Napoleon: Revolution to Empire
From June to October 2012, the treasures of the Fondation Napoléon’s collection are to fly around the world to Australia. As part of a partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, our collection is to form the centrepiece of the gallery’s Winter Masterpiece show, Napoleon: Revolution to Empire.
Napoleon: Revolution to Empire is a panoramic exhibition examining French art, culture and life from the 1770s to the 1820s. Its story runs from the first French voyages of discovery to Australia during the reign of Louis XV to the end of Napoleon’s transforming leadership as first Emperor of France. With detailed sections on the French Revolution, the Directorate, Consulate and Empire, the exhibition will present the glittering luxury of Napoleonic France and the spectacular First Couple. Always with Australia as the watermark, there will also be a strong section devoted to the flora and fauna of the newly discovered continent, the southern part of which had been named Terre Napoléon or Napoleon-land by French navigators, highlighting Josephine’s fascination for the exotic new plants and flowers of the continent and her private menagerie of kangaroos, emus and black swans.
In addition to pieces from our collection there are to be loans of incomparable interest drawn from Europe’s most important Revolutionary and Napoleonic collections, including the Château de Malmaison, Château de Versailles, Musée Carnavalet and the Musée de l’Armée in France, the Napoleonmuseum Thurgau in Switzerland, and the Museo Napoleonico in Rome.
Place: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (Australia)
Dates: 2 June – 7 October 2012
Curated by: Ted Gott and Karine Huguenaud
Scenography: Daryl Westmoore
Catalogue: published by the National Gallery of Victoria.
