Catherine Deneuve Celebrated in Paris Portrait Exhibition
LEADING LADY: The quintessential Parisian, actress Catherine Deneuve is set to be celebrated in a dual exhibition on both sides of the Seine. The “Catherine Deneuve, Rive Droite, Rive Gauche exhibition,” at the Galerie de l’Instant in the 3rd arrondissement and at the iconic Hôtel Lutetia on the Left Bank, features pictures of the actress through the decades by an array of photographers, from her ex-husband, David Bailey, to Kate Barry, Helmut Newton and Ellen von Unwerth, as well as veteran Paris Match photographer Jean-Claude Deutsch.
Julia Gragnon, director of the Galerie de l’Instant, remembers listening to Deneuve’s voice as a child on recordings of Disney stories on vinyl, then discovering her, years later, alongside Bowie and Susan Sarandon in Tony Scott’s cult movie “The Hunger.”
More from WWD
'The Love of Couture: Artisanship in Fashion Beyond Time' Exhibition at K11 Musea
Paris Exhibition Explores How Frida Kahlo Constructed Her Identity Through Clothing
“We all have a particular relationship with Catherine Deneuve. Her unique expression, her blondeness, the fantasies and other projections she inspires…her relationship with artists, with fashion, her friendship with Yves Saint-Laurent,” said Gragnon, who has been collecting imagery for some time with a view to putting it on show. Pictures by her father, photographer François Gragnon, also feature in the selection.
Many of the images are behind-the-scenes shots of the actress on set, often with her signature cigarette in hand, and show her alone or with fellow screen icons including David Bowie and Serge Gainsbourg. Others show her in some of her key cinematic roles over the years, like in Luis Bunuel’s “Tristana” in a shot by Philippe Le Tellier. There are signed originals, reproductions and vintage prints among the selection, spread between the two venues.
A household name the world over who is known for being enigmatic off-screen, Deneuve, who will turn 80 in October, is having something of a moment. She notably featured on the poster for this year’s Cannes Film Festival in a shot from 1968 movie “La Chamade.”
The exhibition opens on Wednesday at the Lutetia, where pictures will be on show until Sept. 8, and on Thursday at the Galerie de l’Instant in the Marais, where they will remain on view until Oct. 1.
Best of WWD
