Exposition Temporaire : Kiki, Reine de Montparnasse

An icon of the Roaring Twenties, a muse of the avant-garde and a free-spirited artist, Kiki de Montparnasse embodied the spirit of Montparnasse in the 1920s and the cultural upheavals of an era in search of modernity. Born Alice Prin in Châtillon-sur-Seine in 1901, in Paris she became one of the most famous figures of the artistic bohemian movement, while asserting her place as an artist in her own right.

The muse of Man Ray, Modigliani, Kisling, Foujita and Soutine, immortalised in the emblematic photograph Le Violon d'Ingres (1924), Kiki imposed a new image of the woman: free, daring and liberated from social conventions. As a cabaret singer, painter, writer and performer, she shaped her own legend and played an active part in the artistic creation of her time.

Presented at the Musée du Pays Châtillonnais - Trésor de Vix, this exhibition of national interest offers an immersive journey accessible to all, bringing together photographs, paintings, drawings, archives and works by Kiki herself. It shows the extent to which Kiki was a key figure in the artistic creation of her time, inspiring artists with her freedom, energy and singular presence.

As part of the Châtillon-sur-Seine, cradle of icons project, the exhibition reinstates the legacy of Kiki de Montparnasse in her home town and invites the public to rediscover a major figure in female emancipation and in the cultural history of the 20th century.

Exceptional loans from all over the world: New York, Villa La Fleur Museum - Poland, Musée des Années Trente - Boulogne-Billancourt, Musée Goya de Castres, Écomusée de la Bresse - Pierre-de-Bresse, Cinémathèque Française - Paris... and works by outstanding artists from the Ecole de Paris: Man Ray, Pablo Gargallo, Tsugouharu Foujita, Moïse Kisling, Maurice Mendjisky, Zaliouk and Kiki herself.

A vibrant, free and daring exhibition, in the image of Kiki de Montparnasse.

Not to be missed from 1 April to 30 December 2026.