Of of all the museums in the Bay Area, the Legion of Honor gives the
strongest sense of being both French and 18th century. Of course it is
not; the Legion's beautiful Beaux arts building was build to commemorate
Californian soldiers who died in World War I.
But so
much in the collection is French and is reminiscent of the arts of
living in 18th century France (if you were an aristocrat or/ had lots of
money).
There is Francois Boucher's delicious painting of Marie-Louise O’Murphy, one of the many young mistresses of Louis XV.
Their collection of 18th century English and French porcelain
Prints
such at Jean-Guillame Moiette's "Sacrafice to Diana." Pen and brown ink
with white heightening on blue paper (later 18th century). Below
Or this anonymous drawing of a graceful beauty, red ink on cream laid paper.
Denis-Jean de La Villgueray may have been one of the urbane elite that visited the salon; we will never know.
Jean-Antoine Watteau (French, 1684–1721). The Foursome (La Partie
Quarrée), ca. 1713. Oil on canvas. Museum purchase, Mildred Anna
Williams Collection. 1977.8
Ranked
among the greatest artists of France, Jean-Antoine Watteau’s enigmatic
themes were popular, influential, and widely collected during his
lifetime. Born in Valenciennes, then part of Flanders, his intensely
personal style was informed by the Venetian masters, whom he studied in
Paris, and by a deep affinity for music and theater.
In this
painting, known as a fête galantes, the artist evokes an arcadian
dreamland of music, conversation and amorous dalliance. Although the
work’s title can be defined simply as a party with two couples, the
risqué implications of The Foursome remains unchanged from the
eighteenth century. This union of observation and fantasy, plus
ambiguity of intent and erotic connotations is characteristic of
Watteau’s best work.
Dalliance
in the salon? Mais bien sûr! As well as politics, witty repartee and all
the arts that made this era so delicious for the privileged.
But,
lacking Dr. Who's telephone box or a time travel machine, being at the
Legion and walking through the elegant rooms is one of the only ways we
have to mentally reconstruct that world at it's most gilded and
sumptuous.
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