Michael Kenna

Past exhibition

As part of the "D'après nature, Parcs et jardins" exhibition, come and discover the photographs of Michael Kenna, the great master of black and white landscapes, at the Château de Haroué!

  • Guided tours only
    Daily at 10.30am, 11.30am, 2pm, 3pm, 4pm and 5pm

  • Exhibition included in château admission fee

    Free for children under 26

  • General public

Presentation

For five decades now, Michael Kenna has been exploring the theme of man-made nature.

After a visit to the Château de Rambouillet in 2022, this year the photographer is stopping off at the Château de Haroué.

From Europe to Asia, this exhibition showcases remarkable landscape compositions that "paint a picture".

Some highly expressive tree figures complete the selection of sumptuous prints that the photographer himself has produced with great care and attention to detail.

Under the joint curatorship of Sabine Troncin-Denis, Michael Kenna's agent for Europe, and Jocelyn Bouraly, administrator of Château de Haroué, the exhibition is displayed on the second floor of the château in the Salon Louis XVIII, as well as in the Salon Givenchy, which has been specially fitted out for the event.

I like to get to know a tree intimately... I spend a lot of time walking around it, trying to get to know it. In fact, it's as if I were talking to it. I try to be respectful and, above all, I like to come back to it two years, five years later, as often as possible.
Michael Kenna

In pictures

Above the Abreuvoir, Marly France

© Michael Kenna

Allee d'Honneur, Courances, France

© Michae kenna

Atget's Trees, Study 2, Parc St. Cloud, Paris, France

© Michael Kenna

Daybreak, Vaux-le-Vicomte, France

© Michael Kenna

Ground Mist, St. Germain-En-Laye, France.

© Michael Kenna

Le Desert de Retz, Study 4, France

© Michael Kenna

Silver Road, Versailles, France.

© Michael Kenna

Unclipped Bush, Vaux le Vicomte, France.

© Michael Kenna

Michael Kenna

Artist biography

In his own way, heir to the artists of the Grand Tour, Michael Kenna is a solitary, often nocturnal photographer who tracks unique atmospheres.

From the outset, he has paid constant attention to parks and gardens, to landscapes skilfully composed by man.

The human figure itself, however, remains absent from all the photographer's work, which evokes humans only through their traces or works.

" In all my work, (...) there is an underlying theme of memory, time, change, atmospheres that seem to be linked to places ", declares the artist.

It is the real place, beyond its exploitation as a tourist attraction or industrial site, that Kenna tirelessly pursues.

His landscapes manifest themselves in a pure joy of expression , the antithesis of the romantic approach that would postulate from the outset resonances between a state of mind and a place.

Michael Kenna works with silver halide and makes his own prints. He favors long, even very long exposure times, which help him to bring out the profound nature of the subject, notably through the effects of light and atmosphere.

Working in the darkroom gives him the opportunity to play with textures and contrasts.

The photographer prefers modest formats, often 20 cm squares, which help establish a more intimate relationship with the viewer.

A long-standing collaboration with the Centre des monuments nationaux

In 2018, Michael Kenna was invited by the Centre des Monuments Nationaux to explore two major sites in its network: the Domaine National de Rambouillet and the Alignements de Carnac.

He produced around a hundred photographs, eighty of which were selected by the Centre des monuments nationaux for publication in its image bank. Discover

On this occasion, the Centre des monuments nationaux acquired nine original prints, six of which were donated by the photographer. This collaboration gave rise to the project of an exhibition at the Château de Rambouillet in 2022, followed by the present exhibition at the Château de Haroué, which Kenna knows well from having photographed it in the past.

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