Robert Doisneau

Official Tourist Information Site of Modena

Happiness in the Details of Everyday Life

The Palazzo dei Musei in Modena opens its doors to Robert Doisneau, one of the leading figures of French humanist photography and a pioneer, alongside Henri Cartier-Bresson, of street reportage. From 24 September 2026 to 24 January 2027, the exhibition brings to the city 135 silver gelatin prints, preserved for decades at the Atelier Robert Doisneau in Montrouge. Among them is the photograph that, more than any other, made Doisneau a legend: the stolen kiss between two lovers in Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, one of the most celebrated images in the history of photography. An unmissable opportunity to discover an artist capable of transforming everyday life into visual poetry.

The Interior and the Street in a Single Narrative

Rather than following a chronological sequence, the exhibition freely interweaves interiors and street scenes in one great collective narrative: assembly lines, bar counters, concierge desks, village fêtes, jazz clubs and classrooms. Doisneau’s distinctive style emerges from the encounter between grace, irony and an almost surrealist imagination, giving rise to a wholly original way of looking at the world, in which the images ultimately mirror the very soul of their subjects, allowing a subtle veil of nostalgia to emerge. It is a gaze capable of capturing, with particular delicacy and without ever becoming intrusive, the tenderness of human relationships, especially when the lens rests on children and couples in love.

The Formation of a Humanist Gaze

Born in 1912 and raised in Gentilly, on the outskirts of Paris, Doisneau began his career as an apprentice in a commercial photography studio. Before long, however, his attention shifted towards the capital’s suburbs and working-class neighbourhoods, a subject that would forever link him to the Rapho agency, where he became one of its most recognisable photographers. The difficult years of the war did not stop his gaze, which in the following years also found a place in the pages of Vogue. In 1949, together with writer Blaise Cendrars, he published La Banlieue de Paris, a pioneering book that opened up an enti strand of photographic narratives about life on the margins of the city, always marked by empathy and lightness. “I was simply trying to portray a world in which I would have felt at home,” the artist once said, “a place inhabited by kind people.” Doisneau died in 1994, leaving behind nearly 450,000 negativess.

Information

Where:
New wing of the Palazzo dei Musei, ticket office entrance from viale Vittorio Veneto
9, Modena.

When:
24 September 2026 to 24 January 2027.

Opening hours:
Tuesday to Sunday, 10.00 am to 7.00 pm. The ticket office closes 30 minutes before closing time. Closed on Mondays.

Prices:
Open €15
Full price €13
Reduced €11
Schools €4

The “Open” ticket, available online only and valid exclusively from the day after purchase, may be used on any opening day.

For further information on available reductions, please contact the call centre by phone or email.

Special openings:

7 December 2026, 10.00 am–7.00 pm
24 December 2026, 10.00 am–2.00 pm
25 December 2026, 2.00 pm–7.00 pm
31 December 2026, 10.00 am–2.00 pm
1 January 2027, 2.00 pm–7.00 pm

Book online: tickets can be purchased online or directly at the ticket office. Visitors who purchase their
ticket online can enter the exhibition directly without going through the ticket office.

Advance booking is mandatory for group and school visits.

Book your ticket

Book you Open ticket

Scheduled guided tours for adults and families:

To view the calendar of guided tours for adults, click HERE

To view the calendar of guided tours for families, click HERE

Information, bookings and guided tours: mostre.silvanaeditoriale@vivaticket.com | Tel. +39 059-2930910

Scheduled guided tours: https://www.admaiora.education/it/dove-lavoriamo/doisneau

Press office: simone@studioesseci.net, press@silvanaeditoriale.it

Photo credits: Robert Doisneau, Les Frères, Paris, 1934 © Robert Doisneau; Robert Doisneau, Concierge aux lunettes, Paris, 1945 © Robert Doisneau; Robert Doisneau, Mademoiselle Anita, Paris, 1951, © Robert Doisneau

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