From 3 September to 5 December 2026, the Forney library is holding an exhibition in the Jardin Monica Vitti (formerly the garden of the Hôtel de Sens), located next to the library. This outdoor exhibition presents about twenty enlarged prints of photographs by François Kollar (1904-1979), commissioned in 1931 by the publisher Horizons de France and published in a book entitled La France travaille.
The result is a documentary work of great value and undoubtedly unique in France, but also a series of portraits of men and women, presented with sensitivity and respect. More than 1,800 original prints and nearly 2,000 negatives, published or unpublished, were donated in 1975 by Pierre Lagrange, director of Horizons de France, to the Forney library.
The exhibition focuses on the creative process in the crafts, starting from a common point of departure, drawing, through to execution, whether manual or mechanical. The most classic example is given, in the graphic arts, by the engraver (on wood, on copper) and the lithographer, whose work enables the dissemination of the original work. Three other fields are presented under applied arts: ceramic decoration, textile creation using various techniques (weaving, printing, tapestry, embroidery), and finally haute couture.