From 25 July to 1 November 2026, the left wing galleries of the 2nd floor of the main building of the Latvian National Museum of Art in Riga (Jaņa Rozentāla laukums 1) host the exhibition Contemporary Drawings: Florence and Daniel Guerlain’s Donation and Gifts to Centre Pompidou.
This exhibition is an internationally significant and artistically highly valuable collaboration project between the Latvian National Museum of Art (LNMA) and Centre Pompidou. It presents works from the collection donated by collectors and art patrons Florence and Daniel Guerlain to the French institution over the past twenty years.
The Guerlain collection is thematically diverse and distinctly contemporary in nature. From the donation of nearly 1200 works, a multifaceted selection for the exhibition in Riga has been curated, featuring 98 drawings by 43 artists of different nationalities and spanning the 1970s to 2019. Among them are internationally well-known names such as Tony Cragg, Erik Dietman, Marlene Dumas, Robert Longo, Giuseppe Penone, Richard Prince, Gerhard Richter, Kiki Smith, and French artists such as Dove Allouche, Elise Beaucousin, Cathryn Boch, Henri Cueco, Daniel Dezeuze, Vidya Gastaldon, Jean le Gac, Frédérique Loutz, André Raffray, Anne-Marie Schneider, and Gérard Traquandi – most of whom have never been exhibited in Latvia.
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The exhibition provides insight into the contemporary practice of drawing. While the works are largely emotional, some reflect a more analytical and rational approach. They captivate with their broad range and the melodic sensations created by the energy of the line. From fleeting strokes to realistic imagery, the refined touch of pencil, graphite, ink, gouache, watercolour, and other materials creates worlds that are either fragile or sturdily constructed.
“As a long-standing co-operation partner of the museum, we are pleased to support initiatives that provide the Latvian public with the opportunity to get to know world art right here in Riga. Such high-level international projects as the exhibition of Centre Pompidou collection enrich our cultural life and at the same time strengthen the country’s international recognition. We highly value the professionalism of the museum team and its ability to build collaboration with the world’s most important cultural institutions,” says Jeļena Buraja, Chairwoman of the Management Board of Rietumu Banka and Member of the Council of the Future Support Foundation.
The exhibition is organised by the Latvian National Museum of Art and Centre Pompidou in Paris. The curator is Laetitia Pesenti, Curatorial Officer of the Graphic Arts Department at Centre Pompidou, and the project manager is Dr. art. Ginta Gerharde-Upeniece, Head of the Latvian Visual Arts Department at LNMA, with the participation of the donors, Florence and Daniel Guerlain.
In this year’s LNMA exhibition programme, drawing is highlighted as a vital artistic medium. From 18 July to 8 November, the Great Hall houses a large-scale Latvian drawings exhibition Embodied Thought. To showcase the global possibilities and trends of drawing techniques, the museum simultaneously presents contemporary drawings from Centre Pompidou, creating an indirect dialogue with the development of drawing in Latvian art.
About Centre Pompidou
Since 1977, Centre Pompidou has been a place of living, engaged culture – a multidisciplinary centre deeply rooted in society and open to the world. In 2025, it embarked on a true metamorphosis, allowing it to remain active and dynamic throughout its renovation and until its reopening in 2030. Through the Constellation programme, the spirit of Centre Pompidou is embodied in numerous partner locations in France and abroad, including Centre Pompidou-Metz, the Grand Palais and soon Centre Pompidou Francilien in Massy.
For the past 15 years, Centre Pompidou has strengthened its international presence through travelling exhibitions, exceptional loans and lasting collaborations. This approach aims to disseminate its collections, share expertise and create dialogues between artistic scenes, while contributing to French cultural diplomacy. The opening of Centre Pompidou around the world plays a key role in this strategy. Following Malaga in 2015 and Shanghai in 2019, two new international locations will open in Seoul and Brussels in 2026, marking an impactful step in the institution’s history. Centre Pompidou favours tailored and evolving collaborations, confirming its importance in the global circulation of art and museum practices.
The Florence and Daniel Guerlain Donation and Gifts to Centre Pompidou
Before Florence and Daniel Guerlain turned to drawing as their primary focus, their collection featured artworks of various types and genres. In 2006, they established the Contemporary Drawing Prize, giving one or more works by the winner to the Musée national d’art moderne (MNAM) after each edition.
In 2012, they made a donation of nearly 1200 works, changing the face of the collection of works on paper of the Graphic Arts Department. Since then, the museum has actively promoted this gift. As early as 2013, the works were displayed in the museum’s exhibition galleries, and the collection was later presented extensively on an international scale – with exhibitions in Sweden (2015), Denmark (2016), Spain (2017), Austria (2019), etc. In 2017, Centre Pompidou hosted the exhibition Ten Years of the Daniel and Florence Guerlain Contemporary Drawing Prize.
From 2023 until Centre Pompidou’s building was closed to the public for renovation works in 2025, there was a specific room in the museum presenting the collection of Florence and Daniel Guerlain. The works are also regularly loaned for exhibitions in France and overseas. They represent an essential section of contemporary creation within the Musée national d’art moderne’s graphic art collection.
