MAC VAL Celebrates 20 Years with 'Le genre idéal' Exhibition

The MAC VAL (Musée d'Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne) in France, the first museum entirely dedicated to French art from the 1950s to today, is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a collection exhibition titled 'Le genre idéal.' The museum's collection of 2,000 works includes pieces by Christian Boltanski, Bruno Perramant, Claude Closky, Gina Pane, Annette Messager, and Pierre Huyghe, alongside emerging artists. The exhibition, curated by Yuan-Chin Cheng, Anais Linares, and Margaut Segui, runs until January 2026. It explores the hierarchy of genres, inspired by André Félibien's 1667 classification of painting into five genres: still life, landscape, genre scene, portrait, and history painting. Director Nicolas Surlapierre questions whether old classifications should persist amid social change. The museum project began after the creation of the Fonds Départemental d'Art Contemporain in 1982, with the collection approved in 1999 by the Conseil Artistique des Musées. It was driven by the Conseil Départemental du Val-de-Marne and its presidents Michel Germa (1984-2001) and Christian Favier, emphasizing cultural mediation and social cohesion.