On n’est pas sérieux quand on a 17 ans… Who is to say that Arthur Rimbaud wouldn't have traded his semelles de vent for a blue moped to drive down main street terrorizing the good people of Charleville ? More than any other object, the moped symbolizes the no man's land between teenager and young man : this passing age when blurred dreams flash through the mind. First moped, first kisses, and often first acne symptoms... Who hasn't felt the thrill of freedoom while accelerating with a twist of the right hand ? I may not yet be the master of the world, but I'm the king of the neighborhood when I'm driving a friend around on the luggage rack while my exhaust draws smoke spirals on the asphalt.

What would Monsieur Hulot and Rabbi Jacob be without their Solex, or Johnny Hallyday without his Paloma ?

From Schumacher's scooter to César's compression, including the Dax, Monkey, Caddy, Manhurin, Vespa, Zoomer, moped are the stars.

Practical information

The exhibition will include 25 vehicles. Scenography by Hubert Legall.

From July 1 to October 31, 2021

From July 1 to September 19, everyday from 1:30 PM to 6:30 PM.

From September 25 to October 31, on Saturdays and Sundays from 1:30 PM to 6:30 PM.

As a counterpoint to the Lalanne exhibition, the Donjon de Vez present in a newly-renovated space a suspension by young sculptor Ferdinand Makouvia, born in Lomé (Togo) in 1989.

Statues pour un jardin : Statues for a garden

The exhibition “Statues for a Garden” will, for a few months, give the Donjon de Vez the face of the great French sculptors of the 19th century. Throughout the exhibition, viewpoints are created to encourage the viewer’s engagement in the emergence of the works. Ultimately, the exhibition becomes an invitation to dream of the struggle—or harmony—between art and nature.

Antoine Bourdelle, Auguste Rodin, Camille Claudel, Aristide Maillol…

Antoine Bourdelle, Hérakles Archer (1965)

Antoine Bourdelle, Hérakles Archer (1965)

Aristide Maillol, Pomone

Le Pendu, Nikki de Saint Phalle (1988)

Ossip ZADKINE, Statue pour une montagne (1958)

Jean-Pierre Raynaud, Pot-or (1939)

Joan Miró, Antoine Bourdelle, Auguste Renoir, Arman, César, Fernand Léger…

Erik Dietman, Germaine Richier, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Jean Dubuffet

Calder's stabiles are on display at the Donjon de Vez in an exhibition honoring the artist who succeeded in giving sculpture the movement it had previously only been able to suggest.

A pioneer of kinetic art in America, he contributed in the early 1930s to the development of visual art, guided by the key principles of 'balance' and 'movement'.

Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder

The Donjon de Vez invites you to discover the work of artist Jean Dubuffet, Hourloupe, begun in 1962 and completed in 1974. It first took the form of painted canvases, then evolved into paintings combined with reliefs on sculpted panels, followed by painted figures expanded into space, eventually leading to large-scale creations.

Jean Dubuffet, Tour ballerine, 1974

Jean DUBUFFET, Le soldat (1973)

In tribute to the colorful artist Miró, the Donjon de Vez presents thirty of his sculptural works, centered on the themes of women and birds. This follows the artist’s own wish, as he expressed at the time: 'The work does not belong in a museum, but in the street, in the countryside, at a bend in the path. That is when it comes into direct contact with people, with life.'

Femme (1967)

L'Equilibriste (1969)

Personnage (1970)