August is a quiet month in Paris as the Parisians leave town for the month.  Many restaurants and shops are also closed for one or two weeks. Museums also rarely have exhibitions going on during that month. We compiled a list of art exhibitions and cultural events happening in Paris in August. Olafur Eliasson Until October 30^th Chateau de Versailles Every summer the Chateau de Versailles invites a contemporary artist to create an artistic installation within its grounds.  After Jeff Koons in 2008, Xavier Veilhan in 2009, Takashi Murakami in 2010, Bernar Venet in 2011, Joana Vasconcelos in 2012, Giuseppe Penone in 2013, Lee Ufan in 2014 and Anish Kapoor in 2015, Danish contemporary artist Olafur Eliasson has been given free rein from June 7th to October 30th, 2016. Eliasson is known for his large-scale installations that explore light, perception and environmental issues. The artist has taken over the gardens, transforming the waterways with three misty installations: “Waterfall”, “Glacial rock flour garden” and “Fog Assembly” and has also made several architectural interventions indoors. The Fountains Night Show Every Saturday until September 17 Chateau de Versailles When night falls, the gardens are transformed to offer a stunning visual and musical treat as fountains and groves come alive with colorful and dramatic lighting effects. A fireworks display in front of the Grand Canal concludes the evening’s entertainment.

Chateau de Versailles Fountain night show (only Saturdays) Water features from 8:30 to 10:40 pm. The fireworks display starts at around 10:50 pm. http://www.chateaudeversailles.fr

  Daniel Buren Until end of 2016 Fondation Louis Vuitton The French contemporary artist Daniel Buren, known for utilizing color and shapes in site specific works, has revamped the Foundation Louis Vuitton. Designed by the architect Frank Gehry, the Foundation was built to hold the collection of modern and contemporary art of Mr Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH, and as a center for artistic creation.

Fondation Louis Vuitton 8, avenue du Mahatma Gandhi Bois de Boulogne 75116 Paris http://www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr/

Albert Marquet Until August 21st Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris The Musée d’Art moderne is commemorating Albert Marquet (1875–1947) with a major monographic exhibition of over one hundred paintings and drawings, some of them being shown in France for the first time. The chronological and thematic layout of the exhibition allows viewers to rediscover an artist who defies pigeonholing, and who evolved with the movements of his time – from Post-Impressionism to Fauvism – without ever losing his stylistic independence.Note that the MAM also has other exhibitions in its space. You can check the details on their website

Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris Closed Mondays Open from 10am to 6pm Late night Thursday until 10pm 11 av. du Président Wilson 75116 Paris http://www.mam.paris.fr/en

    Barbie Until September 18th Musée des Arts Decoratifs The musée des Arts Decoratifs is dedicating an exhibition to Barbie. Born in 1959, by the time Barbie turned 50, in 2009, Mattel had sold more than 1 billion copies of the doll. Besides being a toy, Barbie has been a true reflection of change of morals in our society. First representing the American way of life, she then became more universal, adapting to social, political and cultural changes. Fashion designers have also created some of the most extravagant and elegant clothes for the doll. The exhibition brings together about 700 Barbies. Fashion forward-Three centuries of fashion (1715-2015) Until August 14th Musée des Arts Decoratifs The musée des Arts Decoratifs is celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of its fashion collection. The museum’s fashion collection now comprises more than 150,000 works, ranging from ancient textiles to haute couture creations and emblematic silhouettes of ready-to-wear fashion, as well as accessories, photographies and sketches. For this exhibition, the curator has selected 300 items of men’s, women’s and children’s fashion highlighting the key moments in fashion history from the very late 17th century to the most contemporary creation. The selected pieces will be shown for the first time in the museum’s nave. ‟Fashion moments” will be recreated in its human, artistic and social context, via ellipses illustrating fashion’s constant elective affinities with the decorative arts. Each of these moments is enhanced by a unique collaboration with the dancers of the Opéra de Paris. The musée des Arts Decoratifs and Pamela Golbin, the Chief Curator of Fashion and Textiles, never dissapoints, trust us on that one!

Les Arts Décoratifs – Mode et textile 107 rue de Rivoli 75001 Paris Open everyday except Mondays 11am to 6pm Late opening Thursdays until 9pm http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/

  Picasso Sculptures Until August 28^th Musée Picasso The exhibit aims to examine an understudied aspect of Picasso’s sculptural works. This aspect is the diversity of dimensions of the artist’s sculptural work constructed through his series and variations, cast iron creations, prints, and photographic enlargements, realized in a selection of his original sculptures.

Musée Picasso Open from Tuesday to Sunday : 9:30am to 6pm Closed on Mondays (including Holidays) 5 rue de Thorigny 75003 Paris http://www.museepicassoparis.fr/

The Velvet Underground Until August 21st Philharmonie de Paris In 1964 John Cale met Lou Reed in New York City, they formed the band called Velvet Underground. The influence of the Velvet Underground on rock greatly exceeds their sales figures and chart numbers. They are one of the most important rock and roll bands of all time, laying the groundwork in the Sixties for many tangents rock music would take in ensuing decades. Brian Eno, cofounder of Roxy Music and producer of U2 and others, put it best when he said that although the Velvet Underground didn’t sell many albums, everyone who bought one went on to form a band. Fifty years after the release of the Velvet Underground’s debut album (yes, the one with the Andy Warhol banana), the Philharmonie de Paris looks back at the formation and career of the legendary ’70s rock group.

Philharmonie de Paris Closed Mondays Tuesday – Thursday: 12am to 6pm Friday: 12am to 10pm Saturday and Sunday: 10am to 8pm 221, avenue Jean-Jaurès 75019 Paris http://philharmoniedeparis.fr/fr

Jacques Chirac or the Dialogue of Cultures  Until October 9th Musée du Quai Branly The exhibition paints a cultural portrait of former French President Jacques Chirac who founded this museum.  You will go through more than fifty dates that connect French, European, and world political and cultural history with both the professional and personal positions and choices of the politician. There are about 200 work of art from public and private collections. Persona Strangely Human Until November 13th Musée du Quai Branly How does the inanimate become animate? How do people establish an unusual or intimate relationship with objects? A group of anthropologists addressed these issues, at a time when our ideas of the human being are vacillating and the borders are continually being pushed back.

Musée du Quai Branly Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday 11am to 7pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday 11am - 9pm 37, quai Branly 75007 Paris http://www.quaibranly.fr/en/

Anatomy of a collection Until October 23rd Palais Galliera Who wears what? This is the question put by the Palais Galliera’s Anatomy of a Collection exhibition. Ranging from court wear to work overalls and from celebrities to unknowns, the exhibition draws on the Galliera collection for around a hundred garments and accessories illustrating fashion from the 18th century to the present day.

Palais Galliera 10 avenue Pierre Ier de Serbie 75116 Paris – Tél : 01 56 52 86 00 Every day except Mondays 10am to 6pm Late opening on thursdays until 9pm http://www.palaisgalliera.paris.fr

Charles Gleyre (1806-1874) Until September 11th Musée d’Orsay The first solo exhibition in France dedicated to the work of Charles Gleyre (1806-1874). Gleyre is usually mentioned as the academic teacher to Monet, Sisley and Bazille. This exhibition tries to rediscover meaning in what seems to many modern eyes like a very stilted style of art.

Musée d’Orsay 1, rue de la Légion d’Honneur, 75007 Paris Open everyday except Mondays from 9.30am to 6pm Late night on Thursdays until 9.45pm Last tickets sold at 5pm (9pm Thursdays) http://www.musee-orsay.fr/  

Josef Sudek Until September 25^th Jeu de Paume This exhibition is the first to revisit the life and work of Josef Sudek (1896 - 1976) within its sociogeographical and historical context: Prague during the first half of the twentieth century, at a time when the Czech capital was a veritable hub of artistic activity. The exhibition features a selection of 130 works spanning the totality of Sudek’s career, from 1920 to 1976.

Jeu de Paume 1, place de la Concorde, 75001 Paris Open everyday except Mondays from 11am to 7pm Late openings on tuesdays until 9pm http://www.jeudepaume.org/

The great animal orchestra Until January 8^th, 2017 Fondation cartier pour l’art contemporain This exhibition invites the public to enjoy an aesthetic meditation, both aural and visual, on the animal kingdom. ’The Great Animal Orchestra’ is an exhibition inspired by the work of American musician and bioacoustician Bernie Krause. In the words of the Fondation Cartier director: “it is a show to be lost in. It’s like a promenade, like a landscape with different valleys, different hills. You walk, you think —it inspires vagabondage. “This is a show about beauty, pleasure, the mysteries of nature—and it is also about knowledge, but not in a didactic way.” The show featurs works in various media by artists from Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe, (Chinese gun-powder master Cai Guo-Qiang, photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto, filmmaker Agnès Varda, British collective United Visual Artists, and Congolese painter JP Mika). Krause has traveled widely, collecting thousands of sound recordings of natural habitats both terrestrial and marine which have helped form the basis of new scientific disciplines.

  Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain Closed Mondays Open from 11am to 8pm Late night Tuesday until 10pm 261 boulevard Raspail 75014 Paris http://fondation.cartier.com/#/en/home/

  Paula Modersohn-Becker Until August 28th Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris It is France's first monographic exhibition of the work of German painter Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876–1907), a major modern art figure. Despite a short ten year career, this artist has left us an extremely rich legacy, revealed in this exhibition by some one hundred paintings and drawings.

Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris Closed Mondays Open from 10am to 6pm Late night Thursday until 10pm 11 av. du Président Wilson 75116 Paris http://www.mam.paris.fr/en

Eugen Gabritschevsky Until September 18th Maison rouge This exhibition is the first major showing in Paris of the work of Russian artist Eugène Gabritschevsky (1893-1979). The show charts the journey of the artist whose promising scientific career was interrupted by severe mental illness, and saw him institutionalized for much of his life. Over the course of three decades, Gabritschevsky created the bulk of his body of work, in silence and in solitude.

La maison rouge Open evreyday  except Mondays and Tuesday from 11am to 7pm Late night opening Thursday until 9pm 10 boulevard de la bastille 75012 Paris http://www.lamaisonrouge.org/

Oriental Gardens Until September 25th Institut du monde arabe The exhibition retraces the history of Oriental gardens in five parts from earliest antiquity to the most contemporary innovations, from the Iberian Peninsula to the Indian subcontinent. The exhibition itinerary comprises 300 works of art.

Institut du monde arabe Open every day except Mondays from 10am to 6pm Until 7pm Saturdays and Sundays 1 Rue des Fossés Saint-Bernard, 75005 Paris www.imarabe.org

Tour St Jacques Until September 25th Climb the 300 steps up the remains of a 16th century church: the St Jacques tour for a unique view on the river bank.  The tour is usually closed to the public and the one-hour visit is only available by reservation and in French. Note that the steps are really steep and it is not recommended for claustrophobic people.

Tour Saint Jacques Visits Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays from 10am to 5pm Online reservations open every Monday at 10am Square de la Tour Saint-Jacques, 75004 Paris http://www.desmotsetdesarts.com/offres/visites-guidees-paris/visite-de-la-tour-saint-jacques

Fun Fair Until August 22nd Jardin des Tuileries Located next to the Louvre, in the Tuileries gardens, the Tuileries fun fair runs in July and August and has about sixty attractions including: shooting games, hook-a-duck game, ferris wheel, a scary fun-house, bumper cars, a merry-go-round with authentic wooden horses, a twisty slide, and also special rides for thrill-seekers that sends you up 140 km per hour…  It is a great place for adults and kids.

Jardin des Tuileries Open every day from de 11am to 11 :45 on weekdays and from 11am to 1am on Fridays and Saturdays 113, rue de Rivoli 75001 Paris