At the Centre Pompidou, Paris

Virtually explore the Centre Pompidou with Smarthistory as your guide

Some background

videos + essays

Link to the Centre Pompidou's website

The last work of Eva Hesse
The last work of Eva Hesse

Hesse proves that powerful, emotionally charged art doesn't have to be pretty.

Dada’s “Approximate Man”: A <em>Portrait of Tristan Tzara</em> by Marcel Janco
Dada’s “Approximate Man”: A Portrait of Tristan Tzara by Marcel Janco

This mask is a rare document of the Dada movement and an embodiment of the so-called “approximate man.”

Raoul Hausmann, <em>Spirit of the Age: Mechanical Head</em>
Raoul Hausmann, Spirit of the Age: Mechanical Head

A century before democracy was tested by social media gone rogue, Hausmann understood the dark side of technology.

Pablo Picasso and the new language of Cubism
Pablo Picasso and the new language of Cubism

Picasso was a technically skilled draftsman—so why did he choose to take his forms apart?

Georges Braque, <em>Le Viaduc à L’Estaque, (The Viaduct at L’Estaque)</em>
Georges Braque, Le Viaduc à L’Estaque, (The Viaduct at L’Estaque)

An homage to Cézanne, but also a reaction to having seen Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, Braque is exploring.

László Moholy-Nagy, <em>Composition A.XX</em>
László Moholy-Nagy, Composition A.XX

Moholy-Nagy influenced the Bauhaus in its shift toward industrial aesthetics and materials.

Kiki Smith, <em>Lying with the Wolf</em>
Kiki Smith, Lying with the Wolf

Smith imbues a normally-violent story with tenderness in the embrace between a woman and a wolf.

Louise Bourgeois, <em>Cumul I</em>
Louise Bourgeois, Cumul I

Male and female forms reveal and conceal themselves simultaneously in this polished marble sculpture.