Boissoudy “Face à Face” exhibition at the Musée de Fourvière

A new temporary exhibition, Face à Face by François-Xavier de Boissoudy, will be on show at Lyon’s Musée de Fourvière for 6 months from April 20 to September 29, 2024.
This will be an opportunity to rediscover the Museum in its new configuration, with the enhancement of its permanent tour.

The exhibition

At the Musée de Fourvière, Boissoudy invites us to an intimate face-to-face encounter in which faith becomes a place of introspection and self-reflection. Using a special wash technique, Boissoudy offers a monochrome experience in which the intensity of light reveals the divine presence in each figure.
In his “Face à Face” series, Boissoudy presents crucifixions radiant with light, amid dark crowds of onlookers who have come to witness Christ’s death. He confronts us with this terrible face-to-face confrontation, and involves us among the onlookers.
A dozen “Faces” dot the scenography. In these canvases, Boissoudy presents Christ from the front, in a tight frame. Like a film running frame by frame, the face of the defeated – yet victorious – Christ is offered up for contemplation.

Practical information

• Musée de Fourvière 8 place de Fourvière, 69005 Lyon (funicular: Fourvière)
• Exhibition from April 20 to September 29, 2024, daily from 12pm to 6pm
• Admission : Adults €10 / Reduced admission €5 (children aged 5-17, students, jobseekers, RSA holders, disabled persons) / Free admission (children under 5, ICOM members, press cards, visits included in the Lyon City Card, Friends of the Museum).
• Museum Night: on Saturday May 18 at 6pm, on the occasion of the European Museum Night, bring the whole family up to Fourvière for the Paint in Museum experience. Come and discover fresco painting with colored inks. A unique workshop orchestrated by artist Julien Borel-Charlet. Free admission

The artist

François-Xavier de Boissoudy’s technique of ink wash on paper invites contemplation of the subject, but also introspection and personal and spiritual questioning. Working in monochrome, the result is pure, raw and visually powerful. Wash painting is a pictorial technique involving the use of a single color, Indian ink, diluted with water to obtain different intensities of color. François-Xavier de Boissoudy’s works offer a vision of Man, imperfect but striving for perfection, in a highly poetic atmosphere.

A word from the artist

“I’ve always tried to shape my life so as to exercise my talent, and for a long time I only talked about myself, and then one day I had an inner encounter that changed my life. Faced with subjects that go beyond me, as in the Face-à-Face series, I need time, stages, to define what I feel is right to paint, for example the fact that, even if everyone is concerned, the encounter is personal. Painting becomes an instrument of research.
François-Xavier de Boissoudy

The Fourvière Museum

The Musée de Fourvière is located next to the Basilica, in the Maison Carrée, a listed building whose chapel has been converted into an exhibition hall. With its extensive collection of historical and artistic objects, regularly featured in its exhibitions, the Museum aims to bear witness to the work of artists in the service of faith, particularly in the 19th century. For the past 50 years, the Museum has pursued an active policy of temporary exhibitions, bringing to a wider public treasures of Christian religious heritage, both French and foreign, as well as contemporary artists. After 7 years devoted to a major restoration project as part of the “Un nouvel élan pour Fourvière” plan, the Musée de Fourvière is reopening its doors in a new museum configuration, with a new scenography showcasing its collections in a permanent tour in addition to this temporary exhibition.

The Museum’s ambition is to open a path to Beauty. Following in the footsteps of Rouault, Goudji, Manessier, Gleize and Marcoville, François-Xavier de Boissoudy offers the people of Lyon and visitors to Fourvière the fruit of his pictorial work and his spiritual quest. He invites visitors to cross their gaze with this new artistic proposal based on an inner journey.

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