Fabienne Verdier and the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres are presenting a brand-new collaboration at Fine Arts Paris 2026, supported by AXA, the fair’s official partner
At the heart of the Grand Palais, Fine Arts Paris 2026 is hosting an exceptional exhibition from 19 to 23 September, supported by AXA, the fair’s main partner. For its first participation, AXA is marking 40 years of its commitment to Art, Culture and Creativity, and is highlighting the more recent work of its Endowment Fund, established a year ago, through its partnership with the Manufactures nationales and the invitation extended to the artist Fabienne Verdier to present a previously unseen body of work. The result of a year of research and experimentation with the artisans of the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, this project celebrates the convergence of contemporary creativity and the excellence of French craftsmanship.
A unique dialogue
between artistic expression,
innovation and tradition.
Presented at Fine Arts Paris, this exceptional collection reveals a unique dialogue between artistic expression, innovation and tradition. It offers visitors an immersion into the world of one of France’s most important contemporary artists and into the excellence of centuries-old craftsmanship.
Following in the footsteps of the magnificent designs created at the Manufacture by Étienne Hajdu, Zao Wou-Ki and Chu Teh-Chun, Fabienne Verdier has in turn been invited to work with Sèvres porcelain. Plates from the famous ‘Service Diane’ range, along with a series of vases designed by Pierre Charpin, have been selected as the canvas for her creation.
The artist worked closely with the craftswomen in the ground-application workshop, who possess a rare expertise in the application of high-fire colours. Applied in three layers using the ‘blaireautage’ technique, cobalt – the source of the famous Sèvres blue – becomes, under her touch, a living material, generating shifting forms and lines.
Photos: Fabienne Verdier – Sevres © Laura Stevens / Modds
Fabienne Verdier’s
encounter with porcelain
Mineral-like reliefs evoking the Breton coastline of her childhood, constellations, seascapes and motifs reminiscent of cells observed under a microscope unfold across the porcelain. The works offer the viewer striking effects of scale, ranging from the infinitely small to cosmic dimensions.
Accustomed to large formats, Fabienne Verdier had to adapt the power of her brushstrokes to the perfectly circular surface of the ‘Diane’ plate.
This format, akin to a tondo, offered her a new realm of expression where the roundness of the surface complements the movement of the brush. On certain pieces, the curve of the plate caused the paint to accumulate at the centre, giving rise to forms never before seen in her work. Working with enamel, characterised by its viscosity, differs profoundly from the materials the artist usually employs.
This encounter with porcelain required the invention of new tools, new techniques and a specific artistic style. Combining mastery of the material with physical engagement, her approach sometimes evokes dripping and the energy of Action Painting.
A year of research,
over a hundred pieces
A full year of research – from the initial sketches right through to the final realisation of the sets – was required to develop the pigments, tools and techniques suited to this demanding medium.
The pieces created immerse the viewer in pure movement, where the intensity of the gesture evokes the swirling forces at work in the living world. Their titles, reminiscent of haikus, extend the sensory experience of the viewer’s gaze.
At Fine Arts Paris 2026, over a hundred pieces resulting from this exceptional collaboration are being exhibited for the first time, revealing the full richness of the dialogue between Fabienne Verdier and the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres.
AXA,
one of the world’s leading art insurers,
is an official partner of Fine Arts Paris
The AXA Group is a global leader in insurance, with 156,000 employees serving 92 million customers in 52 countries. In 2025, IFRS 17 revenue stood at €115.5 billion and operating profit at €8.4 billion.
AXA shares are listed on Compartment A of Euronext Paris under the ticker symbol CS (ISIN FR0000120628 – Bloomberg: CS FP – Reuters: AXAF.PA). In the United States, AXA’s American Depositary Share (ADS) is listed on the OTCQX over-the-counter platform under the ticker symbol AXAHY.
The AXA Group is included in the leading international SRI indices, including the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and the FTSE4GOOD. It is a founding member of the Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI) of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), and is a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI).
The Manufactures nationales – Sèvres & Mobilier national
Since 2025, the national manufactories of Sèvres, Gobelins, Beauvais and La Savonnerie, the National Ceramics Museum in Sèvres and the Adrien Dubouché Museum in Limoges, the Mobilier National, and the lace workshops of Le Puy-en-Velay and Alençon have been brought together under the umbrella of Manufactures nationales – Sèvres & Mobilier national.
Since 1740, the Sèvres National Manufactory has been dedicated to creating and producing works of art in ceramics, drawing on expertise passed down since the 18th century. Today, it employs more than 120 craftspeople across 27 workshops.
Fabienne Verdier
From China to Corsica, from the fjords of Norway to the St Lawrence River in Quebec, Fabienne Verdier travels the world to map the visible and invisible forces that traverse the universe and shape landscapes. Gravity, flows, vibrations, and telluric, light or sound waves feed into a unique body of work in which painting becomes a veritable laboratory of experimentation.
She develops a novel visual language, based on the invention of original tools and techniques — pendulum-brushes, gravitational tools, glazing alloys and filmic sketches — which enable her to explore the dynamics of life and the energies that shape our environment.
Her works feature in numerous public collections, including the Musée Cernuschi, the Musée national d’Art moderne – Centre Pompidou, the Pinault Collection, the Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva, the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, the National Museum in Oslo, the Kunsthaus in Zurich, the Musée Granet in Aix en-Provence, the Camille Claudel Museum in Nogent-sur-Seine, the Unterlinden Museum in Colmar, the Saarland Museum in Saarbrücken and the Museum of Fine Arts in Dijon.
