Created in 2001, the gallery Polad-Hardouin opened with a tribute to the artist Stani Nitkowski (1949-2001). In 2007, while still being based in the emblematic Rue Quincampoix, it moved from its original building to a more comfortable space. 

The artistic approach of the gallery is based on two main actions:
- the promotion of young artists of the French and international scene;
- the presentation and rehabilitation of the artistic movement known as Nouvelle Figuration, which includes artists such as Maryan (1927-1977), Michel Macréau (1935-1995), Marcel Pouget (1923-1985). The gallery considers these painters as spiritual fathers of a new generation of artists. 

By organizing and participating in important events, the gallery has shown the importance of painting in the international scene.

“Holy Descruction”, one of the gallery’s exhibitions, presented the works of twenty international artists. This experience was reaffirmed and renewed with other exhibitions such as "Riders" (2010) and the double exhibition "Mister Killer & Lady Paranoia" (2011), allowing to invite established artists such as Bjarne Melgaard, André Butzer, Jonathan Meese, Valérie Favre, Mâkhi Xenakis or Armen Eloyan, followed by artists such as Raphaëlle Ricol, Lucy Stein, Véronique Bourgoin, Russell Tyler, Guillaume Bruère, Marcel Hüppauff, Wu Xiaohai.  

Today, the gallery represents a consolidated group of artists who are featured in events that extend beyond the gallery’s walls: Sabhan Adam, Timothy Archer, Anya Belyat-Giunta, Christophe Boursault, Daphné Chevallereau, Ayako David-Kawauchi, Caroline Demangel, Raynald Driez, Daniel Flammer, Elizabeth Garouste, Andrew Gilbert, Emmanuelle Renard, Christine Sefolosha, and Wu Xiaohai. In order to celebrate our artists and the events in which they take part, we have published several catalogues and books.

The gallery has also reinforced its collaboration with European and American galleries such as the Gabriel Rolt gallery in Amsterdam, the Gimpel Fils gallery in New York, the C gallery in Neuchâtel, and the galleries Cavin Morris and Phyllis Kind in New York.

In 2011/2012, an exchange was set up with the gallery van de Loo Projekte in Munich: “Gastspiel : Paris / Munich / Paris”. Eight artists represented by the German gallery were exhibited in Paris, and about ten artists of the gallery Polad-Hardouin had an exhibition in Germany.

The gallery also expands its relevance by participating in fairs: the Drawing Now art fair(since its first edition), a participation in the 2008 edition of Scope (London) the Pavilion of Arts and Design at the Tuileries (2009), Art Elysées in Paris (2008 and 2012) and Art Paris (2013)

Finally, the events that extend beyond the physical space of the gallery have not ceased to increase:
- in Kremlin Bicêtre, featuring Sabhan Adam (2005), Christine Sefolosha (2005) and Elizabeth Garouste (2013);
- in 2012, when the Château de Servières, in Marseille, proposed several artists to participate in a collective exhibition called “À votre décharge” (curated by Christophe Boursault).
- In Mans (France), during the Puls’Art event, with Sabhan Adam (2007), Christine Sefolosha and Emmanuelle Renard (2014);
- With the participation in the space of Halle Saint Pierre concerning an exhibition around the works of Stani Nitkowski (2002) and two events around the artist Christine Sefolosha (2007 and 2014);
- An exhibition around contemporary drawing, titled “Paysage Mental: le dessin sans dessein” when several artists of the gallery where invited alongside well-known artists such as Muba, Eugène Leroy, Tourcoing (2011).

The gallery has also been the stage of debate and exchange since its very beginning, by welcoming philosophers, art historians, psychoanalysts and curators. From the many participants who took part, we must mention Yannick Courbès, Philippe Dagen, Itzhak Golberg, Jean-Michel Hirt, Catherine Kessedjian, Simone Korff-Sausse, Catherine Lamour, Jacqueline Schaeffer.