Matisse in His Time: Masterworks of Modernism  is organized by the Centre Pompidou in Paris in collaboration with the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Visitors to the exhibition will experience the full scope of French artist Henri Matisse’s extraordinary career through nearly fifty of his paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints, dating from the late 19th century to after World War II. In addition to these masterpieces, Matisse in His Time also features fifty additional major works by many of the most celebrated artists of the twentieth century, including iconic works by Picasso, as well as Renoir, André Derain, Georges Braque, Joan Miró, and Amedeo Modigliani.

French artists Gaspard and Sandra Bébié-Valérian, laureates of the 2015 American Residencies program of the Institut Français, were invited to Centraltrak, the University of Texas at Dallas Artists Residency, in November and December 2015, where they developed and presented their work What is Rising. Gaspard and Sandra Bébié-Valérian work together, under the name Art-Act, in the digital, electronic and media arts. Their installations take on issues such as energy, food, freedom, health, natural and industrial resources. From their point of view, the merging of technology and modern life represents a strong paradigm of the constituent powers in our society.

Etant donnés, a program of the FACE foundation, seeks to embrace new practices and enable different approaches to creation in contemporary art, understood in its broadest sense to include projects that draw on the visual arts, design, architecture or performance. Etant donnés will support ambitious projects, with high priority given to coproductions, new commissions, as well as projects that can be developed across several cities in the U.S. The program will also fund a new curatorial fellowship to accompany American curators, either independent or affiliated with institutions, who wish to conduct research in France.

The Austin Film Society is partnering with the film festival Premiers Plans of Angers to create a cross-cultural dialogue about independent film with the support of the Cultural Service of the French Embassy in Houston. Films and filmmakers in attendance include: Two Birds, One Stone presented by Fajria Deliba; Keeper presented by Guillaume Senez; and The Good Life, presented by Jean Denizot. Additionally, Xavier Massé, producer of Premiers Plans, will present a short program of the student films of renowned French filmmakers from the Paris film school, La Fémis.

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art presents Jean Cocteau’s sublime adaptation of Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s fairy-tale, Beauty and the Beast. This masterpiece is a landmark of motion picture fantasy, with unforgettably romantic performances by Jean Marais and Josette Day.

The universally acclaimed third film of French New Wave master Eric Rohmer’s “Comedies and Proverbs” series, Pauline at the Beach tells the story of two cousins on summer holiday in Brittany. For Pauline at the Beach’s look, Rohmer took his cue from French artist Henri Matisse’s The Romanian Blouse—which hangs over one of the characters’ beds—building a color palette of reds, blues, and whites that is maintained throughout.

Stunningly shot and deeply resonant, L'Attesa heralds the arrival of a talented new voice. With Sicily as his backdrop, Piero Messina (assistant director on Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty) navigates a range of emotions in telling the strange, irresistible story of the relationship between two women from different generations.

Eclectic artists of the French scene, The Geek x Vrv exude a subtle, dynamic and punchy sound – drawing inspiration from legendary funk, jazz and soul genres of yesteryear.