From November 14 to December 13, 2026, the National Exhibition of Animal Artists celebrates its 50th edition at the Hôtel de Malestroit in Bry-sur-Marne. Selected by an independent jury from over 330 applicants, sculptors and painters exhibit their work with free admission, and the Sandoz and Baron prizes are awarded this year to the two guests of honor.

On January 25, 1976, seventeen artists hung their animal sculptures in the salons of a private mansion on the banks of the Marne. Fifty years later, the National Exhibition of Animal Artists celebrates its golden anniversary there. More than 120 painters and sculptors are exhibiting 160 works, from patinated bronze to ink drawings, proof that animal art, heir to Antoine-Louis Barye and François Pompon, has never ceased to reinvent itself.

For this anniversary, two guests of honor share the exhibition space. Henri Girin, a self-taught and mischievous painter, learned about nature in the Beaujolais countryside and paints it with tenderness and humor. Pierre-Jean Chabert, a fiery and learned sculptor, cast his first bronze sculpture, a hippopotamus head emerging from the water, and dreams of being the heir to Rembrandt Bugatti.

The adventure began with a Society of Animal Artists founded in 1912, which exhibited its big cats from the Petit Gallery to the Volney Circle before settling in the Hôtel de Malestroit. Every Sunday, artists work in front of the public, and admission is free. The animal, for its part, undoubtedly remains the most faithful of models.

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HÔTEL DE MALESTROIT
From November 14 to December 13, 2026
2 Grande rue Charles de Gaulle, 94360 Bry-sur-Marne - RER A Bry-sur-Marne
Tue. to Fri. 10am-12pm and 2pm-6pm, Sat. and Sun. 10am-6:30pm
Free admission