ANTICOMANIA, designed by Pier Luigi Pizzi, is the new exhibition at the Galerie J. Kugel. It illustrates the passion for Greek and Roman art that, from the Renaissance on, became the reference for ideal and unsurpassed beauty in the western world. In the history of art, all the successive styles have been alternating between periods of attraction to antiquity (Renaissance, Classicism, Neoclassicism, Empire, Art Déco) and periods of rejection and challenge towards antiquity (Mannerism, Baroque, Rococo, Art Nouveau). Thus, for centuries, each object, sculpture or painting was defined by its position towards antique art. These references, once well known by art lovers, are now relatively forgotten.

Look around you: the moulding on the ceiling, the frame around the picture, the door handle… Most of the objects surrounding us reflect over 2000 years of classical culture that defines our art, our literature, our type of government, in a word, our taste!

This view refreshes our vision on art, offering a playful and regenerative perspective. We are addressing ourselves to the new generation of collectors standing free from prejudices and bias attached to some styles or periods. Antiquity, the source of Western art, allows us to rediscover the richness and beauty in each object that forms our common heritage.

“The Kinnaird mosaics” “Mask of Oceanus” in mosaic Rome, beginning of 2nd century AD H. 74 cm (29 1/10 in.), W. 75 cm (29 1/2 in.)

One of the most ambitious projects of the Renaissance, which could be described as the birth of ANTICOMANIA, is François I’s desire to transform his Château at Fontainebleau into a “New Rome”. In 1540 he sends his favourite painter, Francesco Primaticcio, to Rome to take mouldings of the most famous Antique masterpieces and bring them back to Fontainebleau in order to cast them in bronze. This is illustrated in the exhibition by a remarkable work: the Double Head from the Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé collection. This is the only bronze by Primaticcio still in private hands. Ironically after having left Fontainebleau the head was, in the 18^th century, mistakenly admired as a masterpiece from Antiquity.

Double head in bronze Cast by Primaticcio for the château of Fontainebleau ca. 1550-1570 H. 56 cm (22 in.)	The Double Head illustrated in Caylus, Recueil d’antiquités …, Paris, 1756

The exhibition presents an exceptional group of archaeological pieces, most of them previously unseen on the market, with often prestigious provenances going back to the 17^th, 18^th or 19^th centuries, such as the Barberini Hercules or the Kinnaird mosaics.

“The Barberini Hercules” Rome, 2nd century AD H. 155 cm (61 in.)	“The Barberini Hercules” in S. Reinach, Répertoire de la statuaire grecque et romaine, tome VI, 1930

Indeed, the Galerie J. Kugel is convinced that the distinction of historical provenance will soon play a major role in valuing these antiques, eventually setting them apart from objects less well documented.

The exhibition also includes a group of busts of emperors and dignitaries from the 17^th and 18^th centuries, often displaying draperies in polychrome marble.

Monumental bust of the Emperor Commodus in polychrome marbles Rome, mid 18th century H. 91.5 (36 in.)	The bust in-situ at Hagley Hall, Worcestershire

From the 16^th century on, they decorated galleries in Italian palaces or in the Château de Versailles as well as English country houses, like the monumental bust of the Emperor Commodus from Hagley Hall.

When they could not obtain original antiques, collectors acquired replicas and reductions in bronze of the most famous masterpieces from Antiquity: the Apollo Belvedere, the Medici Venus, the Borghese Gladiator, the Farnese Flora or the Laocoon.

Laocoon from French royal collection Rome, mid 17TH century H. 46.5 (18 1/4 in.)	The Laocoon in the château de Saint Cloud. Photography ca. 1868

The Laocoon presented in this exhibition once formed part of Louis XIV’s collection. At the Révolution it was allocated to the Musée Central des Arts, predecessor of the Musée du Louvre, before being transferred in 1802 to the Château de Saint Cloud.

Giovanni Paolo Pannini (1692-1765) Capriccio with Roman Ruins Monogrammed on the base of the statue of Hercules H. 76 cm (30 in.), W. 105,5 (41 1/2 in.)

The exhibition features many examples of this passion for antique art, like the precious Dashkov Vase in sardonyx, bought in Rome in 1780 by Princess Dashkov, the best friend of Empress Catherine II, or the miniature bust in gold, amethyst, emerald and rock crystal made in Valadier’s workshop in Rome around 1780.

“Dashkov Vase” in sardonyx Probably Rome, 1st century AD H. 9,5cm (3 1/2 in.)	Watercolour of the “Dashkov Vase” Ca. 1859

The ANTICOMANIA exhibition pays tribute to the builder and first inhabitant of the Hôtel Collot. “Anticomaniac” emeritus, Jean-Pierre Collot (1764-1852) was a close friend of Ennio Quirino Visconti, the most famous archaeologist of his day who after having been part of the installation of the Museum Pio Clementino in the Vatican, followed Bonaparte to Paris and became the Louvre’s first curator of antiquities. In 1840, Collot asked Louis Visconti, Ennio Quirino’s son, to build the sumptuous palace whose façade is a neoclassical manifesto with its double colonnade of layered Doric and Ionic orders, framed by replicas of the Apollo Belvedere and the Giustiniani Minerva. Collot owned a collection of antiques comprising the celebrated Pallas Vase in porphyry, originally from the Albani Villa and once in the possession of Empress Joséphine, as well as Greek vases and antique busts that would be sold at auction following his death in 1852.

For ANTICOMANIA Alexis and Nicolas Kugel requested the advice of Daniela Gallo, Professor of Modern Art at the University Pierre Mendès-France at Grenoble II, specialist of the heritage of Antiquity in art and culture in Europe from the Renaissance to the 19th century and of neoclassical sculpture. She will contribute to the exhibition catalogue that will be available in September 2010.

Alexis and Nicolas Kugel asked Pier Luigi Pizzi, the celebrated Italian Opera director and museum exhibition designer. He conceived a showcase worthy of the masterpieces presented in the exhibition. Drawing inspiration from the greatest “anticomaniacs” such as Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Thomas Hope, the Adam brothers and the Borghese, Pier Luigi Pizzi has created a succession of rooms surrounding a monumental rotunda measuring more than 33 feet in diameter and almost as much in height.

Miniature bust of Menelas à l’antique Gold, amethyst, emerald, rock crystal Attributed to Luigi Valadier Rome, ca. 1780 Total H. 14 cm (5 1/2 in.)

Practical information:

ANTICOMANIA exhibition

Galerie J. Kugel

From 14 September until 18 December 2010
From Monday to Saturday, 10:30 am until 7 pm.

25 quai Anatole France – 75007 Paris
T. + 33 1 42 60 86 23 – galerie@galeriekugel.com
www.galeriekugel.com 

Access:
Metro: Musée d’Orsay, Assemblée Nationale
Parking: Musée d’Orsay, exit in front of 25 quai Anatole France

Press Contact:

Agence Colonnes
Claire Galimard – Emilie Jean
16 rue des Saints-Pères – 75007 Paris, France
T. + 33 1 42 60 70 10 – F. + 33 1 42 60 70 07
contact@colonnes.com – www.colonnes.com