Enfilade

Opening in a few weeks at Waddesdon Manor:

Madame de Pompadour in the Frame
Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire, 23 May – 27 Octotber 2019

This exhibition will shine a spotlight on how technology is being used to enhance our understanding of art history, enabling masterpieces which have been victims of circumstance or history to be seen as they were once intended.

François Boucher’s famous portrait of Madame de Pompadour (1756) is today one of the most prized paintings on display at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich*, yet this monumental portrait was once owned by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild. Ferdinand had acquired it in 1887, and displayed it in his London house, 143 Piccadilly. Either before, or shortly after he acquired it, the portrait was re-framed. When he died, Ferdinand bequeathed the painting to his brother Nathaniel, but while the canvas eventually found its way to Germany, the impressive 18th-century frame was retained and ended up at Waddesdon Manor.

Now, thanks to a collaboration with Factum Foundation, specialists in high-resolution digital scanning technology, and with the support of the Alte Pinakothek, this new exhibition will recreate the masterpiece as it would have been known in the 19th century by Baron Ferdinand. In a marriage of traditional conservation and restoration techniques with the most advanced 3D digital reproduction technology, it will place a facsimile of the portrait back in Baron Ferdinand’s frame, which has been conserved especially for the show. Visitors will be able to explore for themselves other digital and 3D reproductions in touch displays, and a film will illustrate Factum Foundation’s process of re-creating Madame de Pompadour.

The exhibition will also explore the historical connection between the Madame de Pompadour painting and frame and Waddesdon and the Rothschild family. A particular highlight will be a 1757 Charles-Germain de Saint-Aubin caricature from a unique book of satirical cartoons, which is seldom on display.

* François Boucher’s Madame de Pompadour (1756) is on display at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich (on permanent loan from the HypoVereinsbank, Member of UniCredit).

Now on view at Versailles:

Le Goût de Marie Leszczyńska
Château de Versailles, open from 16 April 2019

Curated by Gwenola Firmin and Marie-Laure de Rochebrune, with Vincent Bastien

During the 42 years she spent at Versailles, Marie Leszczyńska (1703–1768) had a profound impact on both the layout of the Palace and artistic life at the time. Her influence has inspired this dedicated exhibition. A Taste of Marie Leszczyńska is presented in the Dauphine’s Apartments, which have been reopened for the occasion. Although few traces of her 42 years at the Palace remain—most were wiped out as a result of the changes wrought by Marie-Antoinette—the wife of King Louis XV nevertheless made her mark through the art she commissioned and the private chambers she created.

The exhibition gathers together around 50 paintings and other works of art, most of which are from the Palace collections and include several recent acquisitions of great significance for the Musée National des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon. The aim is to illustrate how her personal taste evolved throughout the course of her reign and thus get to know her better.

In Pursuit of Privacy

Throughout her reign, Marie Leszczyńska abided by the ceremonial rules required in the Queen’s State Apartment, endeavouring always to lead an exemplary life free of any scandal. As for the layout of the Palace, from 1725 she set about redesigning her chamber in the style of the time: wood panelling carved by Vassé was installed over the fireplace, which was replaced with one in Sarrancolin marble. The décor between the windows was created by the master sculptors Verbeckt, Dugoulon, and Le Goupil. The overdoor panels, which are still in place today, were commissioned by the Queen in 1734 from Jean-François de Troy—whose La Gloire des princes s’empare des Enfants de France features the Dauphin and his two eldest sisters—and Charles-Joseph Natoire, who painted La Jeunesse et la Vertu présentent les deux princesses à la France.

In 1735, Gilbert de Sève’s ceiling painting of Apollon au milieu des Heures was replaced by a geometric design adorned with intertwined figures of the royal couple. At the same time, on the order of Louis XV, the managers of the King’s buildings asked François Boucher to decorate the arches with four grisaille paintings representing the Virtues: Prudence, Piety, Charity, Generosity. But Marie Leszczyńska had to wait another 13 years, until 1764, before the tarnished gilt was restored under the supervision of François Vernet.

The Queen liked to live a simple life, even if only for a few hours a day, so she had private chambers installed directly behind her parade apartment, and it was to these she withdrew for a number of hours each day to pray, meditate, read, and spend time with those closest to her.

Painting, Master of Arts

Marie Leszczyńska after the work by jean-Baptiste Oudry, The Farm (Château de Versailles; photo by Gérard Blot).

Marie Leszczyńska spoke several languages and was highly cultured, with a great interest in the creative occupations, literature, music and art—especially painting. Indeed, one of the rooms in her private apartment was laid out as a studio. Her ‘colourist’, Etienne Jeaurat, guided her paintbrush for 15 years, and she was advised by Jean-Baptiste Oudry. Among other works attributed to the Queen is a faithful rendition of a painting by the latter, called Une Ferme (A Farm).

One of her favourite painters was Jean-Marc Nattier, whose portrait of her wearing ‘town clothing’ was completed in 1748. But the one she regarded most highly was Charles-Antoine Coypel, who produced no fewer than 34 religious paintings for the Queen’s private chambers. She also liked to contemplate lightweight subjects, chinoiserie, pastoral scenes, and landscapes.

A Touch of the Exotic

Marie Leszczyńska had a particular affinity for China. In 1747, she created an oriental chamber in her ‘laboratory’, in the heart of her private apartment. In 1761, she decided to replace it with a collection of canvases known as the Chinese Chamber. The paintings were produced by five painters of the King’s State Apartments—Coqueret, Frédou, de la Roche, Prévost and Jeaurat—as well as Marie Leszczynska herself. They portray a picturesque image of China, inspired by the tales of travellers to the land of Cathay. The tea ceremony, evangelisation of the Chinese by the Jesuits, and a fair in Nanking are among the events depicted. Chinese architecture, dress and landscapes are portrayed in minute detail, while the bird’s-eye perspective is taken directly from Chinese painting.

During the last 15 years of her reign, a new artistic trend emerged in France, which, from the 18th century, was referred to as à la grecque (‘in the Greek style’). The trend marked the onset of the neoclassical movement and rejected the outmoded Rococo style in favour of a deliberate return to the simplicity of classical antiquity and a more decorative repertoire of subjects drawn from Greek art. The Queen participated in this movement in her own way.

For example, in 1753, she commissioned an overdoor panel for her chamber, depicting the arrival of Saint Francis Xavier in China, from Joseph Marie Vien (1716–1809), who would go on to become the leading exponent of this style in terms of painting. Later, in 1766, she appointed Richard Mique (1728–1794) to carry out a project that was particularly close to her heart: the construction at Versailles of a convent for the canonesses of Saint Augustine, who provided education for young girls (it is now the Hoche school). It was decided to lay the convent chapel out in the form of a Greek cross within a square, accessed by an entrance portal comprising an arcade of Ionic columns capped by a pediment. The chapel was completed after the Queen’s death thanks to the determined efforts of her daughter, Madame Adelaide.

From the early 1760s, the new style was also adopted by the Royal Sèvres porcelain manufacture for its service pieces, as well as vases and sculpted ornaments. Étienne-Maurice Falconet (1716–1791), head of the sculpture studio from 1757 to 1766, produced many bisque figures and vases with a neoclassical look and feel.

Through her architectural alterations, her style and, above all, the way in which she conducted herself as queen, Marie Leszczyńska led a quiet revolution.

The exhibition is curated by Gwenola Firmin, chief curator at the Musée National des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, and Marie-Laure de Rochebrune, chief curator at the Musée National des Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, with assistance from Vincent Bastien, doctor of art history.

The exhibition brochure (in French and English) is available as PDF file here»

Now on view at Audley End:

Souvenirs of Italy: An English Family Abroad
Library at Audley End House, Essex, 1 April — 31 October 2019

Curated by Peter Moore, Abigail Brundin, and Dunstan Roberts

George Romney, Portrait of Richard Aldworth Neville, later 2nd Baron Braybrooke, oil on canvas, ca.1779 (On loan from a private collection; photograph by Mark Asher).

We learn relatively little about Richard Griffin (formerly Richard Aldworth Neville, 1750–1825), second Baron Braybrooke, when we visit or read about Audley End House. He seems to have spent limited time at the house and left it largely unchanged on his death. Recent research in the Library has thrown fascinating new light on this family member, including a European tour that was initiated in the wake of a bereavement and left a lasting personal and cultural legacy at Audley End. Richard’s experiences abroad have much to tell us about the importance of multiculturalism and multilingualism in eighteenth-century England.

The exhibition revolves around the European tour undertaken by Richard Aldworth Neville from 1771 until 1774, when he was in his early twenties. It focuses on the family circumstances that led to the tour, the family’s multilingualism, Richard’s experiences in France, Switzerland, and Italy and what he brought home with him—both materially and culturally—which later found its way into Audley End House and its library. Books, manuscripts, paintings, drawings, and personal items from the house are brought into conversation through the exhibition with archival loans from Essex Record Office that shed light on Richard’s upbringing, his family relationships, and his reactions to his experiences abroad.

The broad aim is twofold. First the exhibition will help to bring into a focus a member of the family and owner of Audley End House who currently does not feature very much in the existing public engagement materials. Second the focus on the Grand Tour allows us to build a narrative about European engagement, through language learning, travel and the consumption of foreign literature and material culture, which enriched the lives of those who lived in and passed through Audley End.

The exhibition is curated by Dr Peter Moore (Curator of Collections & Interiors, Audley End); Dr Abigail Brundin (Reader in Early Modern Literature and Culture, Department of Italian, University of Cambridge); and Dr Dunstan Roberts (Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of English, University of Cambridge). The exhibition is funded by the University of Cambridge and the Friends of Audley End.

Thomas Daniell (British, 1749–1840), On the Ganges, ca. 1788, watercolor (San Marino: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, Gilbert Davis Collection).

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Now on at The Huntington:

Prospects of India: 18th- and 19th-Century British Drawings from The Huntington’s Art Collections
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, 2 March — 10 June 2019

The drawings in this exhibition take as their subject the landscape of India. They were made by British artists, some of whom traveled there on their own in hopes of finding new and ‘exotic’ subject matter. As these drawings attest, the history of Britain’s engagement with South Asia is a complicated one. It covers a spectrum of motivations that ranges from trade and mutually beneficial cultural exchange to violent imperial conquest. The fifteen images on view hint at this complexity, revealing a fascination and admiration for the Indian landscape and the people who lived there, as well as attitudes of cultural superiority and ownership. Works by professional artists such as George Chinnery and Thomas and William Daniell, hang alongside examples by accomplished, though amateur, draftsmen like Col. George Francis White, revealing both the range of artists who sought to depict the scenery of India and the diversity of the landscape itself.

William Gilpin, leaves 33v–34r (with color chart laid in) from “Hints to form the taste & regulate ye judgment in sketching landscape,” ca. 1790, manuscript, with pen and ink and watercolor (New Haven: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection). More information on the manuscript is available here.

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Now on view at YCBA:

Art in Focus: Blue
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 5 April — 11 August 2019

Curated by Merritt Barnwell, Sunnie Liu, Sohum Pal, Jordan Schmolka, and Muriel Wang, led by Linda Friedlaender and Jennifer Reynolds-Kaye

Press release for the exhibition:

Homer / Homère
Musée du Louvre-Lens, 27 March — 22 July 2019

Curated by Alain Jaubert, Alexandre Farnoux, Vincent Pomarède, Luc Piralla, and Alexandre Estaquet-Legrand

The Musée du Louvre-Lens presents one of the most ambitious exhibitions ever devoted to Homer, the ‘prince of poets’, author of two celebrated epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey, that have been an integral part of Western societies since antiquity. It explores the origins of Homer’s fascinating influence on Western artists and culture down the centuries and sheds light on its many mysteries.

Achilles, Hector, Ulysses: these names continue to resonate in people’s minds today. From antiquity to the Renaissance, artists borrowed from Homer’s stories a multitude of fundamental subjects that have shaped the history of art. What is the reason for this uninterrupted success? This exhibition of international scope sets out to explore how artists drew on Homer and the heroes of The Iliad and The Odyssey. It also provides an opportunity to examine numerous questions: Did Homer exist? Was he the sole author of these monumental works? Where and when did he live?

‘Homeromania’ has led the Homeric poems to be used repeatedly as sources of inspiration. The exhibition explores the various aspects of this phenomenon and analyses its diverse manifestations in language, literature, the sciences, the arts, morality, and life. Through almost 250 works, dating from antiquity to the present day, the exhibition offers an unprecedented immersion in the riches of the Homeric world. It presents a selection of works as dense and varied as Homer’s influence, ranging from paintings and objects from ancient Greece, sculptures and casts, and tapestries to paintings by Rubens, Antoine Watteau, Gustave Moreau, André Derain, Marc Chagall, and Cy Twombly.

After a prelude devoted to the gods of Olympus, visitors begin their visit by discovering the ‘prince of poets’ and above all the mysteries that surround him. They then begin their visit in the company of the principal heroes of The Iliad and The Odyssey: archaeological objects and modern works evoke the way in which these seminal sagas, reconsidered, reinterpreted, and updated so many times, have been captured in images over time. The exhibition includes a detour by way of other poems from the Epic Cycle that were lost over the course of time and which contained narratives recounting the most famous scenes of the Trojan War, including the Trojan horse, the death of Achilles, and the abduction of Helen. These episodes reveal the full extent of the ancient epic literature and the miraculous nature of the conservation of Homer’s work. The adventure ends with an exploration of the phenomena of ‘Homeromania’ that has marked the science of archaeology and inspired works and behaviour, based on the extensive imitation of Homer that even extended to everyday life.

Curators: Alain Jaubert, writer and filmmaker, Alexandre Farnoux, director of the École Française d’Athènes, Vincent Pomarède, assistant general administrator of the Louvre, Luc Piralla, assistant director of the Musée du Louvre-Lens, assisted by Alexandre Estaquet-Legrand.