Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle celebrates 400 years with exhibition on artists who drew from its collections
The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris is commemorating its 400th anniversary with an exhibition running from 23 September 2026 to 7 March 2027, which explores the relationship between its collections and artistic expression. Curator Alice Lemaire emphasizes the institution's rich iconography. Louise Fauduet mentions Gustave Moreau's three-decade involvement with the museum, where he studied 'zoophytes' for his 1880 artwork Galatée. Since 1794, the Ménagerie has provided artists like Eugène Delacroix and Antoine-Louis Barye the opportunity to observe animals. Taxidermy scenes also inspired Henri Rousseau and Jürg Kreienbühl. Daria Schmitt's graphic novel, set for 2025, features René Descartes's skull, while Gaétan Nocq's Octopolis (2024) showcases a nautilus. The exhibition is highlighted in Beaux Arts Magazine n°507.
Key facts
- The Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris celebrates its 400th anniversary with an exhibition running 23 September 2026 to 7 March 2027
- The show examines four centuries of links between the Muséum's collections and artistic creation
- Gustave Moreau frequented the Muséum for 30 years, from 1853 to 1883, drawing on its collections for his Galatée
- Moreau copied illustrations from Philip Henry Gosse's Actinologia Britannica (1858–1860) and Louis Figuier's La Vie et les mœurs des animaux (1866)
- Eugène Delacroix and Antoine-Louis Barye met at the Ménagerie, where Delacroix wrote to Barye in June 1829 about a dead lion
- Henri Rousseau reproduced a taxidermy scene by Louis Quantin and Jules Terrier in Le lion, ayant faim, se jette sur l'antilope
- Stéphane Belzère turned a painting of an ocelot larynx into a stained-glass window for Rodez cathedral
- René Descartes's skull has been in the MNHN collections since Georges Cuvier acquired it at auction in 1821
Entities
Artists
- Salvador Dalí
- Gustave Moreau
- Philip Henry Gosse
- Louise Fauduet
- Maud Haon-Maatouk
- Louis Figuier
- Alice Lemaire
- Germaine Boca
- Robert Doisneau
- Fortunino Matania
- Eugène Delacroix
- Antoine-Louis Barye
- Dominique de Font-Réaulx
- Henri Rousseau
- Louis Quantin
- Jules Terrier
- Hippolyte Noël
- Eugène Fromentin
- François Bonvin
- Jürg Kreienbühl
- Stéphane Belzère
- Daria Schmitt
- René Descartes
- Georges Cuvier
- Gaétan Nocq
- Ovide
- Nérée
- Doris
- Acis
- Polyphème
- Amiral de Rigny
- Pierre-Joseph Redouté
- Emmanuel Fremiet
- Henri Matisse
- Auguste Rodin
- Marie Laurencin
- Charles-Alexandre Lesueur
- Nicolas-Martin Petit
- Marthe Vesque
- Juliette Vesque
- Michel-Eugène Chevreul
- Sarah Moon
- Bernard Buffet
- Alberto Giacometti
- Yannick Bellon
- Chris Marker
- François Pompon
- Henri-Alfred Jacquemart
- Pierre Rouillard
- comte de Buffon
- Michelle Auboiron
- Stéphane Belzere
- Pierre Bérenger
- Enki Bilal
- Sarah Braeck
- Evantias Chaudat
- Ali Cherri
- Estelle Cruz
- Jean-François Dejouannet
- Fernand Deroussen
- Xavier Desmier
- Christine Enrègle
- Sophie Fernandez
- Nicolas Floc’h
- Anne Fontaine
- Pascale Gadon-Gonzalez
- Didier Geffard-Kuriyama
- Laurence Gervot-Rostaing
- Agathe Haevermans
- Silvère Jarrosson
- Claire Korber
- Charlène Letenneur
- Taylor Alaina Liebenstein Smith
- Ludivine Longou
- Jean-Pierre Lorand
- Julien Norwood
- Vitali Panok
- Ernest Pignon-Ernest
- Gabriel Sobin
- Roger Swainston
- Christelle Tea
- Jack Thiney
- Jean-Max Toubeau
- Nadia Vadori-Gauthier
- Jacques Vekemans
- Katharina Ziemke
- Delphine Zigoni
Institutions
- Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
- musée d'Orsay
- Beaux Arts Magazine
- Fondation Bayeler
- éd. Daniel Maghen
- Sotheby's
- musée Marmottan Monet
- L'Illustration
- Ménagerie du jardin des Plantes
- Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle
- Grande Galerie de l’Évolution
- musée d’Orsay
- musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac
- musée Gustave Moreau
- Bibliothèque nationale de France
- Beaux-Arts de Paris
- Petit Palais
- Jardin des Plantes
- Artistikrezo
Locations
- Paris
- France
- Vincennes
- Etna
- Stockholm
- Sweden
- Rodez
- Bâle
- Switzerland
- Ile Saint-Paul
- Indian Ocean