Displaying items by tag: louis xiv

Louis XIV’s imperialist ambitions manifested themselves in every activity under his dominion, which included the production of etchings and engravings. Fully appreciating the beauty and utility of prints, he and his advisors transformed Paris into the single most important printmaking center in Europe, a position the city maintained until the 20th century. Fueled by official policies intended to elevate the arts and glorify the Sun King, printmakers and print publishers produced hundreds of thousands of works on paper to meet a demand for images that was as insatiable then as it is now.

Life with Picasso was never easy, it seems, and neither was the €52 million renovation of Paris's Picasso Museum. After five years of delays and difficulties, culminating in a public quarrel and the firing of its president in May, the museum's reopening is finally set for the artist's birthday, Oct. 25. The public will get a preview of the new interiors, before the artworks are installed, on Sept 20-21. The renovation has doubled the public space, modernized outdated facilities and added a new entrance, a multimedia auditorium and a Cubist garden with geometric topiary trees.

The museum's 17th-century hôtel particulier was built in 1659 by Pierre Aubert, a financier and adviser to Louis XIV. He was also the salt tax collector, and his extravagant mansion was quickly nicknamed Hôtel Salé (salty). The majestic staircase, based on a plan by Michelangelo, is the centerpiece, with delicate ironwork banisters and a sumptuous array of sculpted garlands, cherubs and divinities.

Sections of 18th-century gilded walls and paintings of deities are sprawled across the floor of a warehouse on this city’s outskirts. After nine decades in limbo, this architectural salvage is being reorganized into period rooms that will rival Versailles’s for inventiveness and visual impact.

The pieces came from the interior of a townhouse built near the Louvre around 1707 for Philippe II, the duke of Orléans, a nephew of Louis XIV. In the 1920s, before demolishing the building so that its own quarters could expand, the Bank of France labeled and crated the pieces and pledged to recreate the rooms elsewhere. They will re-emerge in a year or so at a government building on Rue Vieille du Temple in the Marais, about a mile from their original home.

Back in January, a 17^th century masterpiece was discovered at Paris’ legendary Ritz hotel, which is currently undergoing a major $267.5 million renovation. Olivier Lefeuvre, a specialist in the period at Christie’s France, first spotted the work, which is by the French painter and court artist of Louis XIV, Charles Le Brun (1619-1690). How the painting ended up in the Ritz remains a mystery, as the hotel archives lack any reference to the work.

The 400-year-old painting was sold by auction house Christie’s on Thursday, April 18, 2013 to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art for $1.88 million. The Met does not have any other works by Le Brun so the acquisition will be a welcomed addition to the museum’s collection of 17^th century paintings. The masterpiece is expected to go on display at the Met at the end of May.

The painting, which depicts the killing of Trojan princess Polyxena after she was linked to the death of Achilles, had hung in one of the suites at the Ritz that designer Coco Chanel lived in for over 30 years. Proceeds from the sale will go to the foundation established by Ritz owner Mohamed Al Fayed in memory of his son Dodi, the late boyfriend of Princess Diana.

Paris’ legendary Ritz hotel, which is currently undergoing a major $267.5 million renovation, has been unknowingly sheltering a 17^th century masterpiece. The work, which is believed to be by the French painter and court artist of Louis XIV, Charles Le Brun (1619-1690), was first spotted by Olivier Lefeuvre, a specialist in the period at Christie’s France. Upon seeing the painting in July, a month before the Ritz closed its doors for two years worth of renovations, Lefeuvre knew that the work had to be a Le Brun. Initials reading “CLBF,” which stands for Charles Le Brun Fecit (Le Brun did this) and a date, “1647,” were found on the work, supporting Lefeuvre’s hunch.  

How the painting ended up in the Ritz remains a mystery, as the hotel archives lack any reference to the work. While Christie’s has been unable to track down any record of the painting, officials have no doubt that the work is an authentic Le Brun. The painting, which depicts the killing of Trojan princess Polyxena after she was linked to the death of Achilles, was renamed The Sacrifice of Polyxena by Christie’s.

The Le Brun painting will be auctioned by Christie’s in Paris in April 2013 and could raise as much as $665,000 for the foundation established by owner Mohamed Al Fayed in memory of his son Dodi, the late boyfriend of Princess Diana. Dodi and Diana dined at the Ritz before their fatal car accident in 1997.

The painting will go on display at Christie’s New York location next week.