Jenny Holzer Brings Van Gogh, Baudelaire and Morisot Letters to Life at Musée d'Orsay
At the Musée d'Orsay, Jenny Holzer's exhibition titled "J'ai vu" showcases 19th-century writings, including letters, literary pieces, and political texts, integrated with the museum's collection. These works are presented on stone benches, an LED display, and projected onto the Seine façade. The American artist, a recipient of the Praemium Imperiale, utilized handwritten letters from various notable individuals. The LED installation, ÉCRIT (2026), travels through the galleries, stopping every two hours. Significant pairings feature Millet's "L'art n'est pas un divertissement" alongside Courbet's Rut du printemps (1861), as well as Van Gogh's "Donnez-moi la réalité" with Courbet's Le Désespéré (1843-1845). The exhibition is open until 21 February 2027, with nightly outdoor projections continuing until 22 October 2026.
Key facts
- Jenny Holzer's exhibition "J'ai vu" is on view at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris until 21 February 2027
- Holzer received the Praemium Imperiale, described as the Nobel Prize of the arts
- The show uses hundreds of texts, mostly drawn from handwritten 19th-century letters
- The LED work ÉCRIT (2026) was originally installed at the Guggenheim and now runs on a linear loop through the galleries
- Morisot's words "Je t'aime comme je meurs" come from a letter to Julie Manet dated 1 March 1895 and are paired with Le Berceau (1872)
- Van Gogh's "Donnez-moi la réalité, le danger lui-même" accompanies Courbet's Le Désespéré (1843-1845)
- A war-themed room centred on Fernand Cormon's Caïn (1880) includes material presented to George W. Bush before the Iraq invasion
- Façade projections run from dusk to 23h through 22 October 2026
Entities
Artists
- Jenny Holzer
- Vincent van Gogh
- Theo van Gogh
- Charles Baudelaire
- Berthe Morisot
- Julie Manet
- Jean-François Millet
- Gustave Courbet
- Pierre Bonnard
- Mary Cassatt
- Fernand Cormon
- Émile Bernard
- Harris Whittemore, Jr.
- George W. Bush
- Paul Cézanne
- Gustave Flaubert
- Émile Zola
- Claude Monet
- Alice Monet
- Théodore Duret
- Anne McDowall
- Nicholas C. Morgan
- Anne Prestwich
- Laëtitia Striffling-Marcu
- Baron Haussmann
Institutions
- Musée d'Orsay
- Guggenheim Museum
- Praemium Imperiale
- Artists Rights Society (ARS)
- ADAGP
- Van Gogh Museum
- Huygens ING
- Connaissance des Arts
- Artists Rights Society
- designboom
- Inferno Magazine
- WordPress.com
Locations
- Paris
- France
- New York
- United States
- Iraq
- Gare d'Orsay
- Seine
- Basel
- Switzerland