Centre Pompidou-Metz hosts retrospective of self-taught painter Séraphine de Senlis

The Centre Pompidou-Metz organized a retrospective exhibition featuring the work of Séraphine Louis, a self-taught painter who lived from 1864 to 1942.

The museum gathered these works to showcase the artist's production and to correct myths surrounding her creative process. The exhibition addresses common legends about Séraphine de Senlis, such as claims that she used stolen holy oils or ox blood in her paintings. Scientific analysis of her artworks has disproven these stories.

The museum aims to present her artistic achievements clearly while separating her actual techniques from these colorful myths. The display includes more than 80 paintings out of the roughly 100 known works by the artist. These pieces come from private and public collections across Europe and the United States. The exhibition features six large canvases, nearly 2 meters tall, that she produced between 1928 and 1930. These specific monumental works are being displayed together for the first time.