In recent years, Paris has witnessed a significant transformation of its artistic landscape, with private funds investing heavily in converting historic institutions into contemporary art venues. The Bourse du Commerce-Pinault Collection, once a grain market, now stands as a minimalist space designed by Tadao Ando, while the new Fondation Cartier, reimagined by Jean Nouvel, offers a vast contemporary art museum.
The Petit Palais: A Sanctuary of Timelessness and Modernity
Amidst this wave of modernization, the Petit Palais retains its Belle Époque charm, with its intricate ironwork and free access to permanent collections. However, its true distinction lies in the originality of its temporary exhibitions, which often challenge conventional artistic narratives. It was within this majestic setting that the ‘intoxication of the modern,’ as defined by the poet Charles Baudelaire, found a vibrant expression.
Bilal Hamdad’s ‘Paname’: Blending the Ephemeral with the Eternal
The ephemeral event in question is “Paname,” an exhibition by the emerging painter Bilal Hamdad. It brilliantly embodies Baudelaire’s magical combination: a fresh and vibrant vision of urban life installed amidst the treasures of the museum’s permanent collection. The exhibition showcases 20 of Hamdad’s works, including two pieces specifically created and inspired by the museum’s collection.
Born in Algeria in 1987 and now based in Paris, Hamdad is a regular at the Petit Palais, where he has absorbed the teachings of great masters such as Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, and Edgar Degas. His work draws inspiration from these artists, depicting daily life in contemporary cities. Solitude is a recurring theme, much as it was for Baudelaire, who, like Hamdad, paid particular attention to the city’s workers traversing the banks of the Seine, toolbox in hand.
In his magnificent large-format oil paintings, one sees women waiting on subway platforms, bags weighing on their shoulders, and young men perched on balustrades or railings, awaiting work or an encounter. Market scenes emerge at subway exits, with women selling corn on the cob from shopping carts, and street vendors crossing paths with hipsters or tourists with their sunglasses and handbags. Bilal Hamdad’s inspiration from Édouard Manet’s “A Bar at the Folies Bergère” (1882) is particularly noteworthy.
Reinterpreting the Masters: A Dialog Between Eras
Although Hamdad works from photographs, which he describes as his sketchbook, his works possess a depth and intensity that transform the ordinary into the mythical, projecting the details of contemporary fashion and postures into a timeless and mysterious light. The most enigmatic painting in this exhibition is his subtle reinterpretation of Édouard Manet’s 1882 painting, “A Bar at the Folies Bergère,” which is exhibited at the Courtauld Gallery in London.
In the original, Manet plays with the effects of a large tarnished mirror behind the bar. The mirror reflects the back of a waitress who stares at a point outside the painting, next to the bottles and the bowl of clementines on the bar. With this play of reflections, Manet depicts the waitress both as the object of our scrutinizing gaze and as distanced from us, in a form of solitude and vulnerability.
In “Serenity of a Shadow” (2024), Hamdad expands on Manet’s intention, pushing it further into the shadows. The foreground, bathed in light, shows us the bar, a nod to Manet’s, with a magnificent bowl of oranges and a delicate floral composition. In the background, a slightly hunched bartender in a white shirt is barely visible, clearly fatigued from his day’s work.
The moment is melancholic, withdrawn, yet it echoes the hustle and bustle of the contemporary city. This painting, like all of Hamdad’s canvases, is hung in the heart of the Petit Palais’s eclectic galleries, opening a window onto a time that blends past and present. And in this dialogue between the old and the new, the viewer immediately understands that this work is here to last.
The Enduring Legacy of Art and Modernity
Bilal Hamdad’s “Paname” exhibition at the Petit Palais is more than just a display of contemporary art; it is a profound commentary on the enduring relevance of artistic expression in an ever-changing world. By drawing parallels between the bustling streets of modern Paris and the timeless observations of artists and poets from centuries past, Hamdad invites viewers to reflect on the nature of existence, the role of art, and the intricate connections that bind different eras.
The exhibition serves as a powerful reminder that while the forms and mediums of art may evolve, the fundamental human experiences they seek to capture-solitude, connection, the ordinary, the mythical-remain constant. It challenges the notion that modernity must always break from tradition, instead demonstrating how a deep appreciation of the past can enrich and inform a contemporary vision.
As Paris continues to redefine its cultural identity, exhibitions like “Paname” play a crucial role in fostering a dialogue between the city’s rich heritage and its dynamic present. They offer a space where the echoes of Baudelaire’s “intoxication of the modern” can still be heard, resonating with a new generation of artists and art enthusiasts.
The exhibition runs until February 8, 2026, offering ample opportunity for both locals and visitors to experience this compelling fusion of past and present.
