The scenography calls for a walk around 120 works gathered under the canopy of this landscape of drunken love. Of varied period and genre, they draw the "Imaginary Loves" through the different facets of love: passion, romance, eroticism and tenderness.
The proposed new exhibition-dossier is the first of a series entitled Regard sur la collection. Every year the Avelines Museum will offer a theme in the spirit of a collector’s house. The Museum wishes to highlight works - with a narrative intention - that have remained in the reserves until then.
G.Maille (1800-1842), d'après C-M. Dubufe (1790-1864), Amour, 1831, aquatinte, inv :2018.2.1. (détail) © City of Saint-Cloud - Musée des Avelines/A. Bonnet
passion – mythological and literary loves
Greek and Roman mythology tends to define in a pictorial way the different forms of expression of passions. Eros is a subject of choice for the many painters and sculptors of the Renaissance in the classical age.
Benoît Audran (1661-1721), after Pierre Mignard (1612-1695). Les Plaisirs des jardins, avant 172, Eau-forte et burin, 25 x 60 cm, Saint-Cloud, Musée des Avelines, inv. 2008.0.3 © Ville de Saint-Cloud – Musée des Avelines / A. Bonnet
At the Château de Saint-Cloud, Mars and Venus accompany Graces and Loves is the centerpiece of Monsieur’s living room – also known as the Salon de Mars – decorated by Pierre Mignard (1612-1695) in the years 1677-1678. This type of allegorical decoration also applies to the monuments of the young century of industry such as the buffet of Gare de Lyon. The ceiling of the dining room was to symbolically trace the line from Paris to Marseille by the evocation of the cities stages.
Around 1899, Guillaume Dubufe (1853-1909) carries out an astonishing sketch in which Lyon appears in a circular space under the features of a naked and red pagan, next to a silky loom, while at the opposite of the decor a Marian procession proceeds; a small Eros the laurel crown.
Guillaume Dubufe (1853-1909). Sketch for the Lyon station buffet, circa 1899. Oil on canvas, Ø 73 cm, Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, inv. PDUT1409 © Paris Musées / Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris
Love and romantic intrigues are inspiring subjects for all authors, from the first Christian writings to the most accomplished expressions of the so-called courteous love in the 15th centurye century. The theme of love even in death constitutes a leitmotif since the middle of the XIXe century.
William Fel (1885-1957), The Death of Beatrice, 1920. Illustration of Albert Samain’s Unfinished Poems (1858-1900). Taille douce, 21 x 33 cm, Saint-Cloud, Musée des Avelines, documentary collection © Ville de Saint-Cloud – Musée des Avelines / A. Bonnet & Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827-1875), Flore accroupie, (post-1870), Porcelaine dure, biscuit de Sèvres, 46 x 27 x 18 cm Saint-CloudCloud, museum of Avelines, inv. 527 © City of Saint-Cloud – Musée des Avelines / A. Bonnet
Romance – Romantic Walks
When love becomes romance, it expresses itself through the transport of the soul, from oneself to the beloved. With its parks and gardens, Saint-Cloud is the privileged place of the galantes walks whose tradition is fixed from the XVIIe a century within the bourgeoisie and aristocracy, as an extension of courteous love.
Gaston La Touche (1854-1913). Les Amoureux, 1893. Pastel on canvas, 80 x 43 cm, Saint-Cloud, Musée des Avelines, inv. 2021.3.3 © Ville de Saint-Cloud – Musée des Avelines / A. Bonnet & Albert Duvivier (1842-1927) after Édouard Dantan (1848-1897), Je vous aime, 1884. Illustration of the book A Page of Love, Volume I, by Émile Zola (1840-1902). Eau-forte, 30.5 x 21.5 cm, Saint-Cloud, Musée des Avelines, documentary collection © Ville de Saint-Cloud – Musée des Avelines / DR
The Demosthenes Lantern, eighteen metres high and perched on the roundabout of the balustrade in Saint-Cloud Park, inspires an anonymous author’s gouache that wonderfully suggests the close connection between the decoration and the characters that seem to emanate from it. Gaston La Touche (1854-1913) tints his works with romantic realism as suggested The Lovers.
La Lanterne de Démosthène, between 1803 and 1814. Gouache on paper, 55.8 x 78.8 cm Saint-Cloud, musée des Avelines, inv. 95.5.1 © Ville de Saint-Cloud – Musée des Avelines / A. Bonnet
fantasy – the sensual love
Sensuality is a powerful engine of artistic expression. At the end of the nineteenth century, psychoanalysis began to overcome the symbolic aspect of images through the expression of fantasy.
The illustrated narrative is mainly produced by male artists, for an audience that is also. In this sense, William Fel is also associated with the publishing of Poèmes (1917) of the Academician Henri de Régnier. Its headers and lamp ends are placed next to aquatints according to the drawings of Gaston La Touche. Between the two artists, the styles differ but are unified by the use of the same colors that testify to a collective thought, probably born closest to the author.
Louis Mortier, after Gaston La Touche (1854-1913), L'Heure Heureux, before 1917. Illustration of the work Poèmes d'Henri de Régnier (1864-1936). Aquatinte, 30.5 x 22.8 cm, Saint-Cloud, Musée des Avelines, cat. 04.4.10 © Ville de Saint-Cloud – Musée des Avelines / DR & William Fel (1885-1957). Illustration of the book Poèmes d'Henri de Régnier (1864-1936). Lithograph, 30.5 x 22.8 cm, Saint-Cloud, Musée des Avelines, inv. 2016.2.8 © Ville de Saint-Cloud – Musée des Avelines / DR
tenderness – love subsidiaries
The representation of the child surrounded by the affection of his loved ones is a subject that fascinates creators of all disciplines. The Avelines Museum preserves a Virgin to the child of the Sienese school where mystical love and maternal love are one. Apart from religious subjects, the intimate setting of the house becomes from the 16the century a protected space of representations of moments spent with children. Protected space, even for the Great when it comes to getting out of power.
Sienese school. Virgin to the child, 13th century. Tempera reported on wooden panel, 36 x 27 cm, Saint-Cloud, Musée des Avelines, inv. 69.1.9 © Ville de Saint-Cloud – Musée des Avelines / A. Bonnet
The Château de Saint-Cloud, for Napoleon I, is a privileged resort to interact with the one called "Aiglon" since its birth on March 20, 1811. A set of four engravings depict the father and his son in a tender reciprocity, set against the backdrop of the emperor’s work cabinet. The theme of youth holds artists who deliver touching portraits of children, alone or within their own families. Often carrying a sociological message, the works depicting the family circle constitute a singular exercise in an artist’s career, such as self-portrait.
Programming related to the exhibition
Junior side Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays or during school holidays, the museum offers children’s workshops. Information and reservations on 01 46 02 67 18
The representations of love- National Ceramic Museum in Sèvres with "Porcelain Love".
On the occasion of the exhibition "Amours imaginaires", the Ceramic Museum offers visits of its collections, under the theme of love, followed by a visit of the workshops of the manufacture.
Saturday 13 May from 18h to 22h - European Night of Museums : 18h-19h: Budding mediators, 19h30-20h30: Concert "Les cordes de l'âme" in partnership with the Conservatoire de Saint-Cloud, by Véronique Ghesquière and Marta Power, harpists (free)
Saturday 3 June at 4pm - Go to the gardens : On the paths of love. Poetic walk in the Avelines garden by the Compagnie du Chapeau de paille, followed by a snack from the basket (1h - free)
Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 September: the European Heritage Days (JEP) are the occasion to celebrate Napoleon III, who died 150 years ago. An entire room allows to discover the intimacy of the emperor.
Musée des Avelines, Saint-Cloud art and history museum, Jardin des Avelines, 60, rue Gounod - 92210 Saint-Cloud, tel: 01 46 02 67 18. Museum open from Wednesday to Saturday from 12h to 18h - Sunday from 14h to 18h (free entrance)
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