Born in 1925 in Switzerland, she moved with her husband Jean Tinguely to Paris in 1952 where the couple frequented Daniel Spoerri and Niki de Saint Phalle.

But "she never had her big moment, we never focused on her work," explains Anne Horvath, one of the curators of the exhibition.

It was therefore "important" to exhibit the "abundant" work of this "enigmatic and radical" artist of the second half of the 20th century, she adds.

The most remarkable works of Eva Aeppli, her human-sized textile sculptures with very expressive faces, are exhibited in "dialogue" with the creations of her contemporaries.

Like "The Table", one of his major works from the 1960s, where thirteen characters are seated around a table, reminiscent of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper while reinventing it.

In the center, the figure of Christ is replaced by that of Death "to represent the crimes that were committed in the 20th century", as Eva Aeppli explains in a letter sent to a student in 1999, the only writing of her career. where she will explain her art.

"The Seven Judges"

Opposite, like a mirror, the museum has chosen to exhibit a gigantic canvas by Andy Warhol, "The Last Supper".

It is part of one of the latest series produced by the leading pop art artist, in which he reinterprets in black and white the famous painting by Vinci by adorning it with two logos of American cigarette brands.

Durably marked by the Second World War, Eva Aeppli will "like many artists", express "her dismay in the face of the inexplicable" in several of her achievements, deciphers Anne Horvath.

Thus, in the "Group of 13", 13 textile figures seated on chairs, three are left empty "to accentuate the dramatic nature of the installation", a tribute to Amnesty International, of which she was a member.

And with "The Seven Judges", seven sculptures seated in a row seeming to come straight out of her canvas "L'Aube", she represents those who judged crimes against humanity, exhibits Chiara Parisi, director of the Center Pompidou-Metz and also curator of the exhibition.

Alongside the sculptures of the artist, who died in Honfleur in 2015, the Center Pompidou-Metz presents drawings and paintings, objects to which she was attached and her famous "Books of Life", large notebooks in which she pasted letters from her relatives, drawings of his children or photos of his works.

The exhibition "The sentimental museum of Eva Aeppli" is held from May 7 to November 14.

© 2022 AFP