Μake us preferred on Google The Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation in Athens will present a major exhibition dedicated to the Belle Époque, the period that helped shape Europe’s cultural and social history, from October 31, 2026, to February 15, 2027.
Centered on Paris, the exhibition will feature approximately 90 works examining how the rise of poster art transformed public spaces and reflected the ambitions, anxieties and contradictions of a society in transition.
Through works by some of the era’s most distinctive artists, the exhibition will explore the expanding public access to art, the flourishing entertainment industry, the growth of a free press, the emergence of modern advertising and the impact of industrial development.
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Among the artists featured are Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Alphonse Mucha, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, Pierre Bonnard, Maurice Denis, Félix Vallotton and Henri-Gabriel Ibels. Their work offers a window into a period when art increasingly reached audiences beyond traditional galleries and entered everyday urban life.
Paris, often known as the City of Light, provides the exhibition’s central setting. The development of the poster as a prominent feature of the urban landscape serves as a lens through which visitors can examine the broader social and cultural shifts of the Belle Époque.
The exhibition is organized by Kyriakos Koutsomallis, with Maria Koutsomalli-Moreau and Marina Ferretti Bocquillon serving as general directors. Alexandra Papakostopoulou is the curator, while Paraskevi Gerolymatou and Andreas Georgiadis oversee general coordination.
Exhibition tours and dates
The exhibition will run at the Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation from October 31, 2026, through February 15, 2027. Guided tours will be available from October 31, 2026, through February 14, 2027.
Tours will take place on Fridays from 7 to 8 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 1 p.m. and from 4 to 5 p.m. Each tour will last 50 minutes, with groups ranging from three to 30 participants.
