Sophie Calle (b. 1953, Paris) is known for her provocative investigations into emotional and psychological life. Since the late 1970s, her work has explored the boundaries of intimacy, romantic love, absence, and mourning, often through sleuth-like strategies. Notable projects have included following strangers through city streets and secretly photographing the personal belongings of hotel guests, blurring the line between observer and participant in human relationships.
In 2024, she was honored with the prestigious Praemium Imperiale Award, presented by the Japan Art Association. That same year, her first U.S. retrospective, Overshare, opened at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, traveling the UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art in January 2026. In March 2026, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebaek, Denmark, will exhibit recent works by the artist. And in November, Berlin's Hamburger Bahnhof will present a major exhibition of Calle’s work, including a new commission for the museum's 30th anniversary. In 2023, Calle took over the Picasso Museum, Paris, changing the museum’s permanent collection to transform it into a space where themes of visibility and invisibility, and personal narrative collided with Picasso’s legacy. In 2019, her work was celebrated with Cinq, a five-part retrospective across Marseille, France. Calle represented France at the 2007 Venice Biennale and received the prestigious Hasselblad Award three years later.
Calle’s work has been exhibited internationally at venues including the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Whitechapel Art Gallery, London; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art; Museum of Contemporary Art, Santiago, Chile; and the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo. Her work is held in numerous public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Tate Collection, UK; the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art,; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, among other institutions.
Sophie Calle
Exquisite Pain (Count Down - 66), 2000
black & white photograph, hand stamped with red ink
frame: 49 x 32 1/4 x 1 1/4 in. (124.5 x 81.9 x 3.2 cm)
Edition 1 of 3 (English)
Edition of 3 (French) & 3 (English)
Sophie Calle: Overshare, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 26, 2024 – January 26, 2025.
Sophie Calle
On the Hunt, 1950–1960 (Good Catch, Able to Replace Late Mother / Essentially Kind and Gentle), 2024
diptych of two text panels and four photographs (color, black and white) in two double-sided frames
text panels (outer frame): 26 3/8 x 31 7/8 in. (67 x 81 cm)
text panels (inner element): 17 3/4 x 21 5/8 in. (45 x 55 cm)
photographs, framed: 17 3/4 x 21 5/8 in. (45 x 55 cm)
Edition 2 of 3 (English), 1 AP
Sophie Calle
Where and when? Lourdes / Où et quand? Lourdes (detail), 2005/2008
15 texts, 17 photos, 1 lenticular print, 1 shelf, 5 porcelain candle holders, 68 marble plates on steel frame
14 1/4 in. x 31 ft. 2 3/8 in. (36.2 cm x 9 m 51 cm) or 43 1/4 in. x 15 ft. 8 3/8 in. (109.9 cm x 4 m 78.5 cm) overall, depending on the installation
framed photographs: 14 5/16 x 19 in. (36.3 x 48.4 cm)
framed texts: 14 5/16 x 8 3/4 in. (36.3 x 22.2 cm)
marble plates: 5 7/8 x 7 5/8 in. (15 x 20 cm) to 9 13/16 x 11 13/16 in. (25 x 30 cm), dimensions variable
steel frame: 55 1/8 x 96 7/8 in. (140 x 246 cm)
Edition 2 of 5 (English)
Edition of 5 English + 1 AP, Edition of 5 French + 1 AP
Sophie Calle
The Sleepers (Gennie Michelet, thirteenth sleeper), 1980
11 black and white photographs, 1 text
each: 6 x 7 7/8 in. (15.2 x 20 cm)
overall: 12 x 47 1/4 in. (30.5 x 120 cm)
Edition 1 of 3 English
Sophie Calle
Take Care of Yourself. Clairvoyant, Maud Kristen, 2007
portrait: Fine Art print dry mounted on aluminum, wooden frame
text: tarot cards mounted on paper, mounted between glass, wooden frame, glass
portrait: 20 3/4 x 25 3/4 in. (52.7 x 65.4 cm)
text: 41 1/4 x 33 1/2 in. (104.8 x 85.1 cm)
overall: 65 1/8 x 33 1/2 in. (165.4 x 85.1 cm)
Edition 1 of 3, Exhibition Copy, 1 AP (English)
Sophie Calle
Prenez soin de vous. Video Wall and Portraits, 2007
portraits (33): Fine Art prints dry mounted on aluminum, wooden frames, glass
films (33): flat screen monitors, speakers, metal armature
38 1/4 x 289 1/2 in. (97.2 x 735.3 cm)
1 Unique Set, 1 Complete Set French, 1 Complete Set English
Sophie Calle
Autobiographies (Argument), 1992
gelatin silver print, text panel
photo: 45 1/2 x 65 3/4 in (115.6 x 167 cm)
text: 18 1/2 x 18 1/2 in (47 x 47 cm)
Edition 1 of 5 (French)
Edition of 5 French, 5 English
Sophie Calle
The Last Image. Blind with couch, 2010
color photograph under plexiglass, two color photographs in metal frames, text in metal frame
framed photo: 31.1 x 41 x 3.2 cm
framed text: 11 7/8 x 8 1/2 x 1 1/4 in. (30.2 x 21.6 x 3.2 cm)
photos under plexiglass, ea: 25 7/8 x 32 3/8 x 1 7/8 in. (65.7 x 82.2 x 4.8 cm)
Edition 2 of 3, +1 AP
Sophie Calle
Autobiographies (My Mother Died), 2013
digital print and text panel
framed text: 19 7/8 x 19 7/8 in. (50.5 x 50.5 cm)
framed photo: 30 1/8 x 19 7/8 in. (76.5 x 50.5 cm)
Edition 4 of 5 (English)
Edition of 5 + 1 AP (French), Edition of 5 + 1 AP (English)
Sophie Calle
Suicide, 2014
Three black and white framed color ink jet prints, with text, one frame with sandblasted glass
framed each: 44 1/8 x 24 1/2 x 1 3/4 in. (112.1 x 62.2 x 4.4 cm)
overall: 44 1/8 x 78 x 1 3/4 in. (112.1 x 198.1 x 4.4 cm)
Edition 3 of 3, 1 AP
English version
Sophie Calle
Autobiographies (Morning), 2016
digital print with text panel
photograph: 19 7/10 x 19 7/10 in. (50 x 50 cm)
text: 67 x 39 2/5 in. (170 x 100 cm)
framed dims photo: 50 x 50cm, text 170 x 100 cm
Edition 1 of 5 (English), from an edition of 5 + 1AP English and 5 + 1 AP French
Premises, 1998, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
Sophie Calle
North Pole / Pôle nord, 2009
1 Duratrans light box, 3 sandblasted porcelain plaques, video, screen, 7 framed color photographs
7 ft. 3 in. x 16 ft. 3 in. (2 m 21 cm x 4 m 95.3 cm) to 7 ft. 3 in. x 26 ft. 3 in. (2 m 21 cm x 8 m) overall, depending on installation
light box: 49 1/4 x 65 x 3 1/2 in. (125 x 165 x 9 cm)
5 framed photographs: 11 13/16 x 15 3/4 in. (30 x 40 cm)
2 framed photographs: 23 5/8 x 31 1/2 in. (60 x 80 cm)
Monitor Samsung 22" 5000 series
Edition 2 of 5 (English)
Edition of 5 English + 1 AP, Edition of 5 French + 1 AP
