Colour speaks all languages. Selected works from the Al Thani Collection

From Autumn 2024, The Al Thani Collection at the Hôtel de la Marine will host a temporary exhibition on the theme of colour and the ways it has been used and interpreted in works of art by different civilisations throughout history. 

Presenting approximately 80 works of art drawn from The Al Thani Collection, most of which are shown at the Hôtel de la Marine for the first time, the exhibition includes a diverse selection of extraordinary and often unusual objects representing cultures across five continents, and spanning the 3rd millenium BC to the 21st century. They are presented in six sections according to their colour: black, white, red, yellow, blue and green.

Each section comprises a diverse range of cultural and historical works, encompassing a multitude of materials and techniques. These include sculptures crafted from wood, stone, or metal; ceramics; textiles; engravings; and objets d'art. The exhibition includes a Fang-Betsi wooden reliquary guardian sculpture (black), a Roman marble sculpture (white), a Mughal hookah base (red), an Egyptian head-shaped inlay (blue), an Olmec ceremonial axe in jade (green) and ‘The Saint Louis Reliquary', a gold locket from the late 14th or early 15th century presented to Guy de Montfort by King Louis IX of France (yellow).

By way of this classification, visitors are invited to observe the various materials used to create the works in relation to their production technique. They can reflect on the effects produced by the variety of colours, the brilliance of the hues and the contrasts within the works, and finally, they can ponder the symbolism of the works in relation to the cultures of the world.

Titled after a quotation by the English essayist Joseph Addison (1676-1719), the exhibition will be on view in Gallery 3; a selection of Renaissance masterpieces from The Al Thani Collection are on display in Galleries 1, 2 and 4.

Hélène de Givry, curator at the Al Thani Collection.

The Al Thani Collection Foundation and the Centre des monuments nationaux.