MUSEUM OF DECORATIVE ARTS OF FRANKFURT PRESENTS ANDRE-CHARLES BOULLE AND THE ART OF HIS TIME

THE FIRST EVER RETROSPECTIVE ABOUT ANDRE-CHARLES BOULLE, THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS CABINETMAKER OF ALL TIME, OPENED ON 28.OCTOBER. WITH A SCENOGRAPHY BY DESIGNER JUAN PABLO MOLYNEAUX, IT TAKES PLACE IN THE MUSEUM OF DECORATIVE ARTS OF FRANKFURT, THE STUNNING EMBLEMATIC BUILDING CREATED BY RICHARD MEIER. THE EXHIBITION 'ANDRE-CHARLES BOULLE AND THE ART OF HIS TIME, A NEW STYLE FOR EUROPE' IS THE FRUIT OF THE COMBINED EXPERTISE OF A FRENCH GROUP, THE ASSOCIATION ANDRE-CHARLES BOULLE AND THE MUSEUM OF DECORATIVE ARTS FRANKFURT. MOST OF THE WORKS ARE SHOWN FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND SOME HAVE NEVER BEFORE LEFT THE COUNTRIES WHERE THEY ARE CONSERVED -- THIS IS THE CASE FOR THE LOANS FROM THE STATE HEMITAGE MUSEUM IN SAINT PETERSBURG, THE MOBILIER NATIONAL IN PARIS, THE CHATEAU OF VERSAILLES ET TRIANONS, THE MUSEUM OF FINE ART IN BOSTON AND OTHER MAJOR CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS. IN ALL, NEARLY 30 INTERNATIONAL MUSEUMS WHOSE NAMES BRING TO MIND THE TREASURES OF THE WESTERN CIVILIZATION, AND A FEW EMINENT PRIVATE COLLECTIONS FROM SEVEN COUNTRIES WILL HAVE PERMITTED THE COMING OF THE AMAZING MASTERPIECES. THE EXHIBITION ASSEMBLES SOME 60 EXCEPTIONAL PIECES IN FLORAL MARQUETRY, IN TORTOISESHELL AND BRASS MARQUETRY OR GILT BRONZE, TAPESTRIES AND PAINTINGS, THEY ILLUSTRATE THE CULTURAL BEACON THAT WAS PARIS AT THE TIME, AND THE GENESIS OF A NEW EUROPEAN AESTHETIC. A RARE COLLECTION OF ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY ANDRE-CHARLES BOULLE'S CONTEMPORARIES FROM THE MUSEUM OF DECORATIVE ARTS IN PARIS AND BERLIN WILL COMPLETE THE INCREDIBLE ENSEMBLE.
EVEN BEFORE HE WAS 30 YEARS OLD, THE NAME OF ANDRE-CHARLES BOULLE (1642-1732), FOUNDER, CHASER, GILDER, SCULPTOR AND 'MARQUETER ORDINARY' TO THE KING, WAS FAMOUS THROUGHOUT EUROPE. IN 1672 LOUIS XIV GRANTED HIM A WORKSHOP INSIDE THE LOUVRE PALACE. HIS TOTALLY INNOVATIVE GENIUS IN THE CONCEPT OF FORMS WAS PAIRED WITH AN UNHEARD OF VIRTUOSITY IN THE USE OF GILT BRONZE, WHICH HE WAS THE FIRST TO UNITE WITH MARQUETRY ON THE BACKGROUND OF TORTOISESHELL. HIS CREATIONS WERE THE ABSOLUTE SUMMIT OF OPULENCE AND ELEGANCE, COMBINING EXTRAORDINARY FORMS WITH MATERIALS VERGING ON THE PRECIOUS, AND THE TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE NEVER ACHIEVED AGAIN SINCE. DISPLAYED TODAY IN THE GREATEST MUSEUMS OF THE WORLD, AND SYMBOLS OF THREE CENTURIES OF FINANCIAL AND SOCIAL SUCCESS.