9 Must-See Exhibitions in Paris for January 2020

Paris, named best international destination of 2019 by Artribune, presents a winter season of major monographic exhibitions. At Centre Pompidou, 'Bacon en toutes lettres' explores the literary influences on Francis Bacon, while 'Christian Boltanski. Faire son temps' surveys the artist's thirty-year career through fifty works. Both shows have drawn record numbers, requiring online reservations. The Louvre hosts a colossal Leonardo da Vinci retrospective for the 500th anniversary of his death, featuring an unprecedented corpus of works, and a retrospective on Pierre Soulages, who turned 100 in 2019, making him one of the few living artists to exhibit at the Louvre. At Grand Palais, 'Toulouse-Lautrec. Résolument Moderne' presents over 200 works highlighting his modern style, and 'El Greco' is the first major French exhibition on the Spanish Renaissance master. Jeu de Paume shows Zineb Sedira's photography and video works from 1998 onward, addressing post-colonial oral traditions. The Bibliothèque Nationale de France offers a Tolkien retrospective with 300 items including manuscripts, and the Cinémathèque presents 'Vampires – De Dracula à Buffy', a thematic exhibition on cinematic vampires.