1917

1917 addresses the theme of artistic creation in wartime, on the scale of a single "impossible year "¹ when the world floundered in endless, devastating conflict. It will feature Picasso's monumental work, the overture curtain for the ballet “Parade” which has not been shown in France in over twenty years.

This vast multidisciplinary exhibition provides an instant view of every field of creativity during this year of the First World War. It asks what such a narrow, precise context as a single year might mean for creative activity, while avoiding the pitfalls of expectations and assumptions as to the nature of wartime art.

1917 was a year of extreme diversity in artistic production. The exhibition sets out to convey this by illustrating artists' various positions relative to the battlefront and the multiple forms their work took. Alongside established artists who drew inspiration more or less directly from world affairs were the amateur artists who felt the need to respond to the trials of war through creative expression, not least in the trench art – objects made from shells and weapons – an ensemble of which is one of the highlights of the exhibition. Equally important are the war artists who were sent to the front to record events and bring back images of battle, and the many individuals who, as eyewitnesses, left their memory of the conflict for posterity.

The exhibition shows works from public, private, art and military collections, both French and international. Foremost among these are the many works loaned by the Centre Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne, including Picasso's stage curtain for the ballet Parade. 1917 also gives rise to partnerships with the Bibliothèque de Documentation Internationale Contemporaine (Nanterre), the Musée de l’Armée (Paris), the Musée du Service de Santé des Armées (Paris), the Historial de la Grande Guerre (Péronne) and the Imperial War Museums (London).

1917 is the first in a series of events taking place in France to commemorate the centennial of the First World War. It is endorsed by the Mission du Centenaire de la Première Guerre Mondiale 1914-2014.