Adya & Otto Van Rees : At the heart of the avant-garde

Exhibition at the Musée de Montmartre, Paris, 20 March – 13 September 2026

Originally from the Netherlands, where they met, Otto van Rees (1884–1957) and Adya van Rees-Dutilh (1876–1959) settled in Montmartre, at the Bateau-Lavoir, in 1904. There they frequented Georges Braque, Kees van Dongen, Piet Mondrian and Pablo Picasso, through whose influence the foundations of modernity were laid. Their career path reflects an open and resolutely international artistic exploration – as evidenced by their presence and joint contribution to the birth of the Dada movement in Zurich, the founding of the Cercle et Carré group in Paris, and their numerous travels across Europe. Their approach reveals a great formal freedom, firmly rooted at the heart of the European avant-garde.

Through some one hundred works drawn from French, Swiss and Dutch public and private collections, this exhibition catalogue traces the couple’s life journey and charts the evolution of their respective artistic careers, from Divisionism to Cubism via Cloisonnism, right through to the most accomplished forms of abstraction. It highlights the richness, modernity and evolution of their works whilst analysing the cross-influences and fruitful artistic dialogue that fuelled their creative explorations.