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A 10-minute documentary made by artist Prune Nourry, director Vincent Lorca and Google Arts & Culture uses generative AI to recreate historical studios associated with women sculptors. It accompanies Nourry’s exhibition “Visionaries,” which runs at the Petit Palais in Paris from Oct. 20, 2026, to Jan. 30, 2027.
Prune Nourry’s exhibition “Visionaries” opened at the Petit Palais in Paris on Oct. 20, accompanied by a 10-minute documentary that uses Google generative AI to evoke studios where women sculptors worked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The project brings archival research into a setting where few photographs of the artists’ actual workspaces survive, while the exhibition presents monumental plaster portraits of 18 historical women sculptors.
The film was made by Nourry and Google Arts & Culture with director Vincent Lorca. Google says the project followed a year of research by three art historians, who gathered letters, journals and photographic portraits relating to women sculptors who lived and worked in Paris. The resulting visualizations include studios associated with Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, Jane Poupelet and Camille Claudel.
Because direct photographic records of many studios are scarce, the team used generative AI and image-editing tools to construct scenes from archival material. Lynn Cherny, a creative technologist-in-residence at the Google Arts & Culture Lab, used the company’s models to produce the reconstructions. A custom tool built with Google Gemini was used to create 3D models from archival photographs and animate camera paths, allowing viewers to move virtually through the imagined spaces.
Another sequence, conceived by Nourry and Lorca, edits an archival photograph of Antoine Bourdelle’s studio so that female students gradually fade from view, leaving the men in the image. Google describes the scene as a visual representation of how women’s contributions were pushed out of historical accounts. The film is being shown in the museum galleries alongside the exhibition; a behind-the-scenes trailer is available online through Google Arts & Culture.
Making Women’s Artistic Work Visible
The exhibition and film address a gap in the historical record: Google’s account says women sculptors often appeared in art history as models or muses, while their work as artists received less attention. By pairing sculpted portraits with archival research, Nourry’s project directs attention to 18 artists and the conditions in which they made their work.
The AI reconstructions also raise a practical point for museums and researchers: digital tools can help audiences picture spaces for which the surviving record is incomplete. But those images are interpretations, not newly discovered photographs. Their value depends on making the distinction clear, so viewers can understand what comes from historical evidence and what has been generated to suggest a possible studio environment.
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Research Behind the Studio Scenes
The project focuses on women who worked in Paris during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a period when, according to Google, social constraints and limited access to artistic training shaped women’s opportunities in sculpture. The source report does not provide a full account of those restrictions for each artist; the film instead uses individual archival materials to develop its reconstructions.
The exhibition, titled “Visionaries,” was scheduled to open on Oct. 20, 2026, alongside Art Basel Paris. It is set to remain at the Petit Palais through Jan. 30, 2027. Nourry’s plaster portraits and the film installation are presented together, linking contemporary sculpture with a research project about the historical artists and their working lives.
“The project builds on a year of research during which three art historians gathered letters, journals, and photographic portraits of women sculptors who lived and worked in Paris.”
— Google Arts & Culture
What the Reconstructions Can Show
The available description does not specify which elements in each recreated studio are directly supported by archival evidence and which were generated to complete the scene. It also does not detail the sources used for every object, room layout or camera movement. The reconstructed spaces should therefore be understood as AI-assisted interpretations, not verified photographic records of the studios.
Google’s report does not identify the specific generative models used for every image-editing step, provide an independent assessment of historical accuracy, or explain how the project will label individual visual details for visitors. The source material also does not include comments from the participating art historians or the museum about those methods.
Exhibition Runs Through January
“Visionaries” is scheduled to remain at the Petit Palais until Jan. 30, 2027, with the film installation shown in the museum galleries. Google Arts & Culture has also published a behind-the-scenes trailer online. The source report does not announce further screenings, research releases or plans to extend the exhibition beyond those dates.
Visitors can see the exhibition and documentary together during the run. Further detail about how archival evidence shaped particular reconstructed rooms, and how the museum distinguishes historical records from AI-generated imagery, may become clearer through accompanying exhibition materials or future project updates.
Key Questions
What is “Visionaries”?
“Visionaries” is an exhibition by artist Prune Nourry featuring monumental plaster portraits of 18 historical women sculptors. It opened at the Petit Palais in Paris on Oct. 20, 2026, and is scheduled to run until Jan. 30, 2027.
How does the film use AI?
The 10-minute documentary uses Google generative AI and image-editing models to recreate studios from archival materials. A custom tool built with Google Gemini was used to make 3D models from archival photos and animate camera paths through the scenes.
Are the studios shown in the film documented photographs?
No. Google says few historical photographs of the artists’ actual workspaces survive. The scenes are AI-assisted reconstructions based on research and archival sources, rather than photographs of the studios.
Which artists’ studios are featured?
Google names Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, Jane Poupelet and Camille Claudel among the sculptors whose studios are brought to life in the film.
Where can the film be seen?
The documentary is installed in the galleries alongside “Visionaries” at the Petit Palais. Google Arts & Culture has also posted a behind-the-scenes trailer online; the source report does not say that the full film is available online.
Source: rss
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