New Orleans Museum of Art
October 26, 2018 through January 27, 2019
In celebration of the city of New Orleans’ Tricentennial in 2018, the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) will present The Orléans Collection,
an exhibition of selections from the magnificent collection of the
city’s namesake, Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (1674-1723). Universally
praised during his lifetime, the exceptional collection was comprised of
some of the most important works in the history of art. On view from
October 26, 2018 through January 27, 2019, The Orléans Collection
will bring together, for the first time, a selection of masterpieces
from institutions such as the National Gallery of London, the J. Paul
Getty Museum, and the National Gallery of Scotland to tell the story of
the collection’s formation, its reputation, and its impact in early 18th
century Paris.
“Renowned at the time of the founding of the City of New Orleans, The Orléans Collection
celebrates the artistic sensibilities of Philippe II,” said Susan
Taylor, the Montine McDaniel Freeman Director of NOMA. “His legacy is
his patronage of the arts: architecture, painting, music, dance and
theatre. As an institution that is committed to celebrating all of the
arts, it is fitting that NOMA takes on this project during New Orleans’
Tricentennial.”
The Orléans Collection situates Philippe II as the
preeminent collector of his time. The astounding number of paintings
recorded at the time of the Duke’s death—772—demonstrate the scope of
his collection, which remained in his family for two generations until
its sale in London in the 1790s during the French Revolution. Its
dispersal represents a watershed event in the history of collecting, and
contributed to the formation of Europe’s first public museums, among
them, the National Gallery of London.
“A unique strength of our subject is the quality and breadth of
Philippe II’s collection itself, which will offer visitors an overview
of European art, from Venice and Rome to The Netherlands and France,”
said Vanessa Schmid, NOMA’s Senior Research Curator for European Art.
Featured Themes
The Orléans Collection will explore aspects of Philippe II’s
collection through four guiding themes: the Duke’s residence, the
Palais Royal, and its grand redecoration as a center for the arts and
exchange in Paris; the diplomatic and personal display of the collection
in public and private spaces; the Duke of Orléans’ personal taste and
psychology as a collector, and the fame and impact the collection had
for visitors, contemporary artists, and collectors in Paris.
Upon the death of Louis XIV in 1715, Philippe II served as the regent
of France until the young heir Louis XV came of age. After two
generations of court life focused at Versailles, Philippe II’s
eight-year regency represented an important shift of French social and
cultural life back to Paris around the newly flourishing neighborhood on
the Right Bank surrounding the Duke’s Palais-Royal.
The Duke had a remarkably developed sense of style, which is evident
through his favorite paintings, and works by his court painter, Antoine
Coypel, who is featured in the exhibition. He was most passionate about
Renaissance Florentine and Venetian art, which hung in his grand
gallery. He was also France’s first great collector of Dutch and Flemish
art, which he displayed in the intimate setting of his private
apartments. The installation will evoke the more coveted spaces of the
Palais Royal, where many of the Duke’s notorious parties took place.
Philippe II cultivated a cosmopolitan circle and worked with agents
and friends to acquire paintings. He sought to build a princely
collection of international reputation, and visitors to the Palace wrote
with awe of the sheer number of pictures and their sumptuous display.
In 1721, the Duke’s important purchase of the collection of Queen
Christina of Sweden brought over 100 masterpieces to Paris and was
announced in the first Parisian art review. The collection included
treasures from the Habsburg collections commissioned by Philip II of
Spain, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and Rudolf II in Vienna. He
purchased many other paintings, which came from European monarchs,
played an important role in projecting a public image of nobility.
The final theme considers the impact of Philippe II’s collection in
Paris for collectors and artists. Visitors and early guidebooks attest
to the public orientation of the collection at the Palais Royal and the
unique status of this princely collection as neither truly of the crown
nor truly private. Many well-known French artists like Boucher and
Natoire studied the collection and reinterpreted its famous paintings to
the modern style.
Exhibition Catalogue
Offering opportunities for new scholarship, NOMA’s exhibition is the
first time this subject has been undertaken. The exhibition will be
accompanied by a full color 300-page scholarly catalogue, by project
director Vanessa Schmid, NOMA’s Senior Research Curator for European
Art. The catalogue will present new research and serve as a lasting
resource for scholars and the general public alike. Contributors include
leading scholars in the fields represented in the collection. Essay and
discussion topics include: Philippe d’Orléans: Absolute Regent by historian Alexandre Duplet; Philippe II’s Collection by Françoise Madrus, The Louvre Museum; Antoine Coypel and the Regent by Nicole Garnier, Musée Condé; The Le Brun of Architecture: Gilles-Marie Oppenord at the Palais-Royal by Jean-François Bédard, Syracuse University; Venetian Art at the Palais Royal by Xavier Salomon, The Frick Collection; The Emergence of the Bolognese School by Rachel McGarry, Minneapolis Institute of Art; The Palais-Royal and Contemporary Art in Paris by Kelsey Brosnan, New Orleans Museum of Art; and The Orléans Phenomenon in Great Britain
and an appendix tracing the Duke’s paintings to their current
locations, both by J. Armstrong-Totten, formerly of the Getty’s Project
for the Study of Provenance.
Giorgio Vasari (Italian, 1511–1574), Six Tuscan Poets, 1544, Oil on panel, 52 x 51 5/8 in., Minneapolis Institute of Art
Guido Reni (Italian, 1575-1642), The Meeting of David and Abigail, ca. 1615–1620, Oil on canvas, 61 1/4 x 64 1/2 in., Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
Francesco Albani (Italian, 1578-1660), Saint John the Baptist Seated in the Wilderness,
c. 1603, Oil on copper, 19 3/8 x 14 5/8 in., The John and Mable
Ringling Museum of Art, The State Art Museum of Florida, Florida State
University, Sarasota, Bequest of John Ringling
Nicolas Poussin (French, 1594-1665), Ecstasy of Saint Paul,
1643, Oil on panel, 16 3/8 x 11 7/8 in., The John and Mable Ringling
Museum of Art, the State Art Museum of Florida, Florida State
University, Sarasota, Museum purchase
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