148
PORTFOLIO
FIG. 1 (left):
François Auguste Biard
(1799–1882), Deux Indiens
en pirogue, c. 1860.
Oil on canvas. 50.2 × 61 cm.
Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques
Chirac, inv. 70.2007.42.1, acquired
in 2007.
© Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques
Chirac. Photo: Enguerran Ouvray.
PAINTINGS FROM AFAR
By Elena Martínez-Jacquet
The collection was originally put together in
the context of preparations for the International
Colonial Exhibition at Vincennes in 1931 under
the direction of Field Marshal Lyautey, who
began his work as a colonial administrator in
Madagascar before becoming the fi rst Resident
General of Morocco in 1912. Consolidated after
the transformation of the Palais de la Porte Dorée
into the Musée des Colonies (1931–1935) and
then into the Musée de la France d’Outre-Mer
(1935–1960), this fi ne arts collection was born
of the political ambition to legitimize France’s
domination over other parts of the world, particularly
in Africa and the Pacifi c. As part of an
offi cial discourse, it was articulated around two
central subjects: the history of French colonial
activity and the fascination for the exotic and its
infl uence on art, especially in the representation
of distant lands and peoples as depicted by the
traveling artist. The authors of these works—
sculptors, painters, engravers, etc.—were for the
“Dare to look in order to learn”
could have been the subtitle for the Peintures des
Lointains (Paintings from Afar) exhibition at the
Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, on view
on the West Mezzanine until January 6, 2019. Sarah
Ligner, who has been head of the Historic and
Contemporary Globalization Heritage Unit at the
museum since 2015 and is the curator of this show,
has chosen to highlight the museum’s collection of
paintings for the fi rst time. This installation presents
220 canvases and works on paper drawn from the
approximately 500 works that constitute the museum’s
holdings in this fi eld. These pieces date from
between the end of the eighteenth and the middle
of the twentieth centuries and have been little seen,
despite the fact that they include works by artists of
great renown such as Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse,
and Émile Bernard, to name just a few. The reason
for this is rooted in the history of the collection, as it
is closely tied to France’s colonial past, the memory
of which still sparks controversy.
FIG. 2 (ABOVE): Poster for
the exhibition Peintures des
lointains, on view at the
Musée du Quai Branly –
Jacques Chirac until January
6, 2018.
© Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques
Chirac.