Art Eyewitness Review: From Paris to Provence at the Barnes Foundation

                            From Paris to Provence:                     

French Painting at the Barnes Foundation

June 29 - August 31, 2025 

Reviewed by Ed Voves

Original Photography by Anne Lloyd

Art museums are oases of cultural and creative expression. On hot summer days, when throngs of vacationing art lovers make the trek in search of masterpieces, an art museum often is a literal oasis.The air conditioned galleries and cold drinks in the cafeteria are a welcome - and very needed - relief.

So it was, on a scorching late June morning, when we attended the press preview of the summer exhibition at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. It was fairly early in the morning, but an intensive heatwave was setting-in. It was "mad-dogs and Englishmen" weather, with hours to go until the "noon-day sun."

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 The press preview of Paris to Provence: French Painting at the Barnes 

The subject of the summer exhibition is From Paris to Provence: French Painting at the Barnes. As the assembled journalists and photographers gathered to hear Dr. Cindy Kang provide a brilliant lecture on these signature Barnes art works, everyone looked positively revived. But when we reached the third gallery of the exhibition, dedicated to Van Gogh's paintings during his sojourn in Arles, I felt an irresistible urge to put my sunglasses back-on.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Gallery view of Paris to Provence at the Barnes Foundation,

 showing four paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 1888-1890.

There, set against the glaring backdrop of a Mediterranean summer hue, were four Van Gogh icons - and I don't use that word lightly.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 The four Van Gogh paintings shown above: Still Life (1888),

 The Smoker (1888), The Postman (1889), Houses and Figure (1890).

Dr. Albert Barnes, with the advice and assistance of his friend, the artist William Glackens, purchased this select group of Van Gogh paintings. Because of the unique criteria of the Barnes Method, these Van Gogh paintings are rarely shown together. Indeed, this is likely the only time that they have ever been publicly displayed in this manner.

It was positively electrifying to see the four Van Gogh works at the press preview. Predictably, when my wife Anne and I returned for a follow-up visit, the number of art lovers lingering in front of these remarkable paintings never seemed to diminish.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 "Crowd pleasers" of the Paris to Provence exhibition, 

Vincent van Gogh's The Smoker (1888) & The Postman (1889).

As unique as is the opportunity to view these Van Gogh paintings in their present setting, the motivation for this splendid exhibition is rather prosaic. The Barnes opened its doors on May 12, 2012. The wear-and-tear of ceaseless foot traffic necessitated a major rehab of the gallery floors.

Last summer's Matisse and Renoir exhibition presented an insightful look at the relationship of these two artists. All of the works on display came from the walls of second-floor galleries at the Barnes, while the floors were refurbished. This summer, it is the turn of the first floor galleries.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)

 View of a first floor gallery at the Barnes Foundation, the display of art works reflecting the principles of the Barnes Method.

The Barnes Method of display emphasizes the relationship of works of art based on "light, line, color and space." The arrangement of the "ensembles" of paintings, sculptures, ceramics, metalwork and hand-crafted furniture certainly encourages visitors to the Barnes to view these works from unconventional perspectives.

 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022)

An ensemble at the Barnes Foundation, showing

 Van Gogh's The Postman displayed Renoir's Nude with Castenets (1918), Renoir still-lifes and a Windsor chair from the 1700's. 

Originality of thought is, obviously, a good attitude to cultivate. Moreover, Dr. Barnes aimed to promote a democratic approach to culture. To Barnes, a carved Windsor chair from the 1700's was as worthy of study and appreciation as a Van Gogh portrait. 

However, when one of the latter, in this case The Postman (Joseph-Etienne Roulin), is wedged in a corner to achieve the desire Barnes Method configuration, that can pose problems.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Vincent van Gogh’s The Postman (detail), 1889

Van Gogh painted six portraits of Roulin during the years, 1888-89, and the Barnes version is arguably the finest. The skill with which Van Gogh depicted Roulin's eyes is on such a transcendent level that clearly it was based on much more than technical skill. But if you wish to subject The Postman to prolonged appraisal in its usual setting, you risk a "crick" in the back or eye strain.

Paris to Provence provides a precious opportunity to encounter The Postman "face-to-face." At the same time, you can attempt to fathom the intangible bond between Van Gogh and Roulin which is reflected in this astonishing - yes, "iconic" - portrait.

This holds true for the other nearby Van Gogh paintings, including (or perhaps, especially) Houses and Figure which seems to be shrinking in the intense summer heat.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Gallery views of Van Gogh’s Houses and Figure, 1890

From Paris to Provence is much more than a golden opportunity to display signature works from the Barnes collection in a popular summer offering. It is a brilliantly curated exhibition charting the rise and progress of modern art in Belle Époque France. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Pierre-August Renoir's Girl with a Jump Rope (detail), 1876

The exhibition begins with a series of Renoir portraits from the 1870's and several works by Manet, an artist seldom associated with the Barnes collection. These highly accomplished works symbolize the rapid recovery of the self-confidence and prosperity of France following the disastrous Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Claude Monet's The Studio Boat (detail), 1876

Impressionism, the "new painting", spread from Paris to the surrounding countryside. The Barnes exhibit takes note of this trend with a painting of Claude Monet working in his Studio Boat near Argenteuil on the River Seine. From there, the Impressionists and post-Impressionists sought new subjects in Normandy and Brittany. The next, bold move was southward to Provence, where the tragic Van Gogh/Gauguin episode took place.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Gallery view of Paul Cézanne's Bathers at Rest, 1876-77

At this point in Paris to Provence, the reclusive Cézanne takes center stage. Choosing wisely from the incomparable holdings of Cézanne's oeuvre in the Barnes collection (61 oil paintings and 8 of his works on paper), Dr. Kang was able to illustrate the extraordinary scope of Cézanne's genius.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Two Cézanne paintings on view in Paris to Provence: 

Terracotta Pots and Flowers, 1891-92, & Bibemus Quarry, c. 1895

This brief synopsis of the exhibition is hardly "breaking" news for art enthusiasts. What is worthy of remark is the way that this time-honored narrative of early Modernism is illustrated with works from the Barnes. The result is a striking visual reinterpretation which presents a familiar story in a new light.

The selection of works of art for presentation in a special exhibition is always a complex process. In one sense, the task of the Barnes curatorial staff is both simplified and complicated by the fact that only paintings from the first floor galleries could be used. It says a lot about the strength of the Barnes collection that - under these restrictions - fifty outstanding works could be selected to illustrate the Paris to Provence theme.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 View of the Paris to Provence exhibition: (from left) Henri Matisse's

 Blue Still Life (1907) & Renoir's Nude in a Landscape, c. 1917

Yet there was a further challenge in the selection process. One of the leading figures in the southward shift was Henri Matisse. Along with Renoir, Matisse was the protagonist of last summer's exhibit, as noted earlier. Although there are several Renoir paintings in From Paris to Provence, the decision was made to limit Matisse's contribution to just one.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Henri Matisse's Blue Still Life, 1907

The choice was a wise one: Matisse's Blue Still Life. Painted in 1907, it is a sensational "balancing act", contrasting the bright Mediterranean light with deep shadow. Additionally, Blue Still Life has several of the defining hallmarks of Matisse's oeuvre, notably his love of fabrics and astute interior design sense.

One of the reasons for restricting the number of Matisse paintings and thereby conserving available wall space becomes apparent in the last gallery. Here paintings by emigre artists like Amadeo Modigliani, Chaim Soutine, Georgio de Chirico and Joan Miro are displayed.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 The final gallery of Paris to Provence, showing (from left) Modigliani's  Girl with a Polka-Dot Blouse (1919), Soutine's Woman in Blue (1919)

and Modigliani's Portrait of the Red-Headed Woman (1918)

Dr. Cindy Kang explained one of the important results of widening the focus of French art beyond the orbit of Paris. This was to create works of art which appealed to and influenced a new generation of artists at the dawn of the twentieth century. Many of these artists reversed the "southward shift" and made Paris their base of operation.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Dr. Cindy Kang at the press preview of Paris to Provence

Much of the work of this new "School of Paris" would prove unintelligible and infuriating to the French artistic establishment and public-at-large. De Chirico's cryptic Sophocles and Euripides perhaps explains why.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Giorgio de Chirico's Sophocles and Euripides, 1925

As alien and unsettling as some of the paintings in the final gallery of Paris to Provence may appear, their presence should not be unexpected. The late 19th century in France is known as the Belle Époque, but much of the beauty and joie de vivre of the era was dearly bought. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Vincent van Gogh's The Factory, 1887

Along with the four sun-drenched Provencal paintings, there is another Van Gogh which shows a grim industrial site in the suburbs of Paris. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Detail of Cézanne's Young Man and Skull, 1896-98

Nor can the sobering sight of human skulls in two of the Cézanne paintings be ignored. This was a reference to the omnipresence of death even in paradise-like surroundings - Et in Arcadia ego. For Cézanne, who aimed to paint works of art worthy of display in the Louvre, this was likely an homage to the famous paintings by Nicholas Poussin (1637-38) on this grim theme.

It would, however, be quite inappropriate to end this review of Paris to Provence on a melancholy note.

 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)

 Visitors to the Paris to Provence exhibition,

 admiring Édouard Manet's Laundry, 1876

The French painters, whose works are so beautifully displayed in this wonderful exhibition, traveled the road from Paris to Provence in search of light. The foreign artists who responded - Modigliani, Soutine, Miro, De Chirico and others (like Chagall) not represented in the exhibit - chose to paint in Paris because it was the City of Light.  

And where there is light, there is art and life.

***

Text: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved.                                                 

  Original photography, copyright of Anne Lloyd, all rights reserved. 

Introductory Image:

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Pierre-August Renoir's Luncheon, 1875. Oil on canvas: 19 3/8 x 23 5/8 in. (49.2 x 60 cm) BF45

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) The press preview of From Paris to Provence: French Painting at the Barnes.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Gallery view of Paris to Provence at the Barnes Foundation, showing four paintings by Vincent van Gogh, 1888-90.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Four paintings by Vincent van Gogh: Still Life (1888), The Smoker (1888), The Postman (1889) and Houses and Figure (1890).

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025)  "Crowd pleasers" of the Paris to Provence exhibition, Vincent van Gogh's The Smoker (1888) & The Postman (1889)

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) View of a first floor gallery at the Barnes Foundation, the display of art works reflecting the principles of the Barnes Method.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) An ensemble at the Barnes Foundation, showing

 Van Gogh's The Postman displayed Renoir's Nude with Castenets (1918), Renoir still-lifes and a Windsor chair from the 1700's.    

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Detail of Van Gogh's The Postman (Joseph-Etienne Roulin), 1889. Oil on canvas: 25 7/8 x 21 3/4 in. (65.7 x 55.2 cm). BF37

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Gallery views of Van Gogh’s Houses and Figure, 1890. Oil on canvas: 20 1/2 x 15 15/16 in. (52 x 40.5 cm). BF136

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Girl with a Jump Rope: Portrait of Delphine Legrand (detail), 1876. Oil on canvas: 42 1/4 x 27 15/16 in. (107.3 x 71 cm) BF137

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Detail of Claude Monet's The Studio Boat. Oil on canvas: 28 5/8 x 23 5/8 in. (72.7 x 60 cm) BF730

 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Gallery view of Paul Cézanne's Bathers at Rest, 1876-77. Oil on canvas: 32 3/8 × 39 13/16 in. (82.2 × 101.2 cm) BF906

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Two Cézanne paintings on view in Paris to Provence: Terracotta Pots and Flowers, 1891-92 (Oil on canvas: 36 3/8 × 28 7/8 in. (92.4 × 73.3 cm) BF235 ), & Bibemus Quarry, c. 1895 (Oil on canvas: 36 1/4 × 28 3/4 in. (92 × 73 cm) BF 34)

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) View of the Paris to Provence exhibition: (from left) Henri Matisse's Blue Still Life (1907) & Renoir's Nude in a Landscape, c. 1917.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Henri Matisse's Blue Still Life (1907). Oil on canvas: 35 5/16 × 45 15/16 in. (89.7 × 116.7 cm) BF185

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) The final gallery of Paris to Provence, showing (from left) Modigliani's  Girl with a Polka-Dot Blouse (1919), Soutine's Woman in Blue (1919) and Modigliani's Portrait of the Red-Headed Woman (1918).

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Dr. Cindy Kang at the press preview of Paris to Provence.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Giorgio de Chirico's Sophocles and Euripides, 1925. Oil on canvas: 28 7/8 × 23 5/8 in. (73.3 × 60 cm) BF575

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Vincent van Gogh's The Factory, 1887. Oil on canvas: 18 1/8 x 21 7/8 in. (46 x 55.6 cm) BF303

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Detail of Cézanne's Young Man and Skull, 1896-98. Oil on canvas: overall: 51 3/16 x 38 3/8 in. (130 x 97.5 cm) BF929

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2025) Visitors to the Paris to Provence exhibition, admiring Édouard Manet's Laundry, 1876. Oil on canvas: 57 1/4 x 45 1/4 in. (145.4 x 114.9 cm) BF957

 

Art Eyewitness Review: Firing the Imagination: Japanese Influence on French Ceramics, 1860-1910 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

 

Firing the Imagination:
Japanese Influence on French Ceramics, 1860-1910

Philadelphia Museum of Art

 August 31, 2024-August 17, 2015

Reviewed by Ed Voves

Original Photography by Anne Lloyd

Firing the Imagination is an intriguing exhibition which surveys the influence of Japanese artistic conventions on French ceramics during the age of Impressionism. Currently on view in the Colket Gallery of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA), the exhibit provides new insights on the impact of Japonisme on decorative arts and craft, rather than exclusively on Impressionist painting.

The Colket Gallery, I recently discovered, is named for Tristram Colket, a  grandson of John Dorrance, the Campbell's Soup Company founder. Mr. Colket, who died in 2020, was a generous supporter of numerous worthy causes. But he was quiet, low-keyed benefactor, whose name did not often figure in newspaper headlines or advertisements. 

By a curious twist of circumstance, a similar lack of name recognition applies to the ceramic artists whose exquisite works are displayed in Firing the Imagination.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)

Art works from the Firing the Imagination exhibit.

 At left, is a vase made by Théodore Deck & decorated by Marie-Caroline-Eléonore Escallier, c. 1870; at right, is a vase by Auguste Jean, 1885

Claude Monet, Edgar Degas and Paul Cezanne need no introduction. The same does not hold true for the remarkably long list of "potters" whose plates, vases, bowels and jardinieres grace the walls and display cases of the Colket Gallery. 

Edmund Lachenal, Ernest Chaplet, Joseph-Théodore Deck, Albert-Louis Dammouse - do these names sound familiar? Until I began visiting Firing the Imagination, I am chagrined to admit that I had not heard of a single one of these masters of art pottery.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)

A selection of ceramic plates decorated with Japanese motifs, made in France by Felix Bracquemond and the J. Viellard Co., c. 1875-1880.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)

Gallery view of the Firing the Imagination exhibition,

 showing a display of works by Edmund Lachenal, Léon Parvillée and other French ceramic artists of the late 19th century

How these beautiful Japanese-inspires ceramics found their way to the Colket Gallery is a fascinating story. It is a brilliant instance of "niche' collecting.

A New Jersey school teacher named Larry A. Simms focused his attention and financial resources on building a representative collection of works by overlooked Belle Epoque ceramic artists. With commendable generosity, Mr. Simms has donated much of his collection to the PMA. This is a major addition to the Philly Museum's impressive holdings of French nineteenth century art, brilliantly complementing its Impressionist paintings and Rodin sculptures.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)

Gallery view of the Firing the Imagination exhibition

 in the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Colket Gallery

Of the artists collected by Simms, only one approaches the renown of the Impressionist painters. This is Felix Bracquemond, whose major claim to fame is his role as one of France's leading print makers. Bracquemond also designed Japonisme-inspired dinnerware including the "Parisian" and  "Rousseau" dinner services. Both are on view in the exhibit. Yet Bracquemomd's work in ceramics is often accorded only minimal attention. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)

Gallery view of Firing the Imagination, with ceramic dinner ware, designed by Felix Bracquemond & others displayed on the walls.

Why painters, especially those working in oils, should be accorded precedence above artists engaged in other media is a question too weighty to be discussed here. But one aspect of the debate should be noted. Ceramic artists devoted themselves to a very dangerous form of creative enterprise. Until the 1970's, the glazes used to paint the various types of ceramic ware were lead-based. Inhaling the fumes during the heating process or touching dust-covered surfaces in the work room have claimed many a potter's life. 

Creating ceramics, therefore, is not a genteel, leisure pursuit. Even in today's safer conditions, it is an exacting discipline. There is plenty of hard labor involved and "brain work" too. One of the thematic displays of Firing the Imagination deals with the difficulty of using volatile, hard-to-control red glazes. 

As the exhibit wall text notes, European artists and chemists made concerted efforts during the late nineteenth century to "replicate the prized colors and surface effects of Japanese and Chinese ceramics." They were especially determined to match the deep red brown which the French called sang de boeuf, ox-blood.

Ernest Chaplet (1835-1909) led the way in developing a durable sang de boeuf glaze, for which he won a gold medal at the 1889 Paris World's Fair. Chaplet was a major innovator in the science of ceramics, though it should be noted that trying to get "just the right tone" of red still poses a challenge for potters.

A strikingly modern porcelain vase by Chaplet, drenched in sang de boeuf and dating close to the time of his award-winning success, is on view in the exhibition. If asked to date this magnificent vase, I would have thought that it had been created during the 1990's - or just yesterday!

Ernest Chaplet, Porcelain vase with sang de boeuf glaze, c. 1889

Equally impressive are examples of small vases which were glazed with traces of sang de boeuf, used to accentuate the other glaze hues. When such subtle color effects were applied to simplified, yet elegantly shaped pieces, as shown below, a true liberation of color and form occurred. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)

A selection of small vases, glazed with accents of sang-de-boeuf. The vase, second from left, was made by Théodore Deck. All others were created by Albert-Louis Dammouse.

There are several dramatic story lines to Firing the Imagination which the wall texts explain in cogent and understandable terms. The ceramic objects d'art which we see in the exhibition testify to experiments in science, especially chemistry, as well as attempts to represent nature in tangible formats similar to what the Impressionist painters were doing in two dimensions. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)

Glazed-stoneware dish, made by Albert-Louis Dammouse, c. 1900

A perfect illustration of this desire to "honor" nature is a glazed-stoneware dish, shaped like a lily-pad. It was created by Albert-Louis Dammouse around 1900, at the same time that Claude Monet was laying-out his water-gardens at Giverny. 

It is ironic that the French ceramics displayed in Firing the Imagination should have played an important role in the rise of the aesthetic of Modernism. It did not start out that way back in the 1860's when Japanese prints, followed soon after by Japanese craft objects, first reached Europe. 

Page view from Hokusai Gafu, vol. 1, 1849, an important source book for French artists, including Albert-Louis Dammouse & Felix Bracquemond

The amazement and exhilaration of European artists and the art-appreciating public in the West was so intense upon seeing the "floating world" images of Hokusai and Hiroshige that the immediate reaction was simply to imitate Japanese art. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)

Plate made by Albert-Louis Dammouse, c. 1874, 

with decorative imagery based on a drawing by Hokusai, 1849

As a consequence of this enthusiasm for the art of  the "land of the rising sun", many of the ceramic plates and vases on view in Firing the Imagination appear to be authentically Japanese. In fact, not one was made in Japan. All are examples of French decorative art, though very much in l'esprit du Japon. 

In the case of the design for the parasol-carrying Japanese lady, Albert-Louis Dammouse borrowed this directly from a book of Katsushika Hokusai's prints (shown above). This book was the Hokusai Gafu, Volume 1, published in 1849. This publication date is important because it preceded the arrival of the U.S. Navy squadron which "opened" Japan's doors to the West in 1853. 

Hokusai Gafu was intended for a Japanese audience but it was perfectly timed to "fire" the imagination of Albert-Louis Dammouse, who transposed the parasol-carrying lady from a rainy landscape to a sparkling, blossom-strewn dinner plate.

Felix Bracquemond was similarly smitten by Hokusai's image and he lifted it, almost without alteration to the elegant vase below. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Japanese masters like Hokusai should have been very flattered.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)

Felix Bracquemond's Vase, c. 1875

Real artists of talent and vision are never content to merely imitate. Very soon, French artists were drawing upon the Japanese aesthetic to create new art forms. Some of these, like the sang de boeuf-glazed vases, discussed earlier, helped set the trajectory of decorative arts towards the future.

Other French artists like Edmund Lachenel and Léon Parvillée, used Japanese motifs as a passport to realms of whimsy and wonderment that defy precise categorization - and are all the more enjoyable for just that reason. 

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)

From left, Léon Parvillée's Figure of a Guardian Lion, c. 1880;

 Edmund Lachenal's Vase, c. 1885

Léon Parvillée was a multi talented French architect who worked in the Middle East for many years, restoring historic buildings. Parvillée's spirited rendition of a Chinese guardian lion, popularly known as a "fu dog", certainly captured the ethos of the orient. But closer inspection reveals more than a touch of Gallic bravado in this feisty temple guard. The brilliant handling of the blue and yellow glazes is impressive, as well.

What Edmund Lachenal (1855-1930) intended to represent with the cheerfully bizarre vase, shown to the right of Parvillée's fu dog, is anyone's guess. The vase, shaped like a bottle gourd, was created around 1885. A gourd of the type known in Japan as a hyotan, it is symbolical of longevity and success. 

The two winged dragons, squaring-off on the gleaming blue surface of the vase are perhaps more indicative of the deep interior well into which Lachenal cast for ideas and inspiration. The winged-dragons are an indelible icon of East Asia, but here, in Lachenal's treatment, they breathe the air - and fire - of his French imagination.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)

Edmund Lachenal's Vase (detail), c. 1885

From a conventional potter's apprenticeship, with Théodore Deck, Lachenel went on to become France's leading Art Nouveau potter. His individuality and originality could not be contained, even by the vast riches of Japonisme. 

The "show-stopper" of Firing the Imagination demonstrates to perfection how Lachenal and his colleagues drew inspiration from Japanese art and then in a process of personal alchemy - which is the essence of all art - created something new, something magical, something unforgettable.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)

Edmund Lachenal's Vase in the Form of a Lantern, c. 1895

Lachenal's Vase in the Form of a Lantern is an homage to Japanese art and culture. But it is also a personal statement and a manifesto on behalf of all artists. Lachenal shows here that inspiration is only the beginning. Like the cheeky little bat hovering over the lantern's crinkled surface, Edmund Lachenal was determined to flap his creative wings - and did.

Thanks to the collecting genius and generosity of Larry Sims and this remarkable exhibition at the PMA, a vital chapter of French art has been brought to life. Little known ceramic artists have finally been given their due. And the imaginations of those fortunate to visit the Colket Gallery have been touched with fire.

***

Text: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved                                                   

Original photography, copyright of Anne Lloyd

Unless otherwise noted. all art works are from the Philadelphia Museum of Art Collection, by gift of Mr. Larry A. Simms

Introductory Image: Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Gallery view of the Firing the Imagination exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Art works from the Firing the Imagination exhibit. At left, is a vase made by Théodore Deck & decorated by Marie-Caroline-Eléonore Escallier, c. 1870. Earthenware with underglaze and enamel decoration: 10 ½ x 9 7/8 inches (26.7 x 25.1 cm); at right, is a vase by Auguste Jean, 1885. Glazed earthenware. Larry A. Simms collection.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) A selection of ceramic plates decorated with Japanese motifs, made in France by Felix Bracquemond and the J. Viellard Co., c. 1875-1880.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Gallery view of the Firing the Imagination exhibition, showing a display of works by Edmund Lachenal, Léon Parvillée and other French ceramic artists of the late 19th century

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Gallery view of the Firing the Imagination exhibition in the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Colket Gallery.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Gallery view of Firing the Imagination, with ceramic dinner ware, designed by Felix Bracquemond & others displayed on the walls.

Ernest Chaplet (French,1835-1909) Porcelain vase with sang de boeuf glaze, c. 1889. Porcelain: 11 ¾ x 10 x 10 inches ( 29.8 x 25.4 x 25.4 cm, Philadelphia Museum of Art photo.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) A selection of small vases, glazed with accents of sang-de-boeuf. The vase, second from left, was made by Théodore Deck (Porcelain: 6 x 4 inches (15.2 x 10.2 cm.). All others were created by Albert-Louis Dammouse.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Glazed-stoneware dish, made by Albert-Louis Dammouse, c. 1900. Diameter: 13 3/4 inches (34.9 cm)

Katsushika Hokusai Page view from Hokusai Gafu, vol. 1, 1849, an important source book for French artists, including Albert-Louis Dammouse & Felix Bracquemond. Open access image from Smithsonian digital library book.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Plate made by Albert-Louis Dammouse, c. 1874, with decorative imagery based on a drawing by Hokusai, 1849. Hard paste porcelain:  (diameter) 9 1/2 inches (24.1 cm)

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Felix Bracquemond's Vase, c. 1875. Made for Haviland & Co. Limoges, France.  Porcelain with hand-painted transfer images. Larry A. Simms collection.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) From left, Léon Parvillée's Figure of a Guardian Lion, c. 1880, Glazed earthenware: 8 1/4 × 9 × 5 inches (20.9 × 22.9 × 12.7 cm); Edmund Lachenal's Vase, c. 1885. Glazed earthenware: 17 3/4 × 8 3/4 × 7 inches (45.1 × 22.2 × 17.8 cm)

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Edmund Lachenal's Vase (detail), c. 1885

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Edmund Lachenal's Vase in the Form of a Lantern, c. 1895. Height: 11 1/4 inches (28.6 cm)

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Gallery view of the Firing the Imagination exhibition in the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Colket Gallery