The French pavilion houses France's national representation during the Venice Biennale arts festivals.
Background
Organisation and building The pavilion was built in 1912 and designed by architect Faust Finzi, chief engineer for the Venice municipality. Its layout and details are similar to that of the German pavilion, whose architect was Finzi's former boss.
Representation by year
Art
1962 — Alfred Manessier, Jean Messagier, Serge Poliakoff, André Marfaing, James Guitet 1976 — Herve Fisher, Fred Forest, Raymond Hains, Alain Jacquet, Bertrand Lavier, Jean-Pierre Raynaud, Jean-Michel Sanejouand, Jean-Paul Thenot (Commissioner: Pierre Restany) 1982 — Simon Hantaï 1984 — Jean Dubuffet 1986 — Daniel BurenMichael Brenson (July 1, 1986), Biggest Biennale, The 42, Opens In Venice New York Times. 1991 — Jean Nouvel, Christian de Portzamparc, Philippe Starck 1993 — Jean-Pierre Raynaud 1995 — César 1997 — Fabrice Hybert 1999 — Huang Yong Ping, Jean-Pierre Bertrand 2001 — Pierre Huyghe 2003 — Jean-Marc Bustamante (Curators: Jean-Pierre Criqui, Alfred Pacquement) 2005 — Annette Messager (Curator: Caroline Ferreira) 2007 — Sophie Calle (Curator: Daniel Buren)Louise Neri (March 7, 2009), Sophie Calle Interview. 2009 — Claude Lévêque (Curator: Christian Bernard) 2011 — Christian Boltanski (Curator: Jean-Hubert Martin) 2013 — Anri Sala (Curator: Christine Macel) [Exhibition was held at the German pavilion] 2015 — Céleste Boursier-Mougenot, Lili Reynaud-Dewar (Curator: Emma Lavigne)Victoria Stapley-Brown (May 22, 2014), Céleste Boursier-Mougenot to represent France at Venice Biennale The Art Newspaper. 2017 — Xavier Veilhan (Curators: Lionel Bovier, Christian Marclay) 2019 — Laure Prouvost (Curator: Martha Kirszenbaum)Nina Siegal (June 7, 2019), Laure Prouvost Represents France. But She Doesn’t Feel Very French. New York Times. 2021 — Zineb SediraGareth Harris (January 27, 2020), Zineb Sedira to represent France at 2021 Venice Biennale The Art Newspaper. 2024 — Julien CreuzetAlex Greenberger (8 December 2022), Julien Creuzet to Represent France at the 2024 Venice Biennale ARTnews. 2026 — Yto Barrada (Curator: Myriam Ben Salah)
References
Bibliography
Further reading