Exhibition : Kandinsky, The music of colours

At the Cité de la Musique - Philharmonie de Paris

Through to February 1st, 2026.

It's a cross-disciplinary exhibition. First of all, through its themes: music and colours. Also by the arts it brings together: Kandinsky's painting and music. Finally, because it brings together two major Parisian institutions: the National Museum of Modern Art - Georges Pompidou Centre and the Philharmonie de Paris. An exceptional project that this major event in Paris constitutes until February 1: Kandinsky, the music of colours. A dialogue of the arts.

The Philharmonie de Paris is not just a renowned concert hall. It is also the Museum of Music. By presenting an exhibition dedicated to Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), the author of the first abstract artwork of the modern era, it off ers the public a musical

discovery of the painter's universe during an immersive sound journey. A creation blending voices, noises, sounds, music, which enters into dialogue with the painting, made possible by audio headsets that trigger as the visitor progresses through nearly 200 works, paintings, and sketches.

Because music played a fundamental role in the painter's work and his path towards non-figurative painting. Himself a musician, passionate about Wagner, he will mature a reflection following the abstract model of music that he will translate into his painting. A pictorial abstraction nourished by the music of Stravinsky, Schoenberg, and so many other musicians of his time, which will be found in the shapes and colours he will place on his canvases. The visitor discovers an immersive installation around Wagner's opera Lohengrin, which Kandinsky discovered in 1896 and which led him to dedicate himself to painting. An aesthetic shock combining scenography, costumes, and the score of the

lyrical work, which will be a revelation for the painter. Later, he would work on the sonority of the colours of Beethoven's 5th Symphony, paint large series, the Compositions and Improvisations, and adapt for the stage in 1928 Pictures at an Exhibition, musical works by the Russian musician Modest Mussorgsky. In 1931, he created one of his major works on ceramics, the Music Room, recreated here.

To discover a major exhibition, with its bold scenography based on a play of coloured lights on the floor.

Affiche de l'exposition © DR

221 Avenue Jean Jaurès

75019 Paris