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buckapedia · 2 years

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4/2018 - Decorative Arts Analysis: The Contemporary Exhibitions of Versailles

NOTE: This essay originally contained footnotes of reference for all photographs and quotations, but it would seem my bibliography was filed separately and lost somewhere along the way. Artist credits will be made clear throughout the paper, but I regret to say photojournalists will go uncredited in this piece. Due to its purely educational and archival existence, I believe this is forgivable, but I do apologize to the uncredited photographers and reporters regardless.

A testament to the obscenity of 17th century French absolutism, the Palace of Versailles just outside of Paris, France, contains in its mere architecture and decor an encyclopedia of northern Baroque and early Rococo tastes. The Palace’s production began in 1642, entrusted in its planning stages to French architect Jacques Lemercier by the royal family of King Louis XII and later realized by a team led by Louis le Vau, Versailles was declared the official residence of the royal family, as well as the French monarchical court, twenty years later, during the reign of the proceeding monarch, Louis XIV. Such an obscene act of decadence on the part of Louis XIII was an effort to centralize power in France’s fragmented state - and Louis XIV took his father’s aims many bounds further, adopting the philosophies of centralization we attribute to absolutist monarchies today.

[Louis XIV] viewed himself as the direct representative of God, endowed with a divine right to wield the absolute power of the monarchy. To illustrate his status, he chose the sun as his emblem and cultivated the image of an omniscient and infallible “Roi-Soleil” (“Sun King”) around whom the entire realm orbited. While some historians question the attribution, Louis is often remembered for the bold and infamous statement “L’État, c’est moi” (“I am the State”).

The estate and Palace of Versailles befit their purpose of absolute power and extravagance, housing Le Brun murals, Sèvres porcelain dinnerware, and furniture and tapestry work from the Parisian Gobelins manufactory. Versailles’ very aesthetic identity served as the primary inspiration for the Rococo movement.

So one must wonder at the decision made in 2008 to house seasonal contemporary art exhibitions.

I do not consider myself a snob in any sense of the word, least of all when it comes to the curation of fine art. Diversity of work is what makes a colorful museum experience (or delays the inevitable fatigue, at least), and this belief only extends more admiringly to Versailles’ contemporary exhibitions. That is not to say the incensed reaction of historical traditionalists was not, at the very least, understandable. A supposed ancestor of the royal family went as far as to file a lawsuit against the Palace of Versailles and attempt to ban the first of its contemporary exhibitions:

Little over the past few months could have prepared the American artist Jeff Koons for the aristocratic rage of Prince Charles-Emmanuel de Bourbon-Parme. The formidably foppish Koons critic, who claims to be a direct descendant of Louis XIV, has launched a last-minute legal battle against what he describes as a "mercenary" and "pornographic" stain on his illustrious family's honour. He says the exhibition, which is due to close in just over a week, is an attack on the "right immemorial" of all human beings not to see their ancestors disrespected.

While it is fair to say that a massive, magenta, stainless steel balloon animal might be a somewhat guache sight in the center of one of this classical Palace’s great halls, the claims of Prince Charles-Emmanuel de Bourbon-Parme - and any other critics of the Palace’s decision to feature contemporary artwork - are groundless. In the words of the estate’s management, “Today, as in the time of Louis XIV, Versailles is a place of contemporary creation… A venue for contemporary creation in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Palace of Versailles has restored its links with contemporary creativity since 2008.” If anything, the Palaces’ efforts to draw diverse crowds interested in both striking modern art and priceless Baroque decor respects Versailles’ original purpose better than any snobbish preservation ever could. We must not forget that Versailles’ pledge was always one of centralization through extravagance and trendsetting - how else could Louis XIV have controlled the wily court of France? With this in mind, let us take a look into two of Versailles’ gaudiest contemporary exhibitions: those of Jeff Koons and Takashi Murakami.

As mentioned previously, the Palace of Versailles began its contemporary art exhibition program in 2008. The first artist housed was the kitsch-centric Jeff Koons, a Pennsylvanian with a love for the banal, topical, and colorful. A full catalogue of Koons’ Versailles exhibition can be found on the artist’s website, but a few choice images truly display the almost-humorous contrast between Koons’ contemporary work and the decor of the Palace of Versailles.

Koons’ glossy pastels and cartoonishly flat stylization are clearly inspired by the American Pop Art movement in the 1960’s, known for its combination of social commentary and bold imagery. Pop movement pioneers like Andy Warhol tackled similar themes of mass production and media through the exploration of everyday objects, and his influence is evident in the way Koons’ work straddles irony and sincerity. In a 2011 exclusive with Sotheby’s, a massive British fine art auctioneer, Koons referenced the movements of Versailles directly while discussing Pink Panther’s (shown above) themes of sexuality: “The Baroque and the Rococo always is this negotiator of control and giving up control, and I think that’s really kind of captured here in the Pink Panther; to develop, kind of, trust in the self - and to be able to move forward, you have to deal with control and giving up control.” It’s likely the control and lack thereof to which Koons refers is based in the controlled chaos of Baroque and, to a different extent, Rococo art. By definition, Baroque embraces the beauty in nature’s inherent nonsensicality:

“The term Baroque probably ultimately derived from the Italian word barocco, which philosophers used during the Middle Ages to describe an obstacle in schematic logic. Subsequently the word came to denote any contorted idea or involuted process of thought. Another possible source is the Portuguese word barroco (Spanish barrueco), used to describe an irregular or imperfectly shaped pearl.”

While it is less visually obvious in Pink Panther and Bear in Policeman, a different Koons piece displayed in Versailles carries clear aesthetic references to the Baroque movement: Michael Jackson and Bubbles (shown below).

The prominence of gold in Michael Jackson and Bubbles, as well as the faux-embroidered accents and flowers around the base of the figure, resemble the Baroque detailing that can be seen on Versailles’ wainscotting and accent pieces. Koons’ work evidently complements the glittering details of Versailles’ Baroque interior stylings with its own modern-day take on Western extravagance - but the contrast, on the other hand, of a Japanese contemporary such as Takashi Murakami draws an even more fascinating emphasis to the aesthetics of extravagance across the globe.

Takashi Murakami is a contemporary artist from Tokyo, Japan, and the influence of Japanese animation and comics show in his bold works, be they lithographs or massive fiberglass figures. Murakami’s work follows a movement of his own design: Superflat. Coined by Murakami himself in the 1990’s in protest of the Western-dominated world of fine art, Superflat describes the movement’s emphasis on the employment of flat planes of color, typically in the stylings of Japanese anime or manga - in short, an unbelievable stylistic shock compared to Versailles’ Baroque.

Much like Koons’ exhibition in 2008, Murakami’s work was received with fury and resistance by French traditionalists.

“Prince Sixte-Henri de Bourbon-Parme believes Murakami's brightly coloured work dishonours the memory of his ancestors. The prince and fellow protesters say Murakami "denatures’ French culture. ‘We're not against the modernity of art but against a way of thinking that denatures and does French culture no good,’ the prince said.”

It should be noted that, in spite of their similar names, this protestor and the one who filed the lawsuit against Jeff Koons in 2008 are two different men. Bourbon-Parme’s use of the term “denature” is an interesting one - I’m even tempted to agree, though not to the negative extent to which the Prince uses the word. Murakami’s work does indeed twist the inherent principles of French Baroque art, bringing some characteristics to light and hiding others - perhaps assigned in acts of patriotism, but nonetheless present. Takashi Murakami’s work is “a celebration of his teen years as a self-described otaku” - to the uninformed, one obsessed with Japanese culture as it is saccharinely portrayed in cartoons and comic books. So it is safe to say that Murakami’s work explores a Japanese nationalism parallel to that displayed in Versailles’ grand baroque murals. Much like the natural complement between the extravagant nature of Jeff Koons’ exhibition and the Palaces’ historical charge, there is unity to Murakami’s work and the Palace of Versailles: namely, through exaggerated iconography, the shameless fetishization of a nation’s self-proclaimed cultural identity.

Even in spite of apparent aesthetic dissonance, interaction between contrasting art styles can bring out new features in either piece, creating an amplification of beauty between the two. This is best proven what might be the most extreme of cases: the French Palace of Versailles’ contemporary art displays, first exhibited in 2008. Through the unique and oft-outrageous works of Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, and many others, new life (and tourism income) has been brought to the Baroque beacon of absolutist power - and one can’t help commending the administration, and wondering where Versailles and its contemporary guests might take us next.

#essay #2018

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parisfind · 3 years

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I've always stopped to visit this sculpture of Saint John the Baptist in the chapel named for him in the church of Saint Sulpice. It took me a while to confirm the name of the artist: Louis-Simon Boizot who created this work. He was a sculptor that won the Prix de Rome in 1762. He would be appointed director of the sculpture studio at the Sèvres porcelain manufactory in 1773. His tenure at the manufactory officially ended in 1800 mostly due to the French Revolution. He did survive the Revolution even if he would oversee the design of more official portrait busts of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette and marble sculptures for the French Royal family. Boizot was one of the main artists whose work was included in the collection of the Comédie-Française (national theater) at the end of the 18th century. Others were Jean-Baptiste d'Huez, Jean-Joseph Foucou, Augustin Pajou and Pierre-François Berruer. During the French Revolution Boizot expressed Republican sympathies and was assigned a role on a commission for the preservation of artistic heritage. While he was able to navigate the potentially perilous transition from royal artist to Republican civil servant, the revolution brought him unusual financial strain, and he sought other sources of revenue as a printmaker. His works were inspired by patriotic Republican themes in a series of allegorical figures symbolizing Republican virtues such as Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Truth, Reason, and other secular values. Knowledgeable or frequent visitors to Paris might know one of his works overlooking the Place du Chatelet. The Fontaine du Palmier has his gilded statue of the goddess Victory holding a laurel wreath in each upraised hand. A copy of this stands in the courtyard of the Musee Carnavalet too. (at Saint Sulpice) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZMN80ntitt/?utm_medium=tumblr

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cooperhewitt · 7 years

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Café

Café from the Service des Objets de Dessert, dated 1819-20, was drawn by Jean-Charles Develly as part of a table service for the Royal Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory. The factory was founded in Vincennes in 1740 and later relocated to Sèvres in 1756. In 1800, Alexandre Brongniart (1770–1847) was chosen as the administrator of the factory and along with him followed many changes. Perhaps most important was the switch from so-called soft-paste porcelain, which is considered artificial, to hard- or “true paste” porcelain. This change was critical to Sèvres’ popularity since hard-paste has a higher resistance to water, making it ideal for coffee and tea services, whereas soft-paste is more likely to crack when encountering hot liquids.[1]

Brongniart also favored the notion of creating unifying themes for each table service and tasked Jean-Charles Develly with designing most of them. Develly’s design for Café belongs to a group of 36 plates produced by Sèvres as part of a table service entitled Service des Objets de Dessert, which highlights the production of foods served for dessert in France. The drawing depicts a very busy scene in which nine figures engage with coffee in several different ways. Located in the center of this small, circular design is a group of men, women, and children surrounding a table. A woman appears to be pouring a cup of coffee for a young boy while two children stand on opposite sides of him making sure he does not spill anything. To their right, a seated man with a bow tie appears to be admiring the coffee bean he holds in his right hand, while to his right a man is teaching a young boy about coffee plants by showing him a drawing in a botanical book. Framing this group are two women, one located in the rear right using a bean-roasting machine and the other in the rear left grinding coffee.

In his design practice, Develly preferred to draw scenes from real life, and each project required many studies as the final product had to be drawn on a minute scale in order to be transferred onto the center of a plate. Develly transferred the drawing onto the plain porcelain by rubbing the back of the drawing with a uniform layer of graphite. Placing the drawing at the center of the plate with the graphite layer facing the porcelain, he would trace the outline onto the plate with a pointed tool. Finally, he would paint the outline in two stages, a rough sketch and then a retouch, with a firing in between each stage.[2]

This drawing is included in the exhibition The Virtue in Vice, on view at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum through March 25, 2018.

Nikky Gonzales is a Curatorial Intern in the Department of Drawings, Prints & Graphic Design at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

1 The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Porcelain.” Encyclopædia Britannica. July 07, 2016. Accessed November 06, 2017. http://ift.tt/2zj4ZGv. 2 Newman, Louise. “An Exceptional Sèvres Dessert Service.” The Magazine Antiques, April 1994, 553.

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huntingtonlibrary · 8 years

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If live-action Beauty and the Beast were set in the Huntington Art Gallery ⤴️

CAST: Lumière: Six-light Candelabrum, possibly by François Rèmond (French, 1747–1812), c. 1780, gilt bronze, painted bronze, and steel. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

Mrs. Potts: Teapot, made by Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory, Sèvres, France, c. 1758, soft-paste porcelain with glaze, enamel, and gilding. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

Cogsworth: Mantel Clock, by Renacle-Nicolas Sotiau (French, 1749–1791), with plaques manufactured by The Royal Porcelain Manufactory, Sèvres, and miniature painted by an unknown artist, 1782–83, gilt bronze, porcelain, glass, enamel, brass, steel, painting on ivory. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

Wardrobe: Music Cabinet, by Charles Robert Ashbee (British, 1863–1942), manufactured by the Guild of Handicraft, London, ca. 1895, stained oak with wrought iron and Morocco leather. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

#Beauty and the Beast #art #Lumiere #Mrs. Potts #Cogsworth #Wardrobe

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wikitopx · 5 years

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In northern central France, Dreux is just over an hour west of Paris on the border with Normandy.

Although it’s a smallish town there’s a lot to see, like the burial chapel of the noble House of Orléans and an ornately sculpted belfry dating to the 1500s. Dreux has a peculiar mix of museums too, dealing with everything from painting to medieval wine and even the art of making combs. If you widen your radius to include Chartres and its stupendous World Heritage cathedral you’ll never be stuck for things to do. Let's explore the best things to do in Dreux.

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1. Chapelle Royale de Dreux

This chapel dates to 1816 and is the mausoleum for the House of Orléans.

It was built after the Revolution by the widow of Louis Philippe II, the Duke of Orléans who had been guillotined and was the father of the future King Louis-Philippe I. During the Reign of Terror the family crypt at Dreux’s Collégiale Saint-Étienne church had been desecrated and the bodies buried in a mass grave.

They were eventually dug up and moved to this glorious chapel, where 75 members of the House of Orleans, including Louis Philippe I, were buried. It’s a suitably regal monument, with a ring of expertly crafted recumbent tombs and stained glass windows hand-painted at the illustrious Sèvres Manufactory.

2. Belfry

At the old town hall, Dreux’s Belfry is the only building of its type in Eure-et-Loir and dates to the first decades of the 16th century. One of the men working on it was Clément Métezeau, the royal architect Louis XIII, who was very active in Dreux and also helped design the wall in La Rochelle.

What’s neat about the belfry is that it was built when the Gothic gave way to the Renaissance style: You can see a clear contrast between the sober lower floors and the upper stories, which are very ornate with delicate filigrees and mullioned windows. You can enquire at the tourist office about a guided tour.

3. A Walk around Town

Most of the center of Dreux is pedestrianized, and you can pass a carefree couple of hours milling around. On Rue Illiers, a quaint alley off Grand Rue Maurice Violette, there’s a pair of corbelled timber-framed houses, joined together by beams spanning the way.

Some buildings were opened to the public but were as valuable as a photograph, such as Hôtel-Dieu, a hospital from the 1600s and Pavilion Louis XIII from the same period. And when you see the Royal Chapel, be sure to stroll the gardens around it, which used to be part of the lost Château de Dreux, the House of Orléans’ ancestral home.

4. Musée d’Art et d’Histoire

This compact but compelling museum is in a lively 19th-century chapel and has items uncovering the region’s history, and a superb collection of art. The main event here has to be Monet’s Wisteria Study, painted in his garden at Giverny.

He is accompanied by a decent line-up of 19th and 20th-century artists like Montézin, Vlaminck and Le Sidner. The archaeological galleries have decorative pieces and architectural fragments from churches, monasteries, and châteaux.

There’s furniture from the Château De Crécy, owned by the Marquise de Pompadour, Romanesque carved capitals, a pair of Merovingian earrings and much more besides.

5. Église Saint-Pierre de Dreux

Begun in the 13th-century, this is one of those composite churches that has been adapted and extended many times. Work didn’t stop until the 1600s when the transept was completed, but the whole somehow remains uniform and harmonious. Once again Clément Métezeau joined in 1524 when he decorated the facade.

There’s some lovely ornamentation to see as well, as the organ case with polychrome sculptures from 1614, a 16th-century sculpture of Christ on the cross and a Romanesque capital from the lost Collégiale Saint-Étienne church.

6. Ecomusée des Vignerons et des Artisans Drouais

Stop by this museum in an 11th-century winemaking priory for a journey into the viticulture and artisan crafts around Dreux. Monks who cut basements from soft marl and wine will be loaded onto boats on the Eure to be transported to Paris or even England.

The museum has a reproduction of one of these 13th-century boats, known as a cabotière, as well as lots of antique winemaking instruments like a press and a 7150-liter barrel. Upstairs are tools for local trades like lacework, saddle-making, and watch-making, while outside you amble through the vineyards and authentic medieval kitchen garden.

7. Château d’Anet

This palace is from the turn of the 1550s and was ordered by King Henry II for his mistress Diane of Poitiers. The architect was Philibert de l’Orme who made his mark in Paris and the Loire Valley at the height of the Renaissance.

The property came through the Revolution unscathed but was sold off and fell into neglect before being partially demolished.

There was a big restoration in the 19th century and the château has appeared in a number of movies, like Thunderball in 1965 and The Pink Panther Strikes Again in 1976. There’s also a Byzantine-style mortuary chapel for Diane of Poitiers, which still holds her remains.

8. Hôtel de Montulé

This handsome mansion is owned by the town and has been turned into a cultural center: The Hôtel de Montulé puts on temporary art exhibitions, live demonstrations, classes, talks and fun workshops for kids in the holidays.

You will also win the architecture because the mansion dates back to the early 17th century and was designed by Jean Métezeau, the grandson of Clément. It's Louis XIII style with quoins and dormer windows.

And the galleries leave you in no doubt that Dreux has a vibrant art scene; at the time of writing there’s video art, engraving, photography and surrealist sculpture.

9. Château d’Ivry-la-Bataille

This region of France is mostly known for its graceful pleasure palaces, but in Ivry-la-Bataille are the tortured remnants of a military fortress. This castle goes back to the 900s and was in a key strategic position defending the Duchy of Normandy at the boundary between England and France.

It was torn down by the English in 1424 during the Hundred Years’ War. So it’s remarkable just how much of the structure is left, and for that, we can thank a couple of decades of excavation work.

The castle is a dramatic backdrop to a walk, enriched with information boards and stirring views of the Eure Valley.

10. Château de Maillebois

This noble château in 300 hectares of grounds was commissioned by François d’O, who was Superintendent of Finances under Henri III in the 16th century. What will strike you immediately is that it is made almost entirely of bricks, which sets it apart in this region.

The castle was built on top of defensive fortresses dating back hundreds of years, and François d’O regretted the cost of turning it into a palace. You can visit for a tour in summer, and find out about the long roll-call of subsequent owners.

One was the aviation pioneer Hubert Latham who set all sorts of early flight records and landed a plane on the grounds in 1910.

More ideals for you: Top 10 things to do in Dieppe

From : https://wikitopx.com/travel/top-10-things-to-do-in-dreux-708409.html

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cooperhewitt · 7 years

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A Cabinet Fit for a King

The theme of this Royal Jewel Cabinet from France, dated 1824-26, is no doubt indulgence in all forms – especially love and extravagance. Its rich iconography displays symbols of love and jewels, where antiquity is mixed with early-nineteenth century depictions of flowers.[1] The cabinet is constructed of porcelain plaques in a gilt-bronze armature. A golden peacock crest rests atop the upper section, while the lower section sports two ceramic columns and two drawers. Roman goddesses Venus and Psyche are portrayed in the large central panels, each at their toilette encircled by related gods and goddesses, each connected to the theme of love. Venus, the goddess of love, puts on an earring while attended by three cherubs and a dove at her feet. Psyche, the goddess of the soul and wife of Cupid, is similarly attended by cherubs on her panel. Both goddesses are encircled by medallions of related figures interspersed with bunches of flowers including roses, another symbol of love related to Venus. The use of decorative motifs surrounding the goddesses such as jewels and other treasures reinforces the cabinet’s use as a haven for jewelry.

The relationship between the two goddesses is a tumultuous one. Psyche was once a mortal princess whose immense beauty rivaled only Venus. Venus commanded Cupid to make her fall in love with the most hideous man she came across. Instead, after accidentally striking himself, the god fell in love with her and instructed Psyche that she must never look upon his face, concealing his true identity. After devising a plan to see the face of her lover, Psyche frightened Cupid and he fled, forcing her to search for him and falling into the service of Venus herself. After a series of difficult tasks that brought her close to death, Psyche reunited with Cupid and they finally married, much to the dismay of his mother, Venus. [2]

A joint design and manufacturing effort between nearly fifteen different French designers, this jewel cabinet was produced by the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, located in Sèvres, Hauts-de-Seine, France. Founded in 1740, the Sèvres factory became a royal manufactory in 1759 with the support of Louise XV and Madame de Pompadour. In 1830, this cabinet was presented as a gift from Charles X to Francis I, King of Naples and of the Two Sicilies. Due to the large expense and investment of time, few cabinets of such majestic size and decoration were made during this period. New formulas for porcelain and glazes were introduced in the early nineteenth century, making possible the large size of the plaques. The new ceramic technology, combined with larger kilns and even temperatures also resulted in high temperature durability, crisper definition, and brighter colors.[3] Work on the cabinet began in 1825, but the components were conceived as early as the prior year. The Vicomte de la Rochfoucauld is responsible for the selection of the mauve background in the door panels, which were first constructed in 1826. At the end of the same year, the cabinet was finished and was priced at 24,000 francs. The cabinet majestically combines art, science, and business to make an extraordinary statement perfectly suited as a royal gift.[4]

Erin Benedictson is an intern in the Product Design and Decorative Arts department at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

[1] Sarah D. Coffin, “Jewel Cabinet on Stand, 1824-26,” in Making Design, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum (New York: Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, 2014), 574.

[2] Thomas Bulfinch, The Age of Fable; or, Stories of Gods and Heroes, 3rd edition (Boston: Sanborn, Carter, Bazin and Company, 1855), 115-28.

[3] Sarah D. Coffin, “Jewel Cabinet on Stand, 1824-26,” in Making Design, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum (New York: Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, 2014), 572.

[4] Sarah D. Coffin, “Jewel Cabinet on Stand, 1824-26,” in Making Design, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum (New York: Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, 2014), 576.

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#cooper hewitt #design conversations

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