Pedro Cabrita Reis, The Three Graces, 2022A monumental artwork in the Tuileries Garden
12 February – 7 June 2022
Pedro Cabrita Reis, The Three Graces, 2022
A monumental artwork in the Tuileries Garden
12 February – 7 June 2022
The cross-cultural France-Portugal Season 2022, a joint initiative announced by the President of the French Republic and the Prime Minister of Portugal, will be staged simultaneously in both countries from 12 February to 31 October 2022.
The Musée du Louvre has invited the artist Pedro Cabrita Reis (born 1956) to design a monumental artwork for display in the Tuileries Garden. A key figure on the Portuguese art scene, Pedro Cabrita Reis has gained worldwide recognition. In particular, he was featured in documenta 9 (Kassel, 1992) and he represented Portugal at the Venice Biennale in 2003. His artworks — sculptures, paintings, drawings, photographs — are found in the collections of the world’s leading contemporary art museums.
Cabrita likes to work with materials used in architecture and enjoys the challenge of adapting his creations to specific sites. In The Three Graces he tackles tradition to bring a fresh take on an ancient theme, widely present in the Louvre’s collections, especially in Greco-Roman art. The marble and bronze pieces in the Tuileries Garden – legacies of the century of King Louis XIV or works imbued with the academic spirit of the 19th century – add a further unexpected twist to this dialogue. The Three Graces combine three stand-alone elements, all made of painted cork; each element, about four and a half metres high and weighing almost five hundred kilograms, rests on a Corten steel base of approximately four hundred kilograms. Construction took place on the site of Corticeira Amorim, Portugal’s leading cork company, which was closely involved in this project. The choice to use cork also resonates with one of the key themes of the France-Portugal Season 2022, setting sustainable development at the heart of its agenda.
The work will be on display in the Tuileries Garden until 7 June 2022. It is located on the ‘Grand Réservé nord’ solid grass area.
Curator: João Lima Pinharanda
Pedro Cabrita Reis was born in 1956 in Lisbon, where he now lives and works. His oeuvre, which has gained firm international recognition, embraces a broad range of mediums – painting, sculpture, photography, drawing and installations comprising found materials and man-made objects, often using simple materials to which he applies constructive processes.
The President of the Portuguese Republic has granted his patronage to this project, which is endorsed by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. The artwork The Three Graces, 2022 was created with the support of Altice, the Engie Foundation and VINCI Airports, along with Corticeira Amorim, Fidelidade, Artworks and Barbot.
The cross-cultural France-Portugal Season 2022, a joint initiative announced by the President of the French Republic and the Prime Minister of Portugal, will be staged simultaneously in both countries from 12 February to 31 October 2022.