Villa Kérylos
l'Or du Temps, 2025

Modelled on the island of Delos’ Hellenistic houses, the villa was conceived not as museum but as a modern residence that reimagined the ideals of ancient Greece for contemporary living. More than a century later, Leger’s solo exhibition "L’Or du Temps" (The Gold of Time, May 18—Sept 21, 2025) extends this dialogue, weaving fifteen new works into the villa’s architecture to explore and question how the past endures in the present, and how our perception of time can shift within such a setting.

Historical photographs (c. 1880) of ancient buildings and of nature are marked with a scorched trace. In each case, this ‘scar’ was created with a heliograph, a meteorological instrument that registers solar intensity through ‘burning’ a piece of paper. A model of it was built especially for this project.

The process was carried out at the exact site where the photographs were taken, in order to record the "same sun" once again. The project hence required trips to Greece and Egypt. The final stage will include as well Italy (Rome, Pompei).