Overview
In 1815, Joseph, elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, arrived in America, bringing with him his vast and exquisite collection of eighteenth-century French painting, and a new American taste for eighteenth-century French painting was born. America Collects Eighteenth-century French Painting brings together some of the best and most unusual examples of this type of art that American museums have to offer, and tells their stories on a national stage. Who were the collectors, curators, museum directors and dealers responsible for bringing eighteenth-century French painting to America? Where are the paintings now? The book considers America's very real fascination with France in the eighteenth century: a staunch ally in the Revolutionary wars, a cultural and intellectual model for Franklin, Jefferson and other Americans abroad. It also looks at the way in which the cultural ideal of eighteenth-century France has continued to endure in the American imagination.
Author Biography
Philippe Bordes is professor of art history at the University of Lyon. Jack Hinton is associate curator of European decorative arts and sculpture at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Melissa Hyde is professor of art history at the University of Florida. Yuriko Jackall is assistant curator of French paintings at the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. Joseph J. Rishel is curator emeritus at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Pierre Rosenberg is director emeritus of the Musee du Louvre, Paris.