The Musée d'Angoulême will host the exhibition "De Montmartre à Angoulême, Maurice Utrillo intime…" from April to September 2027, focusing on the artist's lesser-known years in the Charente region. Curators Pamela de Montleau and Philippe Cassereau are seeking archives, correspondence, photographs, testimonies, and paintings to illuminate Utrillo's two-year stay in Angoulême (1935–1937), where he married painter and writer Lucie Valore. The show will also feature works by his painter friends, including Maurice de Vlaminck, Alphonse Quizet, and others.
This exhibition matters because it shifts attention from Utrillo's iconic Montmartre scenes to a relatively obscure but formative period of his career, offering a more intimate portrait of the artist. By appealing to collectors, galleries, and institutions for loans and archival material, the curators aim to deepen public and scholarly understanding of Utrillo's Charente output, potentially reshaping his legacy beyond the familiar Parisian landscapes.