TOP: Free exhibitions to see in Paris from November 4th to 8th, 2026
Thirteen free exhibitions to see in Paris and the Île-de-France region, listed in order of importance: first the big names and major exhibitions, with photography taking center stage this autumn. From drawings by Agnès Rosenstiehl at the BnF to Dan Flavin's neon works at Le Bourget, and from the painted walls of Ménilmontant to the Château du Val Fleury.
AGNÈS ROSENSTIEHL AT THE BNF Mimi Cracra taught generations of children that it was okay to get dirty without getting in trouble. The BnF is dedicating its Donors' Gallery to sixty years of pioneering books by Agnès Rosenstiehl, who drew free-spirited little girls long before it became a publishing trend. Free entry at the François-Mitterrand site.
BNF, FRANÇOIS-MITTERRAND SITE
From November 3, 2026 to January 25, 2027
FRANK HORVAT AT THE MAISON DES ARTS IN ANTONY A bride in a white dress travels through Paris seated on a bus in 1961, for the pages of Vogue. Frank Horvat brought fashion out of the studio in the 1950s, and fashion photography never recovered. The Maison des Arts in Antony is bringing together some forty prints from his work with the Frank Horvat Studio, with free admission.
MAISON DES ARTS, ANTONY
From October 27, 2026 to January 10, 2027
TRACEY EMIN AT WHITE CUBE PARIS
Following her retrospective at Tate Modern, Tracey Emin is hanging her first solo exhibition at the Parisian gallery on Avenue Matignon: paintings where the body unravels in long red streaks, and a few small bronzes placed there like confessions. The intimate violence of the British artist, entirely free to access.
WHITE CUBE PARIS
From October 20 to December 18, 2026
DAN FLAVIN, EUROPEAN COUPLES, AT GAGOSIAN AT LE BOURGET
For the first time in France, and only the third time in the world, the nine luminous works of the European Couples series are brought together. Colored neon lights placed directly in the corners of the walls, and light that overflows from the sculpture to repaint the entire room. Free entry to the hangar at Le Bourget.
GAGOSIAN LE BOURGET
From October 18, 2026 to April 3, 2027
GERARD MALANGA AT GALERIE DU JOUR AGNÈS B. He was twenty years old when Charles Henry Ford introduced him to Warhol, and he photographed the Factory from the inside, with the familiarity of someone who worked there. More than twenty years after Bande à part, Galerie du Jour agnès b. is re-hanging Gerard Malanga's New York, with the Bel Œil collection. Free admission to La Fab.
GALERIE DU JOUR AGNÈS B., LA FAB.
From November 4, 2026 to January 10, 2027
PIERRE JAHAN AT THE JEAN-FRANÇOIS CAZEAU GALLERY He photographed Parisian statues sent to be melted down during the Occupation, and the cruelty of these decapitated bronzes has lost none of its power. The Jean-François Cazeau Gallery retraces a broader career, from Surrealism to post-war construction sites, where Pierre Jahan always retained a taste for the incongruous detail. Free admission.
JEAN-FRANÇOIS CAZEAU GALLERY
From October 24 to December 23, 2026
A CENTURY OF NEW YORKER COVERS AT THE MARTEL GALLERY
Before the printed cover, there is the sketch, the research, the rejected idea. The Martel Gallery is showing the originals that have shaped a century of The New Yorker, brought together by Françoise Mouly, the magazine's art director since 1993. A lesson in editorial cartooning as well as an American story, free admission on rue Martel.
MARTEL GALLERY
From November 6, 2026 to January 16, 2027
THOMAS HOUSEAGO AND THÉO MERCIER AT REIFFERS ART INITIATIVES
Two sculptors whose work is not expected to be exhibited together: the Englishman carves massive totems that seem to have emerged from an excavation, while the Frenchman stages bodies of sand ready to collapse. Reiffers Art Initiatives brings them together on Rue des Acacias, in a confrontation where matter becomes both monument and dust. Free admission.
REIFFERS ART INITIATIVES
From October 23 to December 12, 2026
ENVERGURE(S), MAYA HAYUK, AT THE PAVILLON CARRÉ DE BAUDOUIN
American artist Maya Hayuk paints bands and interlacing patterns of color directly onto the walls, and most of the pieces shown in Ménilmontant originate on-site, in collaboration with Art Azoï. You have to go up to the Carré de Baudouin to see what an abstraction born from graffiti looks like in a private mansion. Free admission.
BAUDOUIN SQUARE PAVILION
From November 7, 2026 to February 27, 2027
PHOTOSAINTGERMAIN, FIFTEENTH EDITION
Thirty-eight venues, galleries, bookstores, and institutions, for a photographic journey that treats the Left Bank as a single territory. PhotoSaintGermain celebrates its fifteenth edition and remains what it was at the beginning: a way to walk through Paris while looking at images, without ever paying an entrance fee. The 5th, 6th, 7th, and 15th arrondissements.
PHOTOSAINTGERMAIN
From November 5 to 28, 2026
KEEP DANCING AT THE EDF GROUP FOUNDATION SPACE
Núria Guiu Sagarra and Tiler Gab open the third season of Dans(e) la lumière with a two-story installation where the movement ultimately escapes the control of the performer. Dance becomes something to be observed rather than a spectacle to be applauded, and the EDF Group Foundation Space offers free entry on Rue Juliette Récamier.
EDF GROUP FOUNDATION SPACE
From November 4, 2026 to January 31, 2027
CREATING A VASE, A TRUE ART, AT THE JAD IN SÈVRES
A vase is a form, a material, and a hand. The JAD in Sèvres takes the object seriously and shows how it is conceived, shaped, and decorated, from the artisan's gesture to the finished piece. A free exhibition well worth the trip to the outskirts of Paris, appealing to both the curious and professionals.
JAD, GARDEN OF ARTS AND DESIGN, SÈVRES
From October 16, 2026 to February 28, 2027
HEY! FABULOUS FAMILIAR AT THE CHÂTEAU DU VAL FLEURY
The Château du Val Fleury is hosting HEY!, the magazine that has been championing folk art, handcrafted and often unsettling, for fifteen years. Tattoos, dolls, embroidery, ex-votos: the fabulous familiar of the exhibition are these objects we thought we knew, which suddenly start looking at us askance. Free admission in Gif-sur-Yvette.
LE VAL FLEURY, GIF-SUR-YVETTE
From October 16, 2026 to January 31, 2027
