Dimanche 22 mai 2022
Last update on 2/11/2016
Last update on 2/11/2016
The latest news in the History of Western Art from the Middle Ages to the 1930's
A royal commode recently joined the collections at the Château de Versailles, donated by the Fondation Edmond J. Safra. Intended for Louis XV's bedroom at the Château de Choisy, it was completed in 1744 by Antoine Robert Gaudreaus, cabinet maker (...)
A painting by François Gérard representing the portrait of Comte Regnault de Saint-Jean d'Angély standing has disappeared from the château's storage rooms as announced in Le Parisien and confirmed by the museum. The theft was noticed on 14 February (...)
A Swedish artist who arrived in France around 1752 where he lived the rest of his life, Alexander Roslin (whose name is often written in French as Alexandre) was one of the major portraitists active in Paris in the second half of the 18th (...)
The château de Versailles pre-empted a Louis XVI clock decorated with an Offering to Cupid depicted by bronze figures, at an auction in Metz on 24 March 2013. It was probably produced by Charles Leroy or his son Etienne-Augustin who became (...)
With over 200 works - paintings, sculptures, drawings, tapestries, art objects, furniture - the exhibition evokes in a magnificent manner the fascination and the presence of the Antique at Versailles at the time of Louis XIV. This is a (...)
We had announced it on 24 July, expressing our indignation. The appointment of Jacques Moulin as chief architect of historical monuments (ACMH) in charge of the gardens at Versailles went into effect on 15 August, after being signed by the (...)
Versailles-land ? Our article at the time had caused somewhat of a stir. The entrance to the chateau, with the fake grille shining like a trinket and the gilt roof tops appearing as never before in the architectural layout, alas, would indeed (...)
Bernard Hasquenoph, from the very useful site Louvre pour tous, was the first one to see it : the 3D animations, which take up a considerable amount of space in the new history rooms at Versailles are partly false. Here are some of the most (...)
The project to create a section at Versailles devoted to the history of the château was, in principle, a good idea as it is difficult for visitors to understand how the domain was established over time. This project, initiated by the previous (...)
The contents of the Jacques Thuillier collection were auctioned off to either the Musée départemental Georges de La Tour or the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nancy but one work was missing : a very beautiful study by Noël Coypel for the ceiling of the (...)
We know that François de Mazières had supported the pernicious "urbanisme de projet" of Benoist Apparu, in his capacity of "Mayor of Versailles, President of the Agglomerated Community of Versailles Grand Parc, President of the Cité de (...)
The Institut de France and Versailles have exchanged two pieces of furniture each on deposit but which will now join the château for which they had been originally commissioned. The first is a bureau plat commissioned in 1715 from André-Charles (...)
The city of Versailles, faced with the scandal rising from its PLU project, is now proposing to return the land corresponding to the former Pion barracks to the government. The conditions of this sale - still valid at time of publication - are (...)
Louis François Lejeune was adept at wielding the sword, the brush and the pen, putting them at the service of the Empire and his own, as attested by the almost 120 works deployed in the Africa and Crimea galleries at the château in Versailles : (...)
Is Versailles starting a retreat, aware of its contradictions and that the debate concerning the PLU has now reached national proportions ? In any case, the press release issued last 27 January leads us to think (...)
Last 24 January, the new PLU for Versailles could have been officially applied thus preventing any further opposition. Fortunately, the Société pour la Protection des Paysages et de l'Esthétique de la France, presided by Alexandre Gady whom we (...)
At the same time as the press conference held yesterday by Catherine Pégard, on 26 January, in Versailles, we also visited the restoration site for the Salon de Mercure which should end in June 2012, after ten months of work supervised by both (...)
Catherine Pégard held her first press conference as president of the Etablissement public du château et du domaine national de Versailles. She is definitely keeping a low profile stating that she relies on specialists (which has been confirmed so (...)
We spoke with Jean-Jacques Aillagon about the PLU Project for the city of Versailles and as we found his position on the subject particularly interesting, we asked him two questions which he graciously accepted to (...)
We have already explained here why the argument presented by the Mayor of Versailles claiming the Schéma directeur de la région d'Ile-de-France (SDRIF) as a truly restrictive document cannot be taken seriously. We can now definitely prove that it (...)
The response from Versailles City Hall to our articles, published here, is interesting. First of all because it does not bring into question any of our conclusions concerning the PLU, that is notably its consequences in terms of density and (...)
Upon reading the two articles in La Tribune de l'Art, it would seem that a certain number of legal points have not been taken into consideration. We find it useful to provide a few more enlightening remarks which will help readers to better (...)
The Versailles Municipal Council, on 24 November 2011, approved a revision of the Plan Local d'Urbanisme [Local Zoning Plan]. The city is therefore determined to implement its project consisting in replacing its current reversible zoning policy (...)
In 2011, Jean-Jacques Aillagon, the president of the Etablissement public de Versailles, had supported the installation of the Roland-Garros tennis tournament on the property of the Matelots and the Mortemets, which had been promised to the (...)
Another book on Versailles, one might say (and the author, a major specialist of the château, has just collaborated as well in the imposing monograph published by Citadelles & Mazenod). However, this volume stands out from the rest. This is (...)
The City of Versailles is currently attempting to enact a new urban development plan (called Plan Local d’Urbanisme in French). In a long article, not translated, on our French website, La Tribune de l’Art, we showed how this plan was a serious (...)
Let us begin in a positive way. Marie-Antoinette’s bathroom (La Pièce des Bains de Marie-Antoinette), located on the ground floor, at the left as you enter the vestibule from the marble courtyard, had been restored in 1984. Strangely enough, this (...)
On 4th May, Versailles preempted a painting by François-Hubert Drouais (see news item of 6/5/11) at Drouot. A few weeks earlier, at Sotheby’s London, the national museum had acquired another portrait, in pastel this time, representing the Comtesse (...)
At the Boisgirard auction on 4 May at the Hotel Drouot, the chateau of Versailles preempted a Portrait of Mme du Barry as Flora painted by Francois-Hubert Drouais, for the amount of 98.000 euros (without (...)
Despite current economic hardships which tend to see a decrease in patronage, the château of Versailles has just enriched its collection with a major acquisition : the desk which Marie Antoinette had commissioned from Riesener in (...)
The latest trend is making historical monuments profitable. Although we are generally against the idea, which often accounts for many abuses, we must admit that in some cases, it is well justified. The projects for Versailles – which Jean-Jacques (...)
Like every year, the chateau in Versailles organized a press conference to present the coming season. With his consummate communication skills, Jean-Jacques Aillagon knows how essential it is that he and the chateau be in the media constantly. (...)
Last Wednesday the Conseil de Ministres examined the new statute for the public establishment of Versailles prepared by its current president Jean-Jacques Aillagon.
The château of Versailles continues its program of restoring the painted decors of the royal apartments, after notably the Salon d’Hercule and the Hall of Mirrors, work recently finished on the ceiling of the antechamber in the Grand (...)
While Arthéna has published a new edition of Antoine Schnapper’s Jean Jouvenet, the RMN along with the Société des Amis de Versailles is now presenting a reedited version of an important book by this author, Tableaux pour le Trianon de marbre, with (...)
The very beautiful retrospective highlighting Alexandre Cabanel at the Musee Fabre which recently opened for a duration of five months and which we will soon review, has been chosen as the occasion to reveal a large painting by this artist, The (...)
On Friday, 4 June 2010 at an auction in Paris at the Hôtel Drouot (auctioneers : Binoche-Giquello-Renaud) the Versailles château preempted a watercolour by Charles Natoire representing an Allegory for the Birth of a (...)
We have already discussed Jean-Jacques Aillagon’s determination, stated repeatedly, to restore and reopen the rooms of the Musée de l’Histoire de France of Louis-Philippe
The public establishment of Versailles in its continuing endeavor to enhance the Musée de l’Histoire de France through its restoration is offering increased access to the general public by (...)
While Versailles is on the point of acquiring, through patronage, a Savonnerie rug commissioned by Louis XV for the chapel in the Chateau
The French association for heritage protection, Momus (Monuments, Musées, Sites et Monuments), makes a very revealing disclosure on its new website
The long interview which Jean-Jacques Aillagon, president of the Domaine de Versailles, granted us here gives us cause to be cautiously optimistic. We of course need to wait and see if his intentions are carried out. In any case, we must admit (...)
The Petit Trianon and the Pavillon Français have just been inaugurated and will reopen for the public this week after two years of restoration work.
Last 11 December, Jean-Jacques Aillagon announced the acquisition : « of an important piece of furniture belonging to the first Dauphin, listed as a Trésor National
Some of our readers would like The Art Tribune to take a stand on the Jeff Koons exhibition at Versailles. Let us say that our views [1] were clearly expressed — in humorous form — in our review of the press conference given by Jean-Jacques (...)
Who are we supposed to believe ? Frédéric Didier, chief architect for historical monuments at Versailles, who went around stating that the royal grille recently inaugurated
On 26 June, Millon & Associés sold an exceptional collection of architectural drawings at the Hôtel Drouot, the whole accompanied by a luxurious catalogue.
The grille which was recently built to link the Dufour et Gabriel Pavillions, on the site where the equestrian statue of Louis XIV commissioned by Louis-Philippe stood formerly, was inaugurated during a presentation to the press corps last (...)
The Musée de Versailles preempted a painting today in Orléans by Pierre Mignard representing
