Fondation Maeght fully embraces the vivid rhythms of summer. Nestled among the pine-covered hills of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, the institution blurs the boundaries between exhibition space, architecture, sculpture garden, and performance venue. For Summer 2026, that tradition expands with one of its most ambitious seasons in recent years, bringing together major exhibitions, live music, dance, film, and newly restored historic spaces.
Exploring Color, Movement, and Perception
Ellsworth Kelly, “Helsinki (Wrestlers),” 1984, postcard collage d, 10.5 x 14.9 cm. Jack Shear © Ellsworth Kelly Foundation. Courtesy of Fondation Maeght.
The centerpiece of the season is “Ellsworth Kelly: At the Edge of Water,” on view from June 27 through November 15. In celebration of the iconic American artist, the exhibition reaches beyond the well known narrative of geometric abstraction to uncover an idea that privately shaped his practice for more than six decades. Lakes, rivers, coastlines, reflections, and changing light emerge as the connective thread linking works made across France, New York, and the Caribbean, revealing how Kelly translated moments of observation into some of the twentieth century’s most distilled visual forms.
Curated by Éric de Chassey in collaboration with the Ellsworth Kelly Studio, the presentation gathers more than 100 paintings, sculptures, drawings, collages, photographs, and studies, including numerous works never before exhibited publicly. Visitors will also encounter rarely displayed postcard collages, documentary photographs from Kelly’s travels, and the reconstruction of Blue Floor Panel for Leo (1992), a monumental installation not seen since its debut at New York’s Leo Castelli Gallery.
Kelly famously explained his process by saying, “In my paintings, I do not invent; my ideas come from a constant investigation of the appearance of things.” The exhibition reveals water as a catalyst, a source of shifting color, movement, and perception that continually informed his abstract vocabulary.
“In my paintings, I do not invent; my ideas come from a constant investigation of the appearance of things.”
Ellsworth Kelly
Fashion Meets Photography
Exhibition view, “Peter Knapp: The Era of Courrèges”. Photo Thérèse Verrat and Vincent Toussaint © Fondation Maeght, all rights reserved. Courtesy of Fondation Maeght.
A second major exhibition turns attention from American abstraction to one of fashion’s defining creative partnerships. Opening May 14, “Peter Knapp: The Era of Courrèges” marks the Fondation’s first exhibition dedicated to fashion history, following how photographer Peter Knapp helped shape the visual identity of André Courrèges during the transformative 1960s.
The mesmeric presentation examines how photography became inseparable from Courrèges’ modern vision. Knapp’s legendary images from the designer’s Spring/Summer 1965 haute couture collection—first published in ELLE magazine—captured models appearing almost weightless against graphic backgrounds, introducing a radically optimistic image of modern womanhood.
Large-format prints, archival material, vintage publications, and original garments from the House of Courrèges impart how photographer and designer together created an entirely new visual language, one whose influence continues to resonate across fashion photography today.
The exhibition also reflects Knapp’s own relationship with the Fondation Maeght. Having photographed Courrèges campaigns there in the late 1970s before later curating the Fondation’s 2021 exhibition on the Giacometti family, he brings both historical perspective and personal memory to the project.
Art Beyond the Gallery Walls
Fondation Maeght, la Cour Giacometti. Photo Olivier Amsellem – Archives Fondation © Succession Alberto Giacometti / ADAGP, Paris 2025.
Extension by Silvio d’Ascia – Aerial view of the Fondation Maeght © Silvio d’Ascia Architecture – architect of the extension / Photo © Sergio Grazia. Courtesy of Fondation Maeght.
Throughout the summer, the Fondation broadens Kelly’s exhibition into an “American Season” of performances that animate its sculpture gardens and open-air spaces. Concerts devoted to American composers, jazz musicians, and minimalist music accompany film screenings, conversations, and dance performances inspired by Kelly’s artistic world.
Among the highlights are performances by the Orchestre National de Cannes, pianist Vanessa Wagner, jazz vocalist Marion Rampal, flamenco guitarist Yerai Cortés, and two evenings curated by influential broadcaster Gilles Peterson. The program also rejoices in the centenary of the Martha Graham Dance Company with Une Pérégrination, a site-specific performance moving through the Fondation’s gardens, galleries, and Miró Labyrinth.
A Landmark Year for the Fondation
Aerial view of the Fondation Maeght – Silvio d’Ascia extension © Silvio d’Ascia Architecture – extension architect / Photo © Sergio Grazia. Courtesy of Fondation Maeght.
The bountiful programming reflects a new chapter for the Fondation following its recent architectural expansion. Completed in 2024, new underground galleries now allow the institution to present captivating temporary exhibitions while simultaneously displaying selections from its collection of more than 13,000 works. Recent restoration projects—including the gardens, Pierre Tal Coat‘s monumental mosaic wall, the Kandinsky skylight, and the charming caféSous les Pins—further reinforce the institution’s original vision of art experienced in enchanting dialogue with architecture and nature.
