette Soulages to the Musée Fabre. To honour Soulages’ immense body of work, the museum has chosen to present a major exhibition spread across three floors and covering more than 1,200 square metres.

The exhibition’s title reflects a desire to highlight Pierre Soulages’ encounter with the history of art that preceded him, as well as with the art of his own time. Around 120 works are brought together, including paintings, works on paper, copper plates, bronzes and glass pieces. As visitors make their way through the exhibition, Soulages’ works are displayed alongside a selection of pieces by great masters who came before him – such as Rembrandt, Zurbarán, Courbet, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Mondrian, and Picasso – as well as artists who played a significant role in his life, including Hans Hartung, Anna-Eva Bergman, Pierrette Bloch, and Zao Wou-Ki.

For this exhibition, the Fondation Gandur pour l’Art is lending two painted works created by Pierre Soulages in the early 1950s.