Sumō, a blend of technique and intuition, is characterised by the impressive size of its athletes and by lightning-fast bouts, where the defeated wrestler is penalised for losing balance.

This first-ever exhibition in France devoted to sumō takes as its starting point the work of two passionate artists: French photographer Philippe Marinig and Japanese painter Kinoshita Daimon. Both celebrate the wrestlers in their art, moving fluidly between tradition and modernity. Their creations are accompanied by rare works exceptionally loaned to the Musée départemental des beaux‑arts asiatiques in Nice. Among them is a copy of the Pierre Soulages vase, commissioned by President Jacques Chirac and awarded to the champion of the sumō tournaments from 2000 to 2007, drawn from the collections of the Fondation Gandur pour l’Art.