SEULE LA VERSION ANGLAISE EST ENCORE DISPONIBLE, LA VERSION FRANCAISE EST EPUISE

En co-édition avec le Château de Versailles

Catalogue de l’exposition Le 18e aux sources du design, chefs-d’oeuvre du mobilier 1650-1790, qui se tiendra au château de Versailles du 21 octobre 2014 au 22 février. 2015.

Look and understand; discern the elegance of line, take in the design; appreciate the reasons behind the ornamentation…

The sole purpose of this book, published to tie in with a magnificent exhibition at the Château de Versailles, is to lay bare the incredible inventiveness of the century of Enlightenment, that century in which, for the first time, furniture became an art.

Architects, artists and dealers as well as ordinary craftsmen set about organising furniture and elaborating it as never before.

The eighteenth century was to turn three everyday acts – sitting, sitting at table, storing things – into an art.

Furniture changed its skin and shape. For the first time, it explored new materials, sought out new forms. It broke free of architecture, but went on playing with some of its styles.

It became movable and occasional, and the notion of comfort came into being. Furniture found its identity in everyday actions to which it was closely linked. The connection between the individual and furniture became obvious.

From its disposition to its ingenuity, and through the matchless quality of its incomparable workmanship, furniture in the eighteenth century came to be an integral part of daily life and fashion, quick to respond to changing moods and styles.

Having thus secured both a new status and recognition, it became for ever a distinct element in the intellectual process of creation.
<br PRINCIPAUX AUTEURS
Daniel Alcoufe, conservateur général honoraire
Gérard Mabille, conservateur général honoraire
Yves Carlier, conservateur en chef au musée national
des châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon
Patrik Hourcade, photographe et designer
Patrick Lemasson, conservateur en chef au musée du Petit Palais
Thibaud Wolvesperges

SOMMAIRE
Préface de Catherine Pégard
Avant-propos de Patrick Hourcade
L’étude du mobilier du XVIIIe siècle : historique
L’âge d’or du mobilier français
Partie 1 : Le XVIIe siècle
Partie 2 : Le style Louis XV
Partie 3 : Le style grec
Partie 4 : Le style Louis XVI
Biographies des artistes
Bibliographie et Index