⚠️ The date shown at the top of this event comes from the official source. The original description mentions other dates that may be outdated.
From December 3, 2025 to June 28, 2026, before closing for renovation work, the Musée Français de la Carte à Jouer in Issy-les-Moulineaux is presenting, in partnership with the Fondation Dubuffet, an exhibition dedicated to Jean Dubuffet’s Tour aux figures.
This event, which marks the 40th anniversary of this major public commission by the State, traces the eventful history of one of Jean Dubuffet’s most emblematic works. From its visionary conception to its installation on Île Saint-Germain, the Tour aux figures embodies the boldness of an artist who transformed his visual research into an immersive and monumental experience. Listed as a Monument Historique since 2008, this work recently underwent an exceptional restoration thanks to the Département des Hauts-de-Seine, which became its owner in order to carry out this ambitious project. The exhibition lifts the veil on this extraordinary artistic and heritage adventure. Curated by Charlotte Guinois, curator at the Musée Français de la Carte à Jouer, and Déborah Lehot-Couette, scientific and collections director at the Fondation Dubuffet, with exhibition design by Pascal Rodriguez, the exhibition presents nearly 70 works - drawings, paintings and models - from the collection of the Fondation Dubuffet and benefits from an exceptional loan from the Commanderie de Peyrassol. Visitors can extend the experience outside the museum, in the courtyard of honor of the Hôtel de Ville d’Issy-les-Moulineaux (200 meters away), with the presentation of a 3-meter enlargement of the Tour aux figures, then continue on to the Tour aux figures itself (a fifteen-minute walk), thanks to a multimedia setup specially designed for families and the general public. The exhibition route unfolds in five thematic stages, allowing visitors to follow the stages of Jean Dubuffet’s thinking and creation around the Tour aux figures: the invention of L’Hourloupe, Dubuffet as architect, Dubuffet’s towers, the public commission followed by the construction of the Tour aux figures through to its listing in 2008 and its major restoration in 2020. The first stage is devoted to L’Hourloupe (1962- 1974), the starting point of one of Jean Dubuffet’s emblematic creative cycles. Born from an artist’s book, this cycle gave rise to the invention of a singular visual language and the development of a whimsical, parallel universe. It then became a true creative engine, moving from drawing to painting and then to sculpture, notably through experiments with expanded polystyrene in 1966, the material chosen to make the model of the Tour aux figures in 1967. This cycle notably produced two card games: Banque de L’Hourloupe and Algèbre de L’Hourloupe. The next section focuses on Jean Dubuffet’s sculptural and architectural work, begun in 1966, the year he discovered expanded polystyrene. The Tour aux figures, as well as the various projects imagined for its interior layout, are presented. Shown as early as 1968 during « Édifices » at the musée des Arts Décoratifs in 1968, this section looks back at the first public unveiling of the Tour aux figures. A third stage is devoted to Dubuffet’s monumental works. This section invites visitors to explore the various tower projects and models created by the artist, including those designed as part of later commissions. The documents and models on display reveal the diversity of motifs, scales and structural experiments pursued by Dubuffet. The central focus of the exhibition, the fourth stage examines the public commission for the Tour aux figures, retracing the institutional and artistic context of the commission. This sequence looks back at the choice of the site in Issy-les-Moulineaux. Dubuffet’s preparatory drawings, as well as the stages in the design and completion of the project, carried out after the artist’s death in May 1985, are then discussed.This exhibition is part of a rich thematic program, including activities for young audiences, art workshops for preparatory classes at the école des Arcades, the art school of Issy- les-Moulineaux, events in media libraries, as well as playful activities around the Tour aux figures, such as puzzles and monumental constructions. Highlights of this program include a conference on December 3, 2025 bringing together the key figures involved in the public commission, followed by the exhibition opening and a guided tour. In spring 2026, the Tour aux figures will be open to the public in small groups, with guided tours every Sunday and a virtual tour offering a look inside the monument. The fifth and final section traces the life of the monument after its inauguration in 1988, in the presence of President François Mitterrand, Jack Lang, Minister of Culture, and André Santini, Mayor of Issy-les-Moulineaux: listing as a Monument Historique, transfer of ownership from the State to the Département des Hauts-de-Seine, and the restoration project with public opening.
Price: Individual admission for Isséens and GPSO Adult: €4.50 Reduced rate: €3.00 Under 26: free Individual admission for non-Isséens and non-GPSO* Adult: €6.00 Reduced rate: €4.50 Under 26: free*
Source: paris.fr — photo: © ADAGP, Paris / Photo: Olivier Monge / MYOP