Between 1939 and 1945, as the Second World War raged on, many artists, as well as intellectuals and scientists, chose to flee Vichy France to go into exile. They fled to protect themselves, but more importantly, they fled to resist even stronger. Through the exhibition One Fighting Exile - Artists and France 1939-1945, the unique journey of these personalities marked by exile is highlighted at the Army Museum until June 22, 2025. It’s a historical and artistic narrative taking place in the context of the 80th anniversary of Liberation, aiming to be both informative and moving.
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Jean Héion (1904-1987), Defense d’, 1943, private collection © Galerie Malingue © Adagp, Paris, 2025
Leading a cultural fight for France around the globe
They are called André Breton, Varian Fry, Ève Curie, Marc Chagall, Romain Gary, Paul Éluard, and Anna Marly, and they are poets, painters, journalists, writers, and even actors. All of them are part of the artists, intellectuals, and scientists who left France during the rise of Nazism and Fascism to turn their creations into weapons for the free France.
Knopf (unknown dates), One Fight for One Homeland, 1942, Paris, Museum of the Order of Liberation © Museum of the Order of Liberation
There’s Marseille, which from 1940 stood out as the central hub for exiles preparing to join Spain or even Portugal. So many made their way to the Phocaean city that it earned the nickname "counter-capital." Then there was London, but also Sydney, New York, Buenos Aires, Cuba, and even Algiers. Free territories where creativity could flourish. Leaving was then a necessity more than a choice. These “combatants in exile” » left family and friends, faced immense administrative difficulties and the harsh conditions of travel to reach new lands where their creativity would contribute to freedom, Resistance, and the victory of France.
Leaving to Fight Better
Divided into four geographical sections, the exhibition invites visitors to discover different forms of exile. Photos, archives, original documents, and period outfits enrich this journey. To enhance the visitors’ immersion into this part of history and allow them to feel all the emotion associated with it, two exile locations have been recreated: Ossip Zadkine's studio in New York, where creativity and resistance came together, as well as the New York bookstore Gotham Books. From all corners of the world, it’s a véitable cultural resistance that has been led by men and women eager to modernize institutions and proudly uphold common values, those of creation and freedom of action. An exhibition not to be missed this spring!
Ossip Zadkine (1888-1967), Arlequin hurlant, 1943-1944, Paris, musée Zadkine © Paris Musées / musée Zadkine, Dist. GrandPalaisRmn / image ville de Paris. © Adagp, Paris, 2025
A Fighting Exile - Artists and France 1939-1945
Musée de l’Armée - Invalides
129, rue de Grenelle – 7th
Until June 22, 2025
Every day from 10 AM to 6 PM
And until 10 PM on June 6
More info
Also : concerts, conferences, and events at musee-armee.fr
