« We had the pleasure of visiting the exhibition «Berthe Weill, galeriste d'avant-garde» in Paris, and it is absolutely magnificent. We warmly recommend it. Cattiaux’s painting, «The Attentive Virgin or The Virgin with the Star» (p. 130 in «CATTIAUX UN ART MAGIQUE», ed. Philomène Alchimie Lanmeur-France), is particularly well showcased and receives an exceptional tribute. You will also discover works by Chagall, Charmy, Derain, Dufy, Matisse, Modigliani, Picasso, Rivera, Toulouse-Lautrec, Valadon and many others, each more beautiful than the last. It is truly a great success. The exhibition runs until January 26, 2026. If you plan to visit, be sure to book your ticket online, as they sell out very quickly. Without a reservation, you may end up waiting in a long queue or find that no tickets remain at all. Don’t forget to request the audio guide, which includes information on Cattiaux as well as an explicit reference to his masterwork «The Message Rediscovered». And do not miss the shop, where «The Message Rediscovered» and «Cattiaux, un Art magique» are prominently displayed next to the exhibition catalogue. ».
The Musée de l’Orangerie publishes on its website:
«Berthe Weill committed herself from the beginning of the century to supporting artists under the motto “Make way for the young”, which appears on her publicity card. From Picasso to Modigliani, she took part in the recognition of Fauvism by regularly presenting exhibitions of the group of Gustave Moreau’s students gathered around Matisse.
She later committed herself to the Cubists and the artists of the School of Paris in their battles for art, for the emergence of its new forms, but also against conservatism and xenophobia. Despite the difficulties, her interest in young artists never wavered, and thus she fiercely defended very different figures, some belonging to no specific movement, and gave them a chance by organizing one or more exhibitions».
Such was the case for Louis Cattiaux.
Transcript of the audio-guide commentary for entry no. 226 at the exhibition «Berthe Weill, galeriste d’avant-garde», corresponding to Louis Cattiaux’s painting «The Attentive Virgin or The Virgin with the Star».
The exhibition takes place at the «Musée de l’Orangerie» in Paris from October 8, 2025 to January 26, 2026.
This painting was originally exhibited in 1939 at Berthe Weill’s gallery on rue Saint-Dominique in Paris.
Louis Cattiaux’s painting, the work of a self-taught artist, expresses both a mystical and contemplative spirit. In «The Attentive Virgin», the figures are simplified, almost sculptural; they seem to come from another time. The material itself is unique. Cattiaux paints in volumes, applying the pigment in small touches, in brief strokes. Every element carries symbolic meaning: the star resting on the ground, the open heart in the Virgin’s chest — all form an invitation to meditation, to a spiritual quest.
Active during the interwar period, Cattiaux distanced himself from Surrealism to found his own movement: «Transhylism», whose aim was to go beyond the surface of matter in order to reach a hidden truth.
A poet and an alchemist, he is today best known for his literary work «The Message Rediscovered», the key to his entire universe. This singular quest captivated Berthe Weill: she invited him to her literary gatherings and dedicated a solo exhibition to him between 1936 and 1939, even hanging his works alongside those of Cézanne and Picasso. Yet «this deeply personal art was not understood», as the press of the time noted (Berthe Weill).
In 1939, the newspaper Marianne wrote about the exhibition at Berthe Weill’s gallery:
«The integrity of his craftsmanship and his straightforward, unsycophantic attitude displeased many, and silence too often greeted the work of this painter who nonetheless deserves very different treatment».
