Elder Elliot Adair in Oklahoma: Oklahoma City Museum of Art: "Princely Treasures: European Masterpieces 1600-1800 from the Victoria and Albert Museum"

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Oklahoma City Museum of Art: "Princely Treasures: European Masterpieces 1600-1800 from the Victoria and Albert Museum"

Direct from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London comes "Princely Treasures: European Masterpieces from 1600-1800," an exhibition at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Oklahoma City is the only American stop on the international tour of this exhibition. According a story in The Oklahoman, the exhibition features approximately 80 works from the London gallery's extensive collection of decorative art, divided into five areas: “Princely Patronage,” “Power and Glory,” “Religious Splendor,” “Display in the Interior” and “Fashion and Personal Adornment.”

Princely Patronage presents key figures from the princely courts who were the great patrons of the arts in Europe between 1600 and 1800. This is seen in objects such as Fan Leaf, an image of the Marquise de Montespan surrounded by luxurious items painted on vellum from 1674, and François Boucher’s portrait painting of Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour, 1758.

Power and Glory explores how military power was celebrated and representations of war were used to decorate objects commissioned for courtly use, from armour and weapons to tapestries and paintings. Highlights include a tapestry woven in wool titled The March, 1718–19, which is from a series known as “The Art of War” and measures over twelve feet high, and pair of carved walnut and silver flintlock pistols by Jean Baptiste La Roche from 1760, which bear the royal arms of France and Louis XV’s monogram and portrait.

Religious Splendor reveals the nature of objects made for worship, commissioned by secular or ecclesiastical patrons for public or private devotional use. Highlights include Charles Le Brun’s painting The Descent from the Cross, 1642–45, and a silver-gilt monstrance from 1705 by Johannes Zeckel.

Display in the Interior presents furniture, textiles, and ceramics made for use in palaces and noble residences, either for decorative or social purposes. This is seen in objects such as a commode with gilt-bronze mounts by Charles Cressent of 1745–50, a cabinet on stand by Pierre Gole of 1661–65, and a cotton, dyed and quilted bedcover made in India, 1725–50.

Fashion and Personal Adornment reveals the care and attention aristocratic men and women took to dress in fashionable style. This includes a 1760 silk and linen lined sackback gown from London, a silk satin waistcoat from 1730–39, and a gold, painted enamel, gilt-metal watch with brass and blued steel from 1636–1670.

The exhibition is currently on display through May 13, 2012. For information on visiting the Museum of Art, including hours, admission, parking, etc., check here.

And here are two good videos about the exhibition, one from the OKCMOA and the other from The Oklahoman. But best of all, check out a series of photographs of the exhibition, courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, after the jump.