The prestigious City of Paris Museum of Modern Art will open the exhibition Estonian Realities by Olga Terri, Anu Põder and Kris Lemsalu
The exhibition Estonian Realities (“Réalités estoniennes”), in collaboration between the Art Museum of Estonia and the City of Paris Museum of Modern Art (Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, MAM), opens on 3 April. The exhibition introduces French audiences to post-World War II Estonian art through the work of three outstanding women from different generations.
The exhibition features works by Olga Terri and Anu Põder from the collections of the Art Museum of Estonia, the Tartu Art Museum and Anu Põder’s Estate. Also displayed are Kris Lemsalu’s installation Gar2Go (2016) from the Centre Pompidou’s collection and the artist’s latest works.
According to the exhibition’s curator, Jean-Baptiste Delorme, the project arose from a desire to introduce Anu Põder’s works to the French public. “Anu Põder’s works are highly relevant today, being quiet yet powerful. Põder’s oeuvre speaks to us because it uncompromisingly highlights the uncertainty of existence. The works of Olga Terri and Kris Lemsalu relate organically to Põder’s works, and therefore we will see simultaneously the three artists’ different personal perspectives on the world of their time. Their works avoid grand, all-encompassing narratives, which gives the pieces an intimate and personal dimension,” said the exhibition curator, Jean-Baptiste Delorme.
Jean-Baptiste Delorme is a curator at the City of Paris Museum of Modern Art. He has previously worked as a curator at the Marc Chagall Museum and as the director of the Haute-Vienne Contemporary Art Museum at Château de Rochechouart.
“The works of Olga Terri, Anu Põder and Kris Lemsalu represent different eras within a nearly 90-year period, addressing various contexts, fears, tensions and problems, from the tragic 1940s to the secure freedom of the contemporary artist. This long and complex period in Estonian art history is not easy for Western Europeans to understand. To an outsider, everything in the second half of the 20th century seems out of joint: familiar and yet completely different, at times frozen in ideological demands, at other times rushing to catch up with the present,” said Sirje Helme, Director General of the Art Museum of Estonia.
Anu Põder (1947–2013) was an Estonian sculptor and installation artist who experimented with abstract forms and various materials, from plaster to textiles, light and scents. Her work drew from her personal and everyday surroundings and was often time- and place-specific, emphasising the performative presence and transience of her works.
Olga Terri (1916–2011) studied graphics and painting, and her early works expressively reflect the fears and anxieties of the era. Later, her painterly approach became more forceful and her colour contrasts sharper. In the 1960s and 1970s, Terri distinguished herself with figurative compositions and portraits, highlighting the psychological depth of the models and the mental atmosphere of the era.
Kris Lemsalu (b. 1985) is a sculptor and installation artist who combines ceramics with various materials, such as textiles, fur and silicone. Her work is characterised by strong visuality, symbolic motifs, irony and performativity, and she addresses universal themes, such as life, death and love.
The City of Paris Museum of Modern Art is located in the east wing of the Palais de Tokyo, a building constructed in 1937 for the Paris World’s Fair. The museum is dedicated to modern and contemporary art of the 20th and 21st centuries. Particularly famous are the murals by Raoul Dufy and Henri Matisse, as well as a collection of works by Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, Francis Picabia and Marc Chagall.
The exhibition is accompanied by a French-language book published by the Art Museum of Estonia and edited by Jean Baptiste Delorme; the authors of the articles are Eda Tuulberg (Kumu Art Museum) and Alicia Knock (Centre Pompidou).
The exhibition at the City of Paris Museum of Modern Art is open until 19 July 2026.