Versailles revival 1867 – 1937
Exhibition at the Palace of Versailles 19 November 2019 – 15 March 2020
Versailles revival 1867 – 1937 19 November 2019 – 15 March 2020 Exhibition Curator Palace of Versailles Laurent Salomé Africa and Crimea Rooms Director of the Museum of the Palace of Versailles Exhibition organised by The Palace of Versailles Scenography Hubert Le Gall THE rE-BIrTH OF VErSAILLES 1867 – 1937
In autumn 2019, the Palace of Versailles will musicians like Reynaldo Hahn and Gabriel be presenting an exhibition dedicated to Fauré, and painters like Paul Helleu and a crucial period in the Palace’s history: Giovanni Boldini, as well as the Versailles from 1867 (the year of the first retrospective landscape designer, Achille Duchêne. dedicated to Marie-Antoinette) to 1937 Simultaneously to this wave of enthusiasm (when the number of visitors to the Palace the curators of the Palace were putting hit a record number of over one million). enormous efforts into restoring it 100 years after the French Revolution, at to its former glory and returning the dawn of the Belle Époque, a remarkable it to something close to its condition sense of fondness, nostalgia, curiosity and under the Ancien Régime. enthusiasm developed around Versailles. Pierre de Nolhac, Director of the museum The earliest signs appeared under from 1892 to 1920, was the key figure of the French Second Empire with this undertaking. This is the beginning Empress Eugenie and her fascination of a long-term work that continues today, with Marie-Antoinette. searching for lost objects and decorations At the end of the century, this fascination one by one, to achieve the impression spread to artistic and literary circles. Marcel of a palace that had never been emptied. Proust rediscovers this “Versailles, a rusty The exhibition displayed in the Africa yet soft and grand name, a royal graveyard and Crimea Rooms, puts in tension of foliage, monumental fountains these two parallel stories. and marble (…)”. On the one hand, a chronic of the “resur- At the same time, historicist painting, rection” of the Palace, to quote the title of which had already been in fashion since Pierre de Nolhac’s memoir, and on the other the early 19th century, saw a spectacular rise hand, a surprising period in the history in popularity and found some of its finest of art when Versailles became a model subjects at Versailles. Furniture and for various painters, from the Russian decorative arts reproduced important royal Alexander Benois to Georges Rouault via works. The palace also served as a model Gaston La Touche, Lucien Lévy-Dhurmer for King Ludwig II of Bavaria and, following and Henri Le Sidaner, as well as his example, the residences of Boni photographers like Atget, Steichen de Castellane and Alva Vanderbilt as well and Man Ray. as the SS France Ocean liner in 1912, With the dawn of the 20th century, dubbed “Versailles of the seas”. Magnificent the Palace of Versailles found renewed royal parties breathed new life into Trianon. and aristocratic splendour and a new level In 1896, Sarah Bernardt performed at the of popularity. Palace during the visit by Tsar Nicolas II. The cinema seizes it from its beginnings, A timeless society formed around tourism intensifies and fashion is inspired the symbolic monument, with high-society by it. The Fountains Show that never lost figures such as Countess Greffulhe its appeal during the nineteenth century and Robert de Montesquiou, writers such became a favourite destination as Marcel Proust and Henri de Regnier, for popular tourism.
Versailles revival 3 OVEr FOUr HUNDrED WOrKS ON DISPLAY
The turn of the 20th century, between Artists of all origins including painters, the two Universal Exhibitions held in Paris photographers and illustrators, flooded in 1867 and 1937, was a crucial period to the site and Versailles replicas sprung in the history of Versailles. up all over the world. Through nearly 400 works, this exhibition These sketches, paintings, decorative articles, retraces the surprising moment in furniture and photographs will be exhibited the history of art when Versailles was given from the collections of Versailles, numerous a place among the great literary, pictorial French museums and major international and musical models, while at the same time museums (the Hermitage Museum in a major restoration and refurnishing Saint-Petersburg, the Library of Congress program was launched at the Palace. At in Washington, the Alte Nationalgalerie in a time when the figure of Marie-Antoinette Berlin, the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, became a nostalgic icon, the assemblies the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, Hillwood of the French Republic met at Versailles Museum in Washington, Chazen Museum and foreign sovereigns were received of Art in Madison, the Giovanni Boldini at the Palace. Museum in Ferrare, the Pushkin Museum The gardens hosted aristocratic parties of Fine Arts in Moscow, etc.). and popular tourism.
Eugène Lami, The Neptune Fountain Lit Up at Versailles, 1864, Versailles, Musée National des Châteaux, MV 8015 © RMN-GP (Château de Versailles) / © Gérard Blot
4 exhibition visit NOSTALGIA AND many works to it: landscapes such as dramatist Victorien Sardou rECONCILIATION and historicist scenes inspired by acted as president of the society. the Grand Siècle, such as his series Maurice Lobre, Salon of the Dauphin, 1901, 8 Empress Eugenie of The Last Walks of the Sun King. Saint-Pétersbourg, State Hermitage Museum, and Marie-Antoinette Chtchoukine Collection Alexandre Benois, The Water Parterre, 4 Empress Eugenie was quick to Versailles, 1905-1907, Stockholm, identify with Marie-Antoinette Nationalmuseum and was fascinated by the Queen. Alexandre Benois, The Bath of the Marquise, 5 In 1867, the first exhibition 1906, Moscou, Tretyakov Gallery dedicated to the sovereign, THE GArDEN organised under her aegis, was OF POETS held during the Universal Exhibition in Paris and brought together Literary, artistic and souvenirs of Marie-Antoinette. THE FrENCH social effervescence The restoration of her room in THIrD rEPUBLIC IN Writers and musicians the Petit Trianon, recreated Marcel Proust, who stayed at Versailles for the occasion, offered a perfect THE KING’S PALACE on several occasions, is one of the great illustration through its artificial Between the proclamation of figures of the Revival and the author mix of styles and origins. the German Empire in 1871 of some magnificent pages on the Versailles was revived on and the signing of the Treaty evocative poetic power of the Palace. the occasion of grand parties, of Versailles in 1919 in the Hall Versailles inspired Les Perles Rouges such as during the visit by of Mirrors, the Third Republic by Robert de Montesquiou, La Cité Queen Victoria in 1855. established its seat in Versailles. des Eaux by Henri de Régnier, but The receptions of Heads of State are also poems from Anna de Noailles Franz Xaver Winterhalter, , Empress Eugenie, 1 1857, Washington D.C., Hillwood Museum sometimes accompanied by spectacular and writings from Maurice Barrès. celebrations. The former capital was It became a musical subject for many Victor Joseph Chavet, The Ouverture to the 2 once again placed on the map of composers, including Reynaldo Hahn. Ball in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles, 1855, 1855, Londres, Royal Collection Trust international political gameplay. In June 1908, he played alongside Gabriel Fauré during a grand evening Léopold Delbeke, The Hall of Mirrors ready 6 Historicism for the signature of the Peace Treaty of event organized on the Grand Canal. On the rise since the early Versailles, 28 June 1919, Jean-Louis Forain, Anna de Noailles, th 1919, Versailles, musée national des châteaux 9 19 century, historicist 1905, Private Collection painting found an endless de Versailles et de Trianon © Château de Versailles, Dist.RMN / La nuit de Trianon, Sheet music, lyrics by source of inspiration in 10 © Jean-Marc Manaï Paul Barret and music by Eugène-Jean-Baptiste the newly-fashionable Versailles, Anthiome Georges Barbier, Le bonheur du jour, with the likes of Eugène Lami 7 ou, Les grâces à la mode / text and drawings during the French Second Empire. by Georges Barbier: The Allies at Versailles, Giovanni Boldini Scenes depicting the life of 1920/1925, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale Giovanni Boldini stands at the turning Marie-Antoinette gradually de France point between this narrative painting increased in number. that brought the past to life and From meticulously portrayed the modern representations of events to the wildest fantasy, an elegant society that gathered from the Grand Siècle iN SEArCH OF around the Palace at the turn th to the Fêtes Galantes, THE rEAL VErSAILLES of the 20 century. the iconography and style Giovanni Boldini, The Colonnades of 11 of painting took a step back Pierre de Nolhac, Director of Versailles, Madison, Winconsin, Chazen from modernity. the museum from 1892 to 1920, museum of Art, Gift of Nathan Cummings established the foundations for a Giovanni Boldini, Passeggiata a Versailles Georges Roux, TheRoyal Family in a Gondola 12 3 scientific restitution of the Ancien nel Settecento, 1872-1875, Ferrare, on the Grand Canal, Versailles, museo Boldini musée Lambinet Régime apartments and a refurnishing Ferrara, © Gallerie d’Arte Moderna © Château de Versailles / © Christophe Fouin of the Palace. His historical work e Contemporanea suddenly advanced the knowledge Alexandre Benois of the domain, as did the work carried Festivities or the Russian fascination out in parallel by the architectural Elegant parties on a countryside theme Russian artists and craftsmen department. Paintings by his friend, were organised in the park with a blend played an important role Maurice Lobre, reflect the precise and of music, declamations and disguises in the revival of Versailles, analytical vision of a palace whose in an ambiance that was both simple especially the painter and true nature they seek to discover. and aristocratic, with the active decorator Alexandre Benois Founded in 1907, the Société des Amis encouragement of personalities who was fiercely passionate de Versailles contributed to prestigious such as the Countess Greffulhe. about the site and dedicated acquisitions. Important literary figures Leading names performed there, including Julia Bartet a speciality of designing versions with swans or Naiads frolicking and the Mante sisters. of Versailles, working for Elsie in the fountains. Women’s magazines popularized de Wolfe (Villa Trianon on Gaston La Touche, Dawn, Strasbourg, 19 astonishing visions of fêtes galantes the edge of the park of Versailles), musée d’Art moderne et contemporain on the steps and in the groves for the Vanderbilts and for of the gardens of Versailles, admiring the Nordkirchen Castle the sumptuous costumes of the most in Germany. The SS France, high-profile personalities, like the new ocean liner, left Anna Gould or Cléo de Mérode. the shipyards in 1912. POPULAr It became known as Collection of old photographs of different VErSAILLES 13 the “Versailles of the Seas”, parts of the domain, interiors and exteriors, of the Palace of Versailles and of the Trianon, offering a Louis XIV style décor Postcards, advertising and country festivities 27 June 1901, Versailles, to wealthy transatlantic cruise photography (Man Ray, Kertesz) musée national des Châteaux passengers. European princesses reflected the appropriation of © RMN-GP (Château de Versailles) / and American heiresses identified the Estate by the general public. © Gérard Blot with Marie-Antoinette at fancy In this first quarter of the 20th century, The invention of dress balls, but also more generally the boring image of Versailles was the Versailles autumn through fashion and finery. no more than a fading memory and All the writers, artists and lovers artists converged from all countries, Ocean liner SS France in 1912, 16 of Versailles during this period Private Collection essentially to paint the gardens. agreed that autumn was the season The famous Danish couple formed when the beauty of the place could by Gerda Wegener and her husband be admired best. With the canvases Einar, who would become a woman of Paul Helleu, Le Sidaner or CITY OF WATEr under the name Lily Elbe, came to Giovanni Boldini, a melancholic give their interpretation of André orchestral composition was played Water was an inexhaustible source Le Nôtre’s great poem. on the “royal cemetery of leaves” of inspiration at Versailles. In spite During the Russian ballet performance described by Marcel Proust. of the difficulties, the Palace retained in 1923, a certain Rockefeller fell in love the prestige of its hydraulic wizardry with Versailles. Thus began the history Henri Zuber, The Past, Versailles, 1898, 14 th Amiens, Museum of Picardie throughout the 19 century. Painters of American patronage, which has © Collection des Musées d’Amiens M.P.474 from Lévy-Dhurmer to Le Sidaner played a deciding role in the revival used it as a mysterious and modern of the Estate. Depicted by the painters Paul Helleu, TThree Women in the Park at 15 Versailles, On loan from the Musée d’Orsay motif. Photographers also contributed Jean-Louis Forain and Georges to the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Brest to the celebrity of the Fountains Show, Rouault, the park and its visitors which became a favourite destination moved away from the realism of Paul for popular tourism. In 1895, Helleu or Maurice Lobre, as lines the first film was shot at Versailles came to be favoured over motif. on this subject. Complementing André Steiner, Feet of a Passing Lady in 20 THEMES AND this show, fireworks displays, Versailles, circa 1935, Paris, Centre Pompidou known as “Night Festivities”, VArIATIONS Railways of western France. Versailles. also contributed to the success 21 Electric trams serving the stations Rive New Versailles and of Versailles. Gauche, Rive Droite and Les Chantiers, 1899, new Marie-Antoinette Gaston La Touche, The Neptune Fountain Lithograph, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale 17 Both in France and abroad, at Versailles, Londres, Private Collection de France Versailles exerted a fascination Gustave Pamard, The Fountain Show: 18 that gave rise to evocations, replicas the Latona Fountain and the Tapis Vert and more or less ambitious variations. Parterre, analog photograph, Paris, Musée King Ludwig II of Bavaria was National des Châteaux de Versailles the first to imitate Versailles with et de Trianon © Château de Versailles, Dist. RMN / his Herrenchiemsee Palace. Boni © Christophe Fouin de Castellane, and later Robert de Montesquiou, would each have Gaston la Touche a Rose Palace. In the America of La Touche is the painter who the Gilded Age, apartments along went the farthest with the fantasy Central Park were furnished to of a “Belle Époque Versailles”, imitate the royal apartments and, accepting his subjugation to on Rhode Island, the Marble House of the place: “I have had only one Alva Vanderbilt was a combination master, the park of Versailles”. of the Grand and Petit Trianon. In his paintings, the ponds are In terms of garden design, landscape surrounded by a joyful crowd designer Achille Duchêne made of visitors, when not peopled
Patronage benefits
Tax benefit Official OPENING In accordance with the provisions The patron company will be associated of the French Law of 1 August 2003 on with the official opening, including patronage, companies paying, in full or reserved invitations for the patron’s in part, their taxes in France are eligible most valued guests. for a corporate tax relief equal to 60% of the amount of their donation, not exceeding Acknowledgement 0.5% of their pre-tax turnover. If this limit of the patron on all is exceeded, the surplus may be carried over communication media to the following five fiscal years. related to the exhibition
For American taxpayers, donations entitle → Advertising posters; you to a tax deduction according to Article → Banners set up at the entrance 501(c) of the US Internal Revenue Code. to the Palace and Estate; → Invitation cards to the official opening; → The catalogue cover page; Extraordinary visibility → Press advertisements; and media resonance → The Palace website chateauversailles.fr. Key figures: → 8.1 million visitors per year; → More than 20, 000 references to the Palace of Versailles per year, across all press media; → A total of 15.7 million visits to our websites per year; → Almost 10 million views on our YouTube channel; → 2 million followers on our social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Youtube and WeChat).
George Barbier, Illustration from Fêtes Galantes by Paul Verlaine, 1928, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France
Versailles revival 9 Lasting acknowledgement corporate communication of the patron on → A presentation of the exhibition the DONOrS’ PLAqUE by the curator may be organised For patronage donations of €500,000 and at the company’s headquarters; over, the patron’s name will be engraved → The new Palace Auditorium can be made on the donors’ plaque located in available to host seminars, corporate the North Wing gallery leading meetings, assemblies, etc. to the Royal Opera House. Photo rights External communication The patron will be licensed to use photos → A press opening is organised belonging to the Palace of Versailles by the Palace of Versailles; of the works exhibited, for the company’s → The name of the corporate patron features corporate communication (annual reports, in press kits sent to 2,500 French greetings cards…). and foreign journalists; → A dedicated presentation page is reserved for the patron inside the press kit.
10 Public relations in Admission Tickets and the prestigious setting “a year in Versailles” cards of the Versailles Estate The patron can benefit from free admission (from under 10 to more than 1000 people) tickets to the exhibition and the Palace Spaces can be made available for free within during public opening times and/or “1 year the Palace and Estate of Versailles (Gallery in Versailles” membership cards granting of Great Battles, Hercules Room, Grand unlimited access to the Palace and Estate Trianon Gallery, Orangery, Royal Opera of Versailles at public opening times and House, etc.) to host prestigious public for a period of one year, or more. relations events, with private tours of the exhibition or of the Palace and Estate AND what about using your of Versailles, outside public opening times. patronage benefits to serve a greater cause? As part of these benefits, the corporate patron may organise one or more events devoted specifically to members of the public said to be alienated from museums. The special opening of the Palace on a Monday (weekly closing day) can offer the freedom of unique discoveries and original activities aimed at bringing culture and heritage to a wider audience.
Versailles revival 11
Alexandre Benois, The King’s Walk, Polymago © 1906, Moscou, Tretyakov Gallery Patronage contacts
Serena Gavazzi Head of Patronage Department + 33 1 30 83 77 04 [email protected]
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