Why celebrate Claudine’s 80th birthday? It’s not just about focusing on the people she loves; it’s also about celebrating a life, a story, and what she cherishes most in the world: freedom!

 63 years ago, you gave your first presentation on art in your junior year of high school in Rouen; you had just opened a door to a new life where art would play a central role.
60 years ago, you were already living in Paris; you had just graduated from the École du Louvre, and you already knew that you had an interest in artists —especially the ones that were alive! You wanted to discover the creative process.
50 years ago, you walked into the Bama Gallery; you weren’t looking for a job—you decided that your life would be built around art and artists.
48 years ago, you met Erik Dietman— a very long chapter moving between Paris, the gallery, the pied-à-terre, your children, and Le Moulin—the house and the atelier. Your life was visiting museums, viewing artworks, curating exhibitions, attending art fairs, and traveling...
24 years ago, Erik passed away.
19 years ago, I suggested we work together.
4 years ago, we celebrated the gallery’s 35th anniversary together.

Where did you find the desire, the strength, and the determination to come this far?The desire? It was more of a necessity: to escape the dreariness of my provincial world, the monotony of days with no future. Thanks to art, I understood that another way of looking at life was within my reach.
The strength: I was very lucky; I spent my first years in Paris not far from the Louvre. I loved the guided tours in front of the artworks, and I loved the classes taught by Cécile Goldscheider, chief curator at the Musée Rodin, who allowed me to do an internship there.

By getting as close as possible to the creative process as it was taking place, I realized that the easiest art to understand was that of the era in which we lived. Contemporary art opened the doors to art history for me.
Determination: without fully realizing it, I was determined—and still am—to succeed in life and to choose happiness.

80 years old—who can believe it! When we decided to put together this exhibition for “your 80s,” right from the start you wanted it to be “the beginning.” What do you like most about this new decade that’s ahead of you?

That there’s still a future—and even eternity—in creation. And that I can still be defiant. You’re not particularly fond of slogans, yet HUMOR, POETRY, and FREEDOM are certainly the words that best characterize what matters to you. Why?
Because I find them—and rediscover them—in art. I lost Erik, the love of my life; I lost Raphaël, my son—a part of myself.
Now, the most important thing for me is to laugh, to transform the ordinary into poetry, to choose the side of beauty, and above all, to be free—like art. Today is a good start for tomorrow.

Marion with Claudine Papillon – July, 2026

Curator: Claudine Papillon