Exhibition from October 18, 2024 to February 16, 2025

The work of Jacques Prévert (1900–1977) left its imprint on the twentieth century and has touched many generations. With his rich imagination and exuberant inventiveness, he gave life to unique creations full of magic and humanity.

To mark Surrealism’s centenary and the seventieth anniversary of Prévert’s move to his atelier at 6 bis Cité Véron – just above the Moulin Rouge in the 18th arrondissement – the Musée de Montmartre is celebrating a man who is known first and foremost as a poet and screenwriter, but whose work extends far beyond that. Jacques Prévert was a multifaceted artist. A lyricist and playwright, a committed humanist and a wholehearted Surrealist, he dedicated a significant part of his life to the visual arts: collages, drawings and artist’s books. These more intimate and personal creations, often less well known than his writings yet just as revealing of his genius, deserve to be rediscovered and showcased.

Like an alchemist, Prévert juggles with images just as he manipulates words. He deconstructs, assembles, builds and creates worlds in his own particular style, luring us into his dreams and his moment in time. Illustrated storyboards, collaborations with his painter friends Picasso, Miró, Calder, Ernst, Braque and Chagall, Surrealist collages, the Éphémérides… These deeply poetic and visual works enrich our understanding of the artist’s creative universe, revealing a boundless artistic freedom and capacity for invention. They demonstrate Prévert’s passion for dialogue between art forms and show how interaction and friendship were at the heart of his creative process.

A creator of dreamscapes and a magician with words, Prévert invites you to discover through his works new worlds of imagination that transcend artistic borders.