French Sculpture Census in the USA

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The first inventory detailing the list of French sculptures conserved in the United States recently began in December of 2014, marking the end of a collaborative project between the United States and France, ten years after its initial conception.

Strong relations between the two countries since the 18th century have allowed artistic exchanges to flourish between the two countries. Covering French sculpture from the 16th century to the second half of the 20th century, this ongoing project is to be continually updated thanks to both private and public institutions, museums, foundations and private individuals.

The bilingual English-French website allows searches within the database by, country, material, author, as well as their place of birth and death for every sculpted French work of art conserved in the United States.  Today the site contains some 7,300 references and intends to reach between 15 000 and 20 000 works of art.  For the moment, certain institutions have already unveiled their collection online, including the Musée d’Orsay, the Rodin Museum, the Institut National d’Histoire de l’art  (INHA), the  Ecole du Louvre, the Nasher Sculpture Center of Dallas and the department of sculptures and decorative art of the J. Paul Getty Museum of Los Angeles.

The website is a free and accessible service, useful for researchers, universities, historians, collectors, auction houses and museums.

http://frenchsculpture.org is a project by Laure de Margerie, financed by the University of Texas in Dallas, the Nasher Sculpture Center, l’Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art, the Musée d’Orsay, l’Ecole du Louvre and the Rodin Museum.

Miniature : Vignette : DUCHAMP-VILLON, Cat (1913)