Auguste Bartholdi : la Liberté éclairant le monde

Exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, 15 September 2026 – 31 January 2027

A timeless and universal symbol, ‘Liberty Enlightening the World’, conceived and then realised by the sculptor Auguste Bartholdi (1834–1904), was designed as a gift from France to the United States to commemorate the centenary of American independence in 1876. Erected in 1886 on Bedloe’s Island, at the entrance to New York, it is the result of artistic, ideological, economic and technological choices that made the realisation of this extraordinary project possible.

Through numerous sculptures, photographs, engravings and paintings, and thanks to contributions from international experts, this exhibition catalogue traces the origins of this now-iconic statue, the technical challenges overcome, and the financial and promotional strategies that enabled the realisation and success of this masterpiece. The result of an incredible human endeavour, the Statue of Liberty also reveals Bartholdi’s – and his era’s – penchant for the monumental and the theatrical.