In 1936, Marie Laurencin (1883-1956) painted the picture "La Répétition" ("The Rehearsal", also translatable as "The Repetition").
It shows a group of young women at a rehearsal, honing their artistic skills through repetition. One woman holds a songbook, another a guitar, a third indicates a dance step. But repetition is not only the theme of this painting, which is nothing other than Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" (1907) in a modified form, but also its method: all the faces are identical - and an expression of Laurencin's intention to bring out repetition in repetition. The Centre Pompidou-Metz is now showing with the exciting - and very important! - exhibition "The Repetition" shows that a creative process can also consist of repetition, emphasis, multiplication or accumulation. The extensive show thus questions the concept of genuine invention, which is anchored in the history of Western art in the 20th and 21st centuries as a synonym for creative freedom. Using a subjective selection of works from the collections of the Centre Pompidou, Musée National d'Art Moderne, it focuses on the creative processes of repetition - regardless of whether these appear in the objects or forms depicted.
until January 27, 2025
Marie Laurencin, La Répétition (The Repetition), 1936, Paris, Centre Pompidou, Musée national d'art moderne © Foujita Foundation / Adagp, Paris - Photo : © Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / image Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI
