Enfilade

Auguste Couder, Siege of Yorktown: General Rochambeau and General Washington Give Last Orders before an Attack, October 1781, oil on canvas, 1836 (Versailles, via Wikimedia Commons)

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This summer at Versailles:

Versailles and American Independence / Versailles et l’Indépendance américaine
Château de Versailles, 5 July — 2 October 2016

This exhibition aims to reveal the importance of Franco-American relations at the end of the French Ancien Régime. By assisting the rebels, King Louis XVI showed he was in favour of new ideas, and for nearly a decade the Palace of Versailles, the centre of French government and authority, was a key location for independence and its promotion. The political and military alliance between France and the United States had a lasting effect on artistic principles; there was no such thing as major or minor art, as the infatuation with America found a unique place in everyday objects at Court and in popular American, English and French posters.

Note (added 13 July 2016) — A more complete posting for the exhibition is available here.