Les salles consacrées au mobilier des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles au musée du Louvre sont organisées selon un parcours chronologique rythmé par de spectaculaires period rooms, où de somptueux décors de boiseries provenant d'hôtels particuliers et de palais princiers parisiens du XVIIIe siècle ont été remontés. Reconstitution d'une époque révolue, évocation d'une ambiance disparue, elles mettent en scène quelque deux mille oeuvres du département des Objets d'art, formant l'une des plus belles collections au monde de meubles et d'objets d'art allant du règne de Louis XIV à celui de Louis XVI. Les arts de la table, les somptueux meubles d'André-Charles Boulle et ceux de Charles Cressent sous la Régence, les plus belles porcelaines et tapisseries issues des manufactures royales, offrent un large panorama des décors intérieurs, de l'artisanat du luxe et du commerce d'art qui incarnent un " moment de perfection de l'art français " jusqu'à la veille de la Révolution.

A desire for intimacy in domestic spaces – motivated by a growing sense of individualistic expression, an incentive to conceal the labor or enslavement taking place, and an appetite for solace and comfort – led to interiors taking on more specific roles in the eighteenth century. By examining the architectural, visual, and material culture of eighteenth-century spaces, Intimate Interiors foregrounds the interrelated concepts of intimacy, privacy, informality, and sociability in order to show how these ideas played an increasingly integral role in the period's architectural and material design. Across eleven innovative chapters that explore issues of gender, politics, travel, exoticism, imperialism, sensorial experiences, identity, interiority, and modernity, this volume demonstrates how intimacy was a fundamental goal in the planning of private quarters. In doing so, the political nature of private spaces is uncovered, whilst highlighting the contradictions and complexities of these highly performative “private” interiors. Employing distinct methodological perspectives across various geographical sites, from Turkey to Versailles, Britain to Benin, Intimate Interiors draws as-yet untraced connections between Enlightenment Europe, imperial outposts, and major metropolitan centers across the globe.

La rénovation des salles du mobilier du XVIIIe siècle au Musée du Louvre a été achevée en 2013. Cet ouvrage accompagne leur réouverture, présentant le parcours chronologique proposé par la nouvelle muséographie. Il laisse apparaître la grande richesse de la collection, organisée selon les règnes des rois de France, Louis XIV, Louis XV et Louis XVI.

Histories of artists’ personal possessions shed new light on the lives of their owners. Artists are makers of things. Yet, it is a measure of the disembodied manner in which we generally think about artists that we rarely consider the everyday items they own. This innovative book looks at objects that once belonged to artists, revealing not only the fabric of the eighteenth-century art world in France but also unfamiliar—and sometimes unexpected—insights into the individuals who populated it, including Jean-Antoine Watteau, François Boucher, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, and Elisabeth Vigée-LeBrun. From the curious to the mundane, from the useful to the symbolic, these items have one thing in common: they have all been eclipsed from historical view. Some of the objects still exist, like Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s color box and Jacques-Louis David’s table. Others survive only in paintings, such as JeanSiméon Chardin’s cistern in his Copper Drinking Fountain, or in documents, like François Lemoyne’s sword, the instrument of his suicide. Several were literally lost, including pastelist Jean-Baptiste Perronneau’s pencil case. In this fascinating book, the authors engage with fundamental historical debates about production, consumption, and sociability through the lens of material goods owned by artists. The free online edition of this open-access publication is at www.getty.edu/publications/artists-things/ and includes zoomable illustrations. Free PDF and EPUB downloads of the book are also available.

Vividly illustrated, this is the first comprehensive catalogue of the J. Paul Getty Museum’s celebrated collection of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century French silver. The collection of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century French silver at the J. Paul Getty Museum is of exceptional quality and state of preservation. Each piece is remarkable for its beauty, inventive form, skillful execution, illustrious provenance, and the renown of its maker. This volume is the first complete study of these exquisite objects, with more than 250 color photographs bringing into focus extraordinary details such as minuscule makers’ marks, inscriptions, and heraldic armorials. The publication details the formation of the Museum’s collection of French silver, several pieces of which were selected by J. Paul Getty himself, and discusses the regulations of the historic Parisian guild of gold- and silversmiths that set quality controls and consumer protections. Comprehensive entries catalogue a total of thirty-three pieces with descriptions, provenance, exhibition history, and technical information. The related commentaries shed light on the function of these objects and the roles they played in the daily lives of their prosperous owners. The book also includes maker biographies and a full bibliography. The free online edition of this open-access publication is available at getty.edu/publications/french-silver/ and includes 360-degree views and zoomable high-resolution photography. Also available are free PDF and EPUB downloads of the book, and JPG downloads of the main catalogue images.