Chine impériale

Splendeurs de la dynastie Qing 1644-1911

To mark a half a century since its creation, the Baur Foundation, Museum of Far Eastern Art, is publishing this journey into Qing-dynasty China through the famous collections in Paris museums and in the environs (Guimet, Quai Branly, Musée de l’Armée, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Château de Fontainebleau, Bibliothèque Nationale de France) as well as pieces from the Bibliothèque de Genève and others from the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The book concentrates mainly on emperors Kangxi (1662–1723), Yongzheng (1723–1736), and Qianlong (1736–1796). The topics addressed include the might of imperial power and its rites, the role of the Jesuits in the decorative arts and sciences, court paintings, the secret gardens of the Manchu emperors and their role as patrons of the arts and collectors. Imperial paintings and engravings are examined, along with silks, ceramic wares, jades, cloisonné works, fine glassware, and precious books.

Monique Crick is an art historian specialising in the art of the Far East. She has been an independent researcher working on special assignments for the Guimet Museum from 1991 to 1998 and the Cernuschi Museum from 1999. Since 2003 she has been the director of the Baur Foundation, Museum of Far Eastern Art.
Vincent Droguet has been head heritage curator at Fontainebleau Castle since 1995 and its heritage and collections curator since 2013.
Antoine Gournay specialises in the history of architecture and gardens and has been a curator at the Cernuschi Museum, in Paris. He is now professor of the History of the Art and Archaeology of the Far East at the University of Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV).
Nina Hourdin is studying for her doctorate in the History of Art at the University of Paris IV-Sorbonne under the supervision of Antoine Gournay.
Eric Lefebvre is a curator at the Guimet Museum, where he is in charge of the Chinese paintings collection. His research is centred on the history of Chinese art collections in the pre-modern and modern periods, in China and Europe.
Marie-Catherine Rey is head heritage curator and has worked in the China department of the Guimet Museum since 1993. She has organized around fifteen exhibitions and is the author of several catalogues, as well as lecturing in the Art of the Far East at the École du Louvre.