Museum of Decorative Arts, Paris, France
Inaugurated on 29 May 1905 in the Marsan wing of the Louvre Palace, the Musée des arts décoratifs de Paris is located on rue de Rivoli. It is a Parisian museum whose aim is to promote the fine applied arts and to develop links between industry and culture, creation and production. The museum pursues the objective that presided over its foundation: "to maintain in France the culture of arts that pursue the realization of beauty in the useful". It is part of the larger Union centrale des arts décoratifs (UCAD), a private association founded in 1882.
Iparművészeti Múzeum, főbejárat
HISTORY AND COLLECTIONS
During the realization of the Grand Louvre project, the museum was extensively refurbished in 1996, with the final installation of the Fashion and Textile Museum for its reopening in January 1997.
The collections
The museum's collections are very diverse and include approximately 150,000 objects, 6,000 of which are on display to the public. They are divided into five chronological departments (Middle Ages-Renaissance, 17th-18th century, 19th century, Art Nouveau-Art Deco, Modern-Contemporary) and five thematic departments (graphic arts, jewellery, toys, painted paper, glass) to provide a chronological overview of the evolution of artistic production in all its aspects in the decorative arts from the Middle Ages to contemporary design: Painting, sculpture, furniture, tableware, graphic arts, gold and silverware, glass, ceramics, wallpaper and tapestry are represented in the collections. Most of the museum's collections are the result of the many gifts and bequests it has received since it was founded, and they therefore also reflect the tastes of collectors over the years. The museum also houses the Jean Dubuffet donation and the Toy Museum. It also houses works by the youngest artist to have exhibited in the museum in 1987, the sculptor Emmanuel Collin.
Painting
The museum's collection of paintings is spread throughout the chronological course of the collections, covering the period from the 13th to the 20th century, with numerous Spanish, Italian and Flemish Gothic panels as well as works by painters such as Lucas Cranach the Elder(Venus and the Honey-stealing Love), Jan van Kessel, Alessandro Magnasco, Alexandre-François Desportes, Charles de La Fosse, Jean-Baptiste Oudry, François Boucher, Giambattista Tiepolo, Giandomenico Tiepolo, Hubert Robert, Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg, Bernardo Bellotto, Gaspare Diziani, Jacques-Louis David, Paul Gauguin, Henri-Edmond Cross, James Ensor, Henri Matisse, and of course Camille Moreau-Nélaton, Jean Dubuffet and Jean Dupas.
Jewellery Gallery
The museum houses the Jewellery Gallery, which consists of 4,000 pieces from Antiquity to the modern era, of which around 1,200 are on display. The tour is chronological and offers a panorama of jewellery and its history from the Middle Ages to the contemporary period. However, some of the showcases also present the production of jewellery from the raw materials and precious or fine stones used. The collections include representative pieces from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, a fine collection of 18th-century jewellery and a wide range of 19th-century pieces. Art Nouveau is represented by an exceptional collection of jewellery created by Georges Fouquet, Lucien Gaillard, Vever and René Lalique. Art Deco and 1930s jewellery is also well illustrated. Donations were important for the constitution of the gallery, notably from jewellery houses such as Cartier, Boucheron, Van Cleef & Arpels, Jar, Chanel, Mellerio and Lorenz Baümer.
Toy gallery
In the Toy Gallery, you will find a collection that has been built up since 1905, and which today includes more than 12,000 games and toys dating from the mid-19th century to the present day. These have been brought together thanks to donations from enthusiasts and collectors as well as from manufacturers and toy workshops. This collection is presented through two annual thematic exhibitions.
Jean Dubuffet Collection
Jean Dubuffet is one of the major French artists of the 20th century, who decided in 1967 to donate his personal collection to the museum, representative of his work since the beginning of his artistic career. It consists of 21 paintings, 7 sculptures and 132 drawings from 1942 to 1966.
