Experience the splendour of the Paris Opera and its history through this extensive showcase of costume pieces, prized oil paintings, 19th century manuscripts and more borrowed from the National Library of France and the Musée d'Orsay. Through roughly 250 artworks and artefacts, this exhibition tells the story of one of the world’s most revered institutions dedicated to performing arts.
Similar to a classical ballet performance, the exhibition is divided into ‘acts’ beginning with the foundation of the Paris Opera during Louis XIV’s reign to the modern day. Act I covers the 17th and 18th centuries, with an emphasis on the establishment of the Palais Garnier.
Act II takes you to the neighbourhood of Salle de la rue Le Peletier in the 19th century, when the Paris Opera building was burned down in a fire and had to be reconstructed. This section also centres on the Romantic Ballet era and the designers who were in charge of the set and costume pieces during this time. Here, you can see the masterpieces of Manet, Degas and Lépaulle, whose paintings captured the ongoings of the Paris Opera from its inauguration at the Palace of Versailles to practice sessions in ballet rehearsal studios.
The final act will cover the 20th and 21st centuries, starting with the emergence of the Ballet Russes and extending to Christian Lacroix’s costume designs for dancer Karole Armitage in 1987.