Copysts

The Centre Pompidou-Metz, in collaboration with the Musée du Louvre, presents “Copyists”—an exhibition exploring the creativity involved in copying. Central to classical tradition, copying serves as a tool for learning techniques, styles, and stories, forming a bridge between knowledge and artistic creation.

The curators invite a group of contemporary artists to respond to the prompt: “Imagine a copy of a work of your choosing from the collections of the Musée du Louvre.” The exhibition spans works from antiquity to the 19th century, in a layout inspired by classical museum display, illustrating the coexistence of different historical periods.

Although artists such as Matisse and Picasso copied past masters, modern art often distanced itself from tradition. Today, copying gains renewed relevance. A return to figuration, digital reproduction, 3D scanning, and virtual forms all expand the meaning of the copy.

The Louvre, described by Cézanne as “a huge book in which we learn to read”, has supported copying since its founding in 1793 and still maintains a copyists’ bureau. Its 1993 exhibition “Copier-Créer” reaffirmed the value of this practice.

“Copyists” invites painters, sculptors, designers, video artists, and writers to engage with copying as a method of interpretation and creation. Their works navigate between originality and duplication, tradition and innovation.

Rather than breaking from history, the exhibition shows how contemporary art draws from it—reflecting on creativity, memory, and the evolving role of the image in today’s world.