The exhibition Le Paris d’Agnès Varda, de-ci, de-là (here and there) at the Musée Carnavalet approaches the work of Agnès Varda (1928-2019) from a new angle. It highlights the artist’s still little-known photographic work and reveals the primordial role of the courtyard-studio on the rue Daguerre (Paris 14th), a place of life and creation, from 1951 to 2019. More generally, it shows the importance of Paris in a free and abundant work that never gives in to the easy option and wonderfully creates a dialogue between documentary and fiction.
The result of more than two years of research, the exhibition draws primarily on Agnès Varda’s photographic collection and the Ciné-Tamaris archives. It juxtaposes the photographer’s work with that of the filmmaker through a collection of 130 prints, including many previously unseen, and excerpts from films shot entirely or partly in Paris. It also features publications, documents, objects belonging to the artist, posters, photographs of films shooting, and a sculpture of her cat, Nini.
After revealing Agnès Varda’s first steps as a photographer, the tour offers a first immersion in the courtyard-studio, at the time when it was at once a photography studio, a development and printing laboratory and the location of her first solo exhibition in 1954.
The same courtyard was revisited in the 1960s, at the time when Agnès Varda shared it with the filmmaker Jacques Demy, when it was frequented by cinema personalities after having welcomed theatre people.
The exhibition then features a collection of photographs that highlight the artist’s offbeat, humorous, and strange outlook on the people and streets of the capital. Agnès Varda has indeed responded to numerous commissions, notably for portraits but also for reports, which she handled in her own unique way.
The filmmaker’s view of Paris is evoked in a chronological and thematic journey highlighting films shot entirely in Paris, starting with Cléo de 5 à 7 (1962). The city is filmed to be in unison with the feelings experienced by the young woman. This part of the exhibition evokes two other films where Paris is used to describe the emotions of the characters with: an excerpt from the short film Les fiancés du pont MacDonald (1962) and photographs from the set of Loin du Vietnam (1967). Through a selection of excerpts from feature and short films, some previously unseen or unfinished, the exhibition also questions the way in which Agnès Varda’s camera explores the city and shows her passion for urban details, invisible to hurried eyes.
The exhibition continues with themes dear to the artist, such as her attention to people, particularly women and those who live on the margins, each time weaving links between the work of the photographer and the filmmaker. For the film L’une chante l’autre pas (1977), which tells the story of the emancipation of two women who gain freedom and truthfulness, Agnès Varda recreated the shop of a Parisian photographer. To do this, she created a series of female portraits, 12 of which will be exceptionally re-staged in the exhibition. The exhibition also unveils the photobook project L’opéra-Mouffe, illustrating songs about the Mouffetard neighborhood, which in 1958 became a short film exploring the contradictory feelings that a pregnant woman experiences in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Paris. It also presents Daguerreotypes (1975), a documentary filmed along Rue Daguerre in which Agnès Varda creates a series of portraits of her neighboring shopkeepers.
The exhibition concludes with portraits of the artist, photographed and filmed in her courtyard-studio turned courtyard-garden, from which she showcased her work while cultivating a colorful personality.
A book including essays by the curators and members of the scientific committee is published by Éditions Paris Musées.
General Curator
Valérie Guillaume, Director of the Carnavalet Museum – History of Paris
Scientific Curator
Anne de Mondenard, General Heritage Curator, Head of the Photographs and Digital Images Department at the Carnavalet Museum – History of Paris
Le Paris d’Agnès Varda, de-ci, de-là
April 9 – August 24, 2025
Musée Carnavalet
23 Rue de Sévigné
75003 Paris, France
www.carnavalet.paris.fr
