From the jewelry theft at the Louvre to recent Art Basel events, the Paris art and design scene has been getting a lot of attention lately. The French capital is known, of course, for its state-supported institutions, but, as the New York Times those founded and funded by luxury brands can be worth visiting as well. The Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art, for example, is inaugurating its new home, the Place du Palais-Royal, with an exhibition running through August 2026 that considers the foundation’s 40-year history through 600 works from its collection, including pieces by Junya Ishigami and Alessandro Mendini.
Up through January 16, 2026, at the Bourse de Commerce–Pinault Collection, “Minimal” is a palate cleanser of a show, displaying works in a range of mediums by Günther Uecker, Brice Marden, Richard Serra and more than 50 other artists. The Fondation Louis Vuitton, meanwhile, is hosting a Gerhard Richter retrospective through March 2026 comprising works that the German painter created over six decades.
Although not a billionaire’s pet project, the Musée de la Musique is definitely off the beaten state-sponsored track, located within the Philharmonie de Paris complex of concert halls in the 19th arrondissement. A show on view there through February 1, 2026, offers a multisensory way of experiencing the work of Wassily Kandinsky using geolocated headphones that play music important to the artist depending on which piece a visitor is near. Per the New York Times, in addition to the musical headset component, 20 records from Kandinsky’s personal archives are on display.
