“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions
A NEXUS OF ART, CULTURE, and geopolitical history, “Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000” at Centre Pompidou explores the presence of Black artists in France during the second half of the 20th century. The exhibition considers their motivations for going to Paris, the communities they formed, and their aesthetic influences on modernism and post-modernism. More than 350 works, spanning an array of mediums, by 150 artists from Africa, the Americas, and the Caribbean are on view. Exhibition curator Alicia Knock introduced the show in a podcast:
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[“Paris Noir”] spans from the creation of the Présence Africaine review in 1947 by Alioune Diop— centered around the Négritude movement, and serving as a bookstore, publishing house, and gathering place for artists and intellectuals from various Black worlds—to the creation of Revue Noire in the 1990s.
This exhibition accompanies 50 years of decolonisation in Paris, which functioned as an anticolonial and pan-African lab, offering artists a space to envision emancipation. It allowed these artists to align with political struggles and decisively contribute to redefining modernities and postmodernities in Paris.
The exhibition challenges the idea that artists left Paris for New York after World War II by showcasing a different story—one that opens the odyssey of Paris-Monde (Paris-World) along geographical axes previously ignored by institutions. Paris Noir is not only Paris-New York but also Paris-Fort-de-France, Paris-Dakar, Paris-Johannesburg, Paris-Algiers, Paris-Port-au-Prince, and more.
The sprawling exhibition unfolds across 15 chapters throughout the galleries, addressing themes such as Pan African Paris, Paris as a School, Afro Atlantic Surrealism, The Leap Into Abstraction, Paris Dakar Lagos, Jazz Free Jazz, Rites and Memories of Slavery, and A New Black Paris Map.
Featured artists include Skunder Boghossian (Ethiopia), Diagne Chanel (France/Senegal), Ed Clark (U.S.), Roland Dorcély (Haïti), Beauford Delaney (U.S.), Roland Dorcély (Haïti), Henri Guédon (France/Martinique), Wilfredo Lam (Cuba), Everlyn Nicodemus (United Kingdom/Tanzania), Demas Nwoko (Nigeria), Mary Lovelace O’Neal (U.S.), Faith Ringgold (U.S.), Raymond Saunders (U.S.), Gerard Sekoto (South Africa), Ming Smith (U.S.), and Bob Thompson (U.S.), among many others.
Knock, head curator for the Contemporary Creation and Prospective Department at Centre Pompidou, organized the exhibition with Eva Barois De Caevel, Aurélien Bernard, Laure Chauvelot, and Marie Siguier, and an international slate of contributing curators, scholars, and researchers.
Envisioned as more than an exhibition, the expansive and ambitious project featured robust public programming. During her residency with Villa Albertine, Knock participated in a series of advance conversations about “Paris Noir” in five U.S. cities: Atlanta, Ga.; Gambier, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; New York, N.Y.; and New Orleans, La.
In Paris, talks and symposiums, film screenings, and a live performance program coincided with the run of the exhibition. In addition to the exhibition catalog and podcast, institutional commitments included the acquisition of artworks by Centre Pompidou’s National Museum of Modern Art and archives by the Kandinsky Library. CT
“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000” is on view at Centre Pompidou in Paris, France, from March 13-June 30, 2025
FIND MORE about the exhibition
FIND MORE about “Paris Noir” from an article published by curator Alicia Knock in the Centre Pompidou magazine and the podcast produced to accompany the exhibition, featuring several artists and scholars who explore the themes of the presentation
“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
GERARD SEKOTO, Self-portrait, 1947 (oil on cardboard, 45,7 × 35,6 cm). | The Kilbourn Collection. © Estate of Gerard Sekoto/Adagp, Paris, 2025. Photo © Jacopo Salvi
“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
CLEM LAWSON, “Angoisse sur l’escalator,” 1983 (glass beads on wood, 92 × 73 cm). | Collection Philippe Lawson. © Clem Lawson, 1983. Représenté par Philippe Lawson, Avocat Photo © Centre Pompidou/Bertrand Prévost
“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
DIAGNE CHANEL, “Le Garçon de Venise (The Boy from Venice),” 1976 (oil, pigment on linen canvas, 162 × 130 cm). | Collection of the artist. © Adagp, Paris, 2025. Photo droits réservés
“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
LUCE TURNIER, “Cabane de chantier, circa 1970 (collage, oil on paper, 92 × 74 cm). | Collection Jézabel Turnier-Traube. © Luce Turnier. Photo © Centre Pompidou/Janeth Rodriguez-Garcia
“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
“Paris Noir,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
BEAUFORD DELANEY, “James Baldwin,” 1945-1950 (oil on canvas, 61 × 45.7 cm). | Collection of halley k harrisburg and Michael Rosenfeld, New York. © Estate of Beauford Delaney, by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire, Court Appointed Administrator, Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York. Photo Courtesy Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York
“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
RAYMOND SAUNDERS, “Asking for Colors, Marie’s Gift [Demander des couleurs, cadeau de Marie],” circa 2000 (wood, torn papers, tape, paint and chalk on panel, 148 × 122 cm). | Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris. Don des Amis du Centre Pompidou, 2024. AM 2024-895. © The Estate of Raymond Saunders. All rights reserved. Photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Joseph Banderet/Dist. GrandPalaisRMN
“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
ROLAND DARCÉLY, “Léda et le cygne,” 1958 (oil on canvas, 149 × 117 cm). | Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris. Achat, 2023. AM 2023-179 All rights reserved. Photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Janeth Rodriguez-Garcia/Dist. Grand Palais Rmn
“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN, James Baldwin and Beauford Delaney, Paris, circa 1960. | Courtesy Estate of Beauford Delaney and Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY
Premier Congrès des écrivains et artistes noirs (The First International Congress of Black Writers and Artists), Paris, September 1956. | © Présence africaine Éditions, 1956. Photographie Lutetia
“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
WILFREDO LAM, “Umbral,” 1950 (oil on canvas, 185 × 170 cm). | Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris. State purchase, 1969. Attribution, 1976. AM 1976-990. © Succession Wifredo Lam, Adagp, Paris, 2025. Photo © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Georges Meguerditchian
“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
“Paris Noir: Artistic circulations and anti-colonial resistance, 1950-2000,” Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (March 13-June 30, 2025). | Courtesy Centre Pompidou
BOOKSHELF
The catalog “Paris Noir” was published to accompany the exhibition. There is also a smaller companion publication. “Raymond Saunders: Post No Bills” is the first monograph of the artist. David Leeming’s biography “Amazing Grace: A Life of Beauford Delaney” was re-published earlier this year with a new introduction by Hilton Als. Also consider “Speculative Light: The Arts of Beauford Delaney and James Baldwin.”
