“Ocean Imaginings explores imaginative interpretations of the sea, the ocean and the undersea world in art works from the second half of the nineteenth century and the twentieth century, a period in which attitudes to the marine world were decisively transformed by the new discipline of oceanography. 

Ensconced in the apt setting of MuMa’s architecturally distinguished building overlooking Le Havre’s harbour entrance and seascape, the exhibition itinerary showcases 180 works – paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, videos, glass and ceramics – by almost 100 artists including Anna Atkins, Gustave Moreau, Arnold Böcklin, Auguste Rodin, Emile Gallé, Max Klinger, Adolf Hiremy-Hirschl, Jean-Francis Auburtin, Mathurin Méheut, Man Ray, Max Ernst, Brassaï, Jean Painlevé, Philippe Halsmann, Pierre and Gilles, Nicolas Floc’h and Elsa Guillaume. 

Curated by Annette Haudiquet, Director of MuMa, Denis-Michel Boëll, General Curator of Heritage, and Marc Donnadieu, Chief Curator of the Musée de l’Elysée (Lausanne), Ocean Imaginings juxtaposes works that have never previously been seen together from numerous public and private collections based in France and abroad, including the Centre Pompidou (which has loaned 50 works for the exhibition), the Musée d’Orsay, the Petit Palais, the Musée Rodin, the Cinémathèque Française, the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, the Musée de l’Ecole de Nancy, Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen.” — MuMa

Adolf HIRÉMY-HIRSCHL, Aphrodite, c. 1893. Oil on canvas, 110,7 x 275,6 cm. Galerie Tibermont, Paris © Photo : Florian Kleinefenn

Pierre et Gilles, Captain Nemo, 2004. Painted photograph, mounted on aluminum, 129.8 x 189.3 cm without frame, 164 x 224.3 x 9.3 cm with frame. Collection François Pinault © Pierre et Gilles

Georges MALKINE, Sirens, 1926. Oil on canvas, 75 x 54 cm (with frame). Collection de Madame Soazic AUDOUARD © Photo : Florian Kleinefenn © ADAGP, Paris 2018

Raoul DUFY, The Sirens, 1925-1928. Oil on canvas, 38 x 46 cm. MuMa, Le Havre, MuMa – Musée d’art moderne André Malraux © MuMa Le Havre / Florian Kleinefenn ©ADAGP, Paris 2018

Images courtesy MuMa.