Centre Pompidou Profiles Feminist Artist Raymonde Arcier, Whose Work Entered Collection in 2018
On July 1, 2026, the Centre Pompidou published a feature on French artist Raymonde Arcier (1939–2024), a self-taught feminist militant who transformed domestic crafts into politically charged monumental sculptures. Arcier, a member of the Mouvement de libération des femmes (MLF), began sculpting with knitting and crochet in the 1970s, creating works such as "Au nom du père" (1975–1976), a 2.65-meter female figure with a fetus and shopping bags, and "Ar(t)mure pour art(r)iste" (1981), a 45-kg iron-wire armor. Her sculpture "Au nom du père" entered the Centre Pompidou's collection in 2018, following its rediscovery at the 2017 exhibition "Contre-cultures" at La Maison Rouge, organized by curator Guillaume Désanges. Collectors Floriane de Saint Pierre and curator Frédéric Paul championed the acquisition.
The Signal
The feature restores visibility to an artist who rejected private galleries and the art market, insisting her work reach broad audiences. Arcier's practice bridges feminist activism, craft, and conceptual rigor, placing her within a growing institutional reexamination of post-war female artists working with textile and domestic materials. For collectors and curators, the Centre Pompidou's spotlight reinforces the market and scholarly value of such marginalized oeuvres, signaling continued institutional appetite for feminist art from the 1970s.
- Artists: Raymonde Arcier
- People: Guillaume Désanges, Floriane de Saint Pierre, Frédéric Paul, Emmanuelle Arcier
- Museums: Centre Pompidou
- Locations: Paris
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