Art lovers living in or visiting Paris this month should head to the capital’s Musée d’Orsay to view a very rarely displayed work: Gustave Courbet’s masterpiece Le Désespéré (The Desperate Man).
The 1844-1845 self-portrait, in which the artist has a look of desperation, has been loaned from Qatar Museums – which acquired it from a private owner at an undisclosed date and for an unknown amount – for five years, after which it will move to Doha’s Art Mill museum.
It is the first time that the small-format oil on canvas (45×54cm) has been shown in France since 2007, when it was displayed at the Orsay as part of a Courbet retrospective.
The museum currently houses 30 other Courbet works, including L’Origine du monde (The Origin of the World), his explicit and controversial 1866 oil painting of a naked woman lying on a bed with her legs spread.
2. Frocks from the Roaring Twenties
Stylish 1920s dresses feature at La Piscine RoubaixAmis du musée La Piscine de Roubaix
If you enjoy fashion history, then head to Roubaix’s superb La Piscine, the unique museum set in a former swimming pool.
Until February 2026, the Nord department museum is showcasing the unique glamour of the 1920s wardrobe.
“Constellations of shimmering beads, applied to flowing fabrics that discreetly reveal the figure. Precious weaves of silver and gold threads assembled into geometric compositions,” says the museum of this retro-glam exhibition.
“Feathers, furs and fine materials. It was part of a deliberate choice to blend different materials. Such was the desire for modernity in the 1920s.”
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The focus is on the museum’s ‘beads’ frocks from its textile and fashion collections, with cubicles (former swimming pool changing rooms) on the first floor housing expertly woven jacquard fabrics and damask materials “with shimmering patterns as well as some day and evening wear”.
3. Picasso Museum set for expansion
Ten years after its last major renovation, during which exhibition space was tripled, the Musée Picasso in Paris has announced the creation of an additional wing for temporary exhibitions, as well as a new sculpture garden, which will be accessible directly from the street.
The ‘Picasso 2030’ project will cost €50million and feature a green roof terrace, a café-restaurant overlooking the garden, “spaces adapted to museographic, technical, and conservation needs,” and “innovative educational and mediation spaces,” said the museum.
Opened in 1985 in the elegant Marais district, the museum is housed in the Hôtel Salé, a 17th Century Baroque mansion, and holds more than 5,000 Picasso works, plus 200,000 archival items – making it the largest Picasso collection in the world.
Among current temporary exhibitions is one showcasing subversive, anti-authority American artist Raymond Pettibon.
4. Titanic exhibition in Lyon
Head to Lyon for the Titanic experienceExpo Titanic/Facebook
Lyon is the latest port of call for the popular exhibition about the doomed RMS Titanic, which at the time was the most luxurious and largest ship to ever set sail.
Titanic: An Immersive Journey “tells the story of the liner from a whole new angle”, say the exhibition creators, “and introduces you to over 300 period objects, spectacular reconstructions of parts of the ship, never-before-seen 3D images, and video animations using cutting-edge technology.”
Visitors can discover how the ship was built, walk its sumptuous corridors, face the iceberg and experience its dramatic final moments.
