“Kerry James Marshall: The Histories” — first French retrospective of the American painting giant opens today in Paris

OPENING TODAY, 18 September 2026, at the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, the exhibition “Kerry James Marshall: The Histories” — the first retrospective in France dedicated to American painter Kerry James Marshall (born 1955 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA), considered one of the most influential contemporary painters in the world. The exhibition will remain open until 24 January 2027.

The retrospective brings together 70 works, including eight new paintings created especially for this exhibition. Organised by the Royal Academy of Arts in London in collaboration with Kunsthaus Zürich — where it was previously shown, first in London — the exhibition offers a chronological and thematic journey through 11 groups of works spanning from the 1980s to today.

More than four decades of creativity are represented through monumental paintings that place Black figures at the centre of the Western art narrative, elevating everyday life to epic proportions. The exhibition also includes prints, drawings and sculptures borrowed from museums and private collections in North America and Europe. Marshall’s themes traverse the forced transatlantic journey of Africans to America, the legacy of the civil rights and Black Power movements — never directly depicting violence.

His inspirations come from the Western art canon, 19th-century French painting, pop culture, Afrofuturism, comics and science fiction. In the art market, according to Artprice, Marshall ranks 111th among the 500 best-selling artists at auction for 2025, with sales mainly in the US.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION: The museum is located at 11 Avenue du Président Wilson, 75116 Paris, and is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00–18:00; Thursdays until 21:30. Admission costs 17 euros.

Source: Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris