About the movement
L'art contemporain désigne les pratiques artistiques produites depuis la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale jusqu'à nos jours. Ce vaste champ englobe une multitude de courants : art abstrait, pop art, art minimal, art conceptuel, installations, performances, art numérique et bien d'autres formes d'expression. En France, l'art contemporain bénéficie d'un réseau institutionnel dense avec les FRAC, les centres d'art et de nombreux musées dédiés. Des artistes comme Yves Klein, Pierre Soulages, Daniel Buren, Christian Boltanski ou Annette Messager ont marqué la scène internationale. L'art contemporain questionne les frontières entre les disciplines, intègre les nouvelles technologies et aborde les enjeux sociétaux actuels. Les musées de France offrent un panorama exceptionnel de la création contemporaine, de l'art brut aux dernières tendances numériques.
Major artists
Other art movements
See also
tpl.voir_aussi_centuries
tpl.voir_aussi_techniques
tpl.voir_aussi_museums
tpl.voir_aussi_related
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know
The Art contemporain movement is an artistic current that developed during the 1945-aujourd'hui period. It is characterized by shared aesthetic choices, techniques, and a vision of art among a group of artists, and has profoundly shaped the history of art in France and Europe.
The Art contemporain movement is generally situated in the 1945-aujourd'hui period. As with any artistic current, its chronological boundaries are indicative: the origins may be earlier and the movement's influence may extend well beyond its main period of activity.
The Art contemporain movement brought together many artists whose works are held in the museums of France. Check the list of associated artists on this page to discover the major figures of this current and access their works referenced in the Joconde database.
The number of works associated with the Art contemporain movement varies depending on classification criteria. The Joconde database of the Ministry of Culture catalogues works associated with this current across all institutions labeled "Museum of France." The exact total is shown at the top of the artworks list on this page.
Works of the Art contemporain movement are spread across many museums of France, both in Paris and in the regions. National museums and major provincial museums hold significant collections of this current. Dell'Arte allows you to locate these works by museum or by city.
The Art contemporain movement (1945-aujourd'hui) is distinguished by its own aesthetic and technical choices that differentiate it from preceding and following currents. These characteristics are visible in the works held in the museums of France, which you can explore on this page.
Like most artistic movements, Art contemporain exerted an influence on the currents that followed it. Artists of subsequent generations often adopted, transformed, or challenged the principles of Art contemporain, thus contributing to the continuous evolution of art history.
On Dell'Arte, you can refine your exploration of the Art contemporain movement by filtering by artistic field: painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, decorative arts, and others. These filters are available on the movement page and allow you to target works according to your interest.
The artworks presented come from the Joconde database of the Ministry of Culture (data.culture.gouv.fr), under Open License v2.0. The descriptions and artist groupings are based on catalogue entries written by the curators of the museums of France and on reliable historical sources.
The museums of France regularly organize temporary exhibitions around major artistic movements, including Art contemporain. Check the websites of museums that hold works of this current for current programming and upcoming events.
The presence of the Art contemporain movement in collections varies by museum and region. Major cities and national museums generally hold the most significant collections, but noteworthy works may also be found in lesser-known provincial museums.
The Art contemporain movement (1945-aujourd'hui) holds an important place in the history of French art. It reflects the cultural, social, and technical developments of its era and constitutes an essential link in understanding artistic creation in France, as documented by the collections of the museums of France.