Obituary > Bernard Chevallier (1943-2024)
It was with great sadness that we learned of the accidental death of Bernard Chevallier, art historian and conservateur général honoraire du Patrimoine (Honorary Curator General of Heritage), known and appreciated by all “Napoleonists”. Born in 1943, he was initially interested in medieval history, before moving on to the 18th and 19th centuries, where he became a leading specialist in furniture and the decorative arts. After passing the curatorial exam in 1971, he spent a large part of his career at one of the quintessential napoleonic places, the Chateau de Malmaison, first as assistant curator (1980), then curator (1989) and finally director of the national museums of Malmaison and Bois-Préau (1997-2008), and as such also responsible for the Maison Bonaparte in Ajaccio, Corsica, and the Napoleonic museum on the island of Aix. He contributed significantly to the modernisation and visibility of these establishments, for which he curated a large number of exhibitions. After his retirement, he continued this activity, notably for the major “Napoléon” exhibition at La Villette in Paris in 2021.
At the same time, he had built up a body of written work, both scholarly and for the general public, with publications such as Napoléon, les lieux de pouvoir (2004), Style Empire, les arts décoratifs en France de 1798 à 1815 (2000), Douce et incomparable Joséphine (1999, with Christophe Pincemaille), L’art de vivre au temps de Joséphine (1998, Grand Prix de la Fondation Napoléon), and others. With Maurice Catinat and Christophe Pincemaille, he also produced a superb edition of the correspondance of Empress Josephine, 1782-1814 (1996). More recently, he worked on the Tuileries and the Château de Saint-Cloud.
And as Malmaison was the first institution to deposit works at Longwood House on St Helena, he worked passionately, with Michel Dancoisne-Martineau, to ensure the continuity and renown of the French National Domains on St Helena. The restorations there of the last twenty years owe much to him.
Bernard Chevallier joined the Board of Directors of the Fondation Napoléon in January 2001. He remained on the board until 2014, serving as deputy treasurer (alongside Baron Gourgaud) and vice-chairman (alongside Victor-André Masséna, Prince d’Essling). He curated the “Napoleon” exhibition organised by the Fondation in 2004 at the Musée Jacquemart-André, and a year later, co-curated the exhibition in Sao Paulo. At the end of his thirteen-year tenure the Board of Directors appointed him Honorary Director.
The Fondation Napoléon has lost a friend who was always ready to listen, and the Napoleonic world has lost a great scholar whose work will long live on in his memory.
To his children and grandchildren, we offer our most sincere condolences.
Published 11 June 2024
