With over 35,000 drawings, the Centre Pompidou’s graphic art collection is one of the world’s largest collections. For the first time, more than 300 works by 120 artists including Dubuffet, Basquiat, Delaunay, Kentridge and many others reveal, at the Grand Palais, a constantly reinvented art of drawing.
The Centre Pompidou’s graphic art collection is one of the most important holdings of works on paper from the 20th and 21st centuries. This exceptional collection, remarkable for its richness and diversity, has never before been the subject of an exhibition of such scale. Drawing outside the lines offers the opportunity to reveal these invaluable treasures for the first time and to understand how this medium was completely reinvented in the 20th century.
Many artists have embraced this original and cathartic mode of expression to push the boundaries of art. Beyond the sheet of paper or the traditional sketchbook, its domain extends to other supports. Drawing has entered the realm of the wall and installation and opens up to other practices: photographic, cinematographic, and digital. The renewed interest of younger generations of artists demonstrates the ongoing relevance of this simple and accessible medium.
The exhibition highlights major works from the collection that are rarely shown, including pieces by Balthus, Marc Chagall, Willem de Kooning, Sonia Delaunay, Jean Dubuffet, George Grosz, Vassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, Karel Appel, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Roland Barthes, Robert Breer, Trisha Brown, Marlène Dumas, William Kentridge, Robert Longo, Giuseppe Penone, Robert Rauschenberg, Kiki Smith, and Antoni Tàpies.
With more than 300 works by 120 artists, the exhibition offers a unique exploration of the Centre Pompidou’s graphic art collection, organized around four sequences: studying, narrating, drawing, and animating. Without chronological order, the parcours is based on a sensitive approach where works succeed and respond to one another in a domino effect. A unique dive into an art that is fragile, inventive, and ever-relevant.
Access without booking on the date and at the time of your choice. Niki de Saint Phalle, Jean Tinguely, Pontus Hulten: until and including December 19. Eva Jospin · Claire Tabouret: until and including March 1st. Drawing outside the lines: until and including March 1st.
Discover the exhibition with an expert guide, through games and interaction. An exploration visit designed exclusively for children and young people aged 7 to 16. Duration: 1h Visit in French only
Discover the exhibition and share a creative moment with a guide. A combined workshop and guided tour designed exclusively for children and young people aged 7 to 16. Duration: 2h. Visit in French only.
Vue de l'exposition Dessins sans limite au Grand Palais, œuvre visible :Robert Longo, Men in the Cities (Triptych Drawings for the Pompidou), 1981-1999
André Derain, Les Filles, 1905-1906, Aquarelle, encre de Chine et mine graphite sur papier 42,5 x 53,5 cm, Dation, 1994. AM 1994 - 80, Centre Pompidou, Paris
The "Dessins sans limite" exhibition is now open: 6 resources to make the most of it!
Article -
Drawing invites itself to the Grand Palais in a major exhibition: over 300 works by 120 artists, including many masterpieces are to be admired until March 15, 2026. Discover here the must-have tools to enhance your visit!
Kandinsky, Matisse, Dubuffet... When masters draw differently
Article -
Discover Klee, Matisse, Picasso, Basquiat, Hockney and so many others at the Grand Palais very soon: the exhibition Dessins sans limite unveils rarely seen works and reveals the freedom of the line as well as the evolution of drawing in the 20th and 21st...
