Empress Eugénie and the Arts: Politics and Visual Culture in the Nineteenth Century

 
From the publishers:
Reconstructing Empress Eugénie's position as a private collector and a public patron of a broad range of media, this study is the first to examine Eugénie (1826–1920), whose patronage of the arts has been overlooked even by her many biographers. The empress's patronage and collecting is considered within the context of her political roles in the development of France's institutions and international relations. Empress Eugénie and the Arts: Politics and Visual Culture in the Nineteenth Century also examines representations of the empress, and the artistic transformation of a Hispanic woman into a leading figure in French politics. From her self-definition as empress through her collections, to her later days in exile in England, art was integral to Eugénie's social and political position.

This work has been awarded the Fondation Napoléon prize for a book in a language other than French for 2011.

Alison McQueen is Associate Professor of Art History at McMaster University. She is author of The Rise of the Cult of Rembrandt: Reinventing an Old Master in Nineteenth-Century France.