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A 10-minute documentary made by Prune Nourry, director Vincent Lorca and Google Arts & Culture uses generative AI to evoke the Paris studios of women sculptors whose workspaces were rarely photographed. The film accompanies Nourry’s Visionaries exhibition at the Petit Palais, running from October 20, 2026, to January 30, 2027.
Artist Prune Nourry and Google Arts & Culture have created a 10-minute documentary that uses generative AI to recreate the Paris studios of women sculptors from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The film accompanies Visionaries, an exhibition of Nourry’s sculpted portraits of 18 historical women artists, which opened at the Petit Palais on October 20.
The documentary was made with film director Vincent Lorca after a year of research by three art historians. They gathered letters, journals and photographic portraits related to women sculptors who lived and worked in Paris. The project addresses a central limitation in that record: few historical photographs of the artists’ actual workspaces have survived.
Lynn Cherny, creative technologist-in-residence at the Google Arts & Culture Lab, used Google generative AI and image-editing models to build visual reconstructions of studios associated with artists including Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, Jane Poupelet and Camille Claudel. The team also used a custom tool built with Google Gemini to create 3D models from archival photographs and animate camera paths, giving viewers the impression of moving through the spaces.
A separate sequence uses AI image editing to make female students gradually disappear from an archival photograph of Antoine Bourdelle’s studio, leaving the men visible. Nourry and Lorca conceived the scene as a visual representation of how women’s participation in artistic life was omitted from historical accounts. The film is installed in the museum galleries, and a behind-the-scenes trailer is available online through Google Arts & Culture.
Restoring Artists to the Record
The project presents reconstructed studios based on archival research, alongside Nourry’s portraits of women sculptors. The exhibition features the artists as subjects of sculpted portraits, while the film depicts settings associated with their work.
The rooms shown in the film are AI-generated reconstructions, not recovered photographs or direct records of exactly how each studio looked. The visualizations draw on archival research, and the announcement notes that few photographs of the artists’ workspaces have survived.
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From Archival Research to Studio Scenes
Google’s October 21 announcement describes the work as a collaboration with Nourry and Lorca, developed after a year of research by three art historians. The research drew on letters, journals and portraits, but the scarcity of studio photographs meant the team could not simply assemble a visual record of the rooms from existing images.
The project sits alongside Nourry’s exhibition Visionaries, which presents monumental plaster portraits of 18 historical female sculptors. It opened at the Petit Palais in Paris on October 20, timed to coincide with Art Basel Paris, and is scheduled to remain on view through January 30, 2027. The documentary installation is part of the museum presentation.
““Because few historical photos of their actual workspaces exist,” the team used generative AI and image-editing models to bring the studios to life.”
— Google Arts & Culture announcement
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Where the Reconstructions Stop
The announcement does not specify which archival sources informed each individual studio reconstruction or how the team assessed the accuracy of particular architectural and interior details. Because photographs of the original workspaces are scarce, the recreated views should not be read as verified, complete records of how those studios appeared.
Google describes the work as using its generative AI and image-editing models, but does not name every model or provide technical details about the custom Gemini-based tool. The announcement also does not detail the artists’ or historians’ review process for the finished images. The reconstructions are visual interpretations based on research; the precise boundary between documented details and generated elements is not laid out in the source material.
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Exhibition Runs Through January
Visionaries is scheduled to remain at the Petit Palais through January 30, 2027, with the documentary installation in the museum galleries. Google Arts & Culture has also made a behind-the-scenes trailer available online. The announcement gives no further dates for screenings, public programs or additional releases related to the project.
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Key Questions
What is the Prune Nourry project?
It is a 10-minute documentary made by artist Prune Nourry, director Vincent Lorca and Google Arts & Culture. It uses AI-generated visuals to recreate studios associated with historical women sculptors in Paris.
Which artists’ studios are shown?
The announcement names Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, Jane Poupelet and Camille Claudel among the sculptors whose studios are brought to life. It does not provide a full list of every studio represented in the film.
Are the studio images historical photographs?
No. They are AI-generated visual reconstructions informed by archival research. The announcement says few historical photographs of the artists’ actual workspaces exist, and does not claim that the generated scenes are exact records.
How long is the Visionaries exhibition open?
The exhibition opened at the Petit Palais on October 20, 2026, and is scheduled to run through January 30, 2027. The documentary installation is part of the museum presentation.
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