Nathanaëlle Herbelin

The artist Nathanaëlle Herbelin has been invited to showcase her paintings alongside her sources of inspiration from the collections of the Musée d’Orsay, a museum that she has been visiting regularly since childhood. Influenced by the Nabis, the French-Israeli artist brings their favourite subjects – daily life, household interiors and intimacy - up to date in resolutely contemporary compositions.

If Herbelin’s subtle touch, colour palette and preferred motifs remind us of Pierre Bonnard, Édouard Vuillard and Félix Vallotton, other figurative details evoke the most contemporary reality thanks to the presence of modern-day idiosyncrasies (mobile phones and power cables) as well as the introduction of current concerns into these updated scenes of everyday life.
Her works provide a sense of continuity in the global history of painting, alluding to present-day societal issues such as new relationship dynamics, conversations around women body hair or female pleasure, and even responding directly to the
19th century male gaze with a novel female gaze that is innovative in painting.

"If there’s one museum I love, it’s this one.
I first explored the aisles of the Musée d’Orsay as a child. Later, when I was a student nearby, I spent a lot of time here, stimulating my painting.
I am driven by a need to return, to recon- nect and be moved all over again by these artists who painted that blessed transition between two centuries. I am of course thinking of the Nabis, but also of Manet, Degas, Caillebotte, Carrière, Hodler, Claudel, Corot, Courbet and Hammershøi. I took the liberty of distilling as much as I possibly could from all these painters. I painted in my head while looking at their paintings. It was the best schooling that I had."

"In Hebrew, the term “nabi” means “prophet”, he or she who reveals an important truth. There’s an element of mysticism, as well as something deeply rooted in reality. I like painting the sincerity of all that makes up the world, from major events to minuscule anecdotes.
I’d like to believe that, by creating some- thing, by focussing on observation, on the other, on nuances, contradictions, complexity, plurality, sorrow or beauty, artists are doing something concrete, something that exists beyond the fleeting nature of words and opinions."

Nathanaëlle Herbelin
From March 12th to June 30th, 2024
Musée D'Orsay, level 2

Curatorship:
Christophe Leribault, President of the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée de l’Orangerie;
Nicolas Gausserand, Adviser to the President responsible for international issues and contemporary programs.