Exhibition guide
Presented at the Cognacq-Jay museum in collaboration with the Palais Galliera, the exhibition “Revealing the feminine. Fashion and Appearances in the 18th Century” offers an immersion into the fascinating world of femininity in the Age of Enlightenment.
Visit details
- Dates: From Wednesday March 25, 2026 to Sunday September 20, 2026: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- Venue: Musée Cognacq-Jay, 8 rue Elzévir, Paris
- Price: De 0 à 11 euros.
- Audience: All audiences
- Source: Event page
About the exhibition
Portraits, romantic scenes and historical textile pieces interact to explore the diversity of representations of femininity as they unfold in 18th century settings. The exhibition highlights the rise of a French style whose elegance seduced the European courts and aristocracy, revealing a history of costume both anchored in material reality and nourished by the imagination.
At the heart of this era, France established itself as the essential theater of refinement and prestige. Artists such as Maurice Quentin de La Tour, Jean-Marc Nattier, Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, and Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun excel at translating the brilliance of fabrics as well as the depth of souls, offering their models an aura of grace and power.
The exhibition itinerary, which highlights these virtuoso works, is enriched with portraits marked by a new psychological dimension, where intimacy and naturalness take on a central place, under English influence. At the same time, the pastorals of François Boucher and the fête galantes of Antoine Watteau shape an idealized and poetic femininity.
Finally, contemporary photographs by Steven Meisel, Esther Ségal, and Valérie Belin, as well as a Chanel creation by Karl Lagerfeld, suggest in counterpoint a reflection on the persistence of codes and the heritage of the 18th century in current fashion, between social demands and the imagination of beauty.