Cécile Léon Art Projects

2013
Fantasy World – Chinoiserie

French interest in Chinoiserie is a history stimulated by the enthusiasm for objects imported from China: the brilliant colors of pagodas, dragons and chimera have long enlivened French interiors, particularly the Courts of Louis XIV and Louis XV. Chinoiserie’s Golden Age came as Rococo triumphed in France (1725-1750). Imported objects were transformed by talented designers before becoming objects recreated in France: a distinctive Chinoiserie blending real and imaginary sources.

François Boucher can be considered the movement’s best representative, developing as of 1730 a fascinatingly joyful Chinoiserie inspired by his collection of imported objects. The exhibition retraces the history of the French taste for Chinoiserie, underlining the close bonds between China and France in the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries.

François Boucher
A Chinese Dance, c. 1742
Oil on canvas, 41 x 54.5 cm

Macao Museum
25/05 – 18/08/2013
(extended to 25/08)

Exhibition presented by:
Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government
Macao Museum

Curated by:
Thibaut Wolvesperges

Co-organized by:
Cité de la Céramique – Sèvres et Limoges
Les Arts Décoratifs, musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris
Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques
Musée des Beaux-Arts et d’Archéologie, Besançon

In collaboration with Cécile Léon Art Projects

catalogue:
Texts by Thibaut Wolvesperges and Joseph Ting
Edited by Cécile Léon Art Projects
Editorial Coordination: Priscilla Fougères
Graphic Design: Colombe Salvaresi
Macao: Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government, 2013
Trilingual Edition Chinese-Portuguese-English. 196 p.
ISBN 978-99937-0-180-4