November 2001 - Nr. 11
Muenster Museum Exhibits Lacquer Collection of ill-fated Queen
TWIG - A priceless collection of Japanese lacquer ware that was divided and dispersed during the French Revolution has been brought together again by a museum in Muenster. Once owned by Marie Antoinette of France, the 100-piece collection is currently on display at the Palace of Versailles and will be shown at the Muenster Museum for Lacquer Art from January 20 to April 1.
"When the Revolution broke out in 1789, palaces were plundered, valuable artworks sold, collections destroyed and dragged off to all corners of the globe," says museum director Monika Kopplin, who researched and organized the exhibit. "The queen had the presence of mind to rescue these pieces, which a Paris art dealer brought to safety at different locations." The greater part of the collection was recovered and placed in the Musée du Château de Versailles, the Musée Guimet des Arts Asiatique and the Louvre.
Marie Antoinette inherited the core of the collection, consisting of about 50 pieces, from her mother, Empress Maria Theresa, in 1781. She purchased the rest with her husband, Louis XVI, from Paris art dealers over the next few years. "So the exhibit not only documents the era’s enthusiasm for East Asian art," explains prime minister Kurt Beck (SPD) of Rhineland-Palatinate, commissioner for German-French cultural exchange. "It also illuminates a chapter in the life of the queen, bearing witness to her trend setting taste and her extravagant love of art."
