A California Museum Comes to the Streets of Paris
The Getty transforms the French capital into an open-air encounter with art
A museum normally asks the public to cross its threshold. This autumn, the J. Paul Getty Museum is reversing that relationship by bringing images from its collection into the streets of Paris.
From October 1 through November 30, 2026, six monumental reproductions of works from the Getty Museum’s collection are being displayed at public locations across Paris and nearby Sèvres. The initiative was developed with L’Art dans la Ville, which uses urban settings to introduce art to audiences beyond traditional museum spaces.
On the left: Vincent van Gogh, Irises, 1889. Installation mock-up, Gare de l'Est, Paris. Copyright Getty/ L'Art dans la ville
On the right: Vincent van Gogh, Irises, 1889 Oil on canvas The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Works associated with Vincent van Gogh, Édouard Manet, Gustave Caillebotte, Paul Cézanne and Lawrence Alma-Tadema appear on façades near some of the Paris region’s familiar cultural and transportation landmarks. Van Gogh’s Irises can be encountered near the Gare de l’Est, while Manet’s Jeanne (Spring) appears near the Louvre. Other installations extend the project to Auteuil, the Hôtel de Ville, Notre-Dame and Sèvres.
The reproductions are not substitutes for the original works in Los Angeles. Scale, surface, color and the physical presence of a painting cannot be duplicated completely on an exterior wall. Yet reproduction can perform another function: it can interrupt routine.
A commuter leaving a railway station, a visitor walking beside the Seine or a resident crossing a familiar neighborhood may unexpectedly encounter an image that would otherwise require a transatlantic journey. Even a brief moment of curiosity can alter the relationship between a cultural institution and a potential audience.
The project is particularly meaningful because of the journey the images are making. The Getty is one of the most prominent cultural institutions in the American West, while many of the artists represented in the project are deeply connected to France and its artistic history. Their works traveled into American collections and are now returning to French public space in reproduced form.
The installation therefore becomes more than outdoor decoration. It invites reflection on how art moves between countries, how museums develop international identities and how digital and photographic reproduction can expand access without diminishing the importance of original objects.
It is also part of a wider Getty presence in France. The institution has recently supported the Bibliothèque nationale de France and Columbia University’s Institute for Ideas and Imagination in Paris through its Global Art and Sustainability Fellows program. Together, these initiatives suggest a long-term institutional interest in French-American cultural exchange rather than a single publicity campaign.
For cultural organizations, the Paris project offers a practical model. Museums possess extraordinary collections, but their buildings reach only those who choose or are able to enter. Public-space initiatives can act as invitations, creating an accessible first encounter before asking audiences to engage more deeply.
The same principle could be applied to cultural-discovery programs, neighborhood itineraries and educational passports. An artwork in a railway station or on an urban façade can become the beginning of a journey: Who created it? Why did it leave France? How did it enter an American collection? Where can the original be seen?
The Getty’s open-air exhibition does not eliminate the museum. It extends the museum’s reach. By placing art amid movement, architecture and ordinary life, it reminds Paris that cultural discovery does not always begin at a ticket desk.
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