Van Cleef & Arpels Partners with L’ÉCOLE for Roger Caillois Exhibition in Paris
- Miami Living Team
- Oct 7
- 2 min read
There is another reason for Miami travelers and international visitors to plan a trip to Paris this fall: Stones and Reveries: The Poetry and Minerals of Roger Caillois, opening November 6, 2025, at L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts. The exhibition, presented in partnership with Van Cleef & Arpels and France’s Muséum national d’histoire naturelle (MNHN), will run through March 29, 2026, and offers a unique dialogue between science and poetry.
The retrospective celebrates the work and mineral collection of twentieth-century French writer Roger Caillois (1913–1978), a poet, essayist, and scholar who explored the connections between art and nature. The exhibition, curated by Pr. François Farges, PhD, scientist in charge of MNHN’s gems and objets d’art, showcases nearly 200 minerals from Caillois’s collection alongside his iconic texts, many on display for the first time.
Agate, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). Paris, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, mineral and gem collection © François Farges
Roger Caillois collected stones with passion and precision for over 25 years, inspired by their shapes, patterns, and natural motifs. His writings, including The Writing of Stones (1970), reflect his fascination with minerals as objects that spark imagination and reverie. Visitors will follow Caillois’s journeys to Patagonia, Japan, and China, discovering the influence of Asian culture, classical Chinese scholars, and the natural world on his work.
Roger Caillois ©Sophie Bassouls
“Through this exhibition, we hope to inspire visitors to pause and reflect on the poetic dimension of the mineral world,” said Élise Gonnet-Pon, Managing Director of L’ÉCOLE, School of Jewelry Arts France & Europe. “Our partnership with Van Cleef & Arpels and the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle allows us to bring these extraordinary specimens and texts together in a way that highlights both scientific precision and creative imagination.”
Quartz, var.citrine, Origin unknown, Paris, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle © François Farges
The exhibition also features Caillois’s “secret sculptures” made from minerals, agates, dendrites, and pietra paesina, arranged to evoke landscapes, cosmic miniatures, and abstract patterns. Visitors will see rare manuscripts, including rediscovered texts from 2023 that complement the displayed stones, illustrating the depth and breadth of Caillois’s mind.
Interactive programming will accompany the exhibition, including guided tours, calligram workshops for adults and children, and talks with curator François Farges and L’ÉCOLE experts. Juliette Agnel’s photographic exhibition on minerals will also run throughout November, complementing the Caillois show.
Founded in 2012 with support from Van Cleef & Arpels, L’ÉCOLE continues to foster dialogue between art, science, and literature through exhibitions, courses, and publications. The partnership has previously enabled exhibitions on Louis XIV’s diamonds and other historic collections, underscoring Van Cleef & Arpels’s long-standing commitment to cultural preservation.
Stones and Reveries: The Poetry and Minerals of Roger Caillois opens November 6, 2025, at Hôtel de Mercy-Argenteau, 16 bis boulevard Montmartre, Paris 9e. Admission is free upon reservation, with guided tours and educational programming available.
For more information and registration, visit L’ÉCOLE’s website.