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An exceptional exhibition in Australia, co-organised by the National Gallery of Victoria and the Fondation Napoléon
By the time these words have arrived in your inbox, one of the most important Napoleonic exhibitions of the last few decades will be officially open at the National Gallery of Victoria, in Melbourne, Australia. Between June and October, several hundred items gathered from all over Europe and Oceania will be on display to the public in an exhibition entitled "Napoleon: Revolution to Empire". Our Australian friends (and of course our non-Australian friends, if you happen to be over that way) will have the opportunity to see in the flesh some of the most celebrated paintings, most remarkable objets d'art, and most symbolic and moving historical items of the period. Moreover, the exhibition - curated and organised by a team of world-renowned professionals - takes place in a most magnificent museum, the NGV (which each year organises an extremely ambitious "European" or "American" exhibition). French museums and institutions that have lent items for the event include the Musée de l'Armée, the Châteaux de Versailles, Malmaison and Fontainebleau, the Louvre, and of course, the Fondation Napoléon.
Just a few hours ago, Victor-André Masséna, Prince d'Essling and president of the Fondation Napoléon, officially opened the exhibition, which our institution is honoured to be co-organising. Earlier this week, Peter Hicks and François Houdecek arrived in Melbourne to join up with Muguette Jumeau and Karine Huguenaud, who have been over there for the last two weeks. Working with the NGV team presided over by Allan Myers, President of the NGV Council of Trustees, and the gallery's director, Dr Gerard Vaughan, these two ladies have in no small way contributed to the success of the exhibition. The exhibition's grand public opening will take place tomorrow (that is to say, in just a few hours, given the time difference).
The Fondation Napoléon is extremely proud to have been involved from the very beginning in this most astounding and henceforth successful project.
Thierry Lentz
Director, Fondation Napoléon
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NAPOLEON: REVOLUTION TO EMPIRE
Grand opening ceremony
The grand opening of the exhibition "Napoleon: Revolution to Empire" took place on 31 May 2012, with Victor-André Masséna, Prince d'Essling and president of the Fondation Napoléon, Peter Hicks, Karine Huguenaud, Muguette Jumeau, and François Houdecek in attendance on behalf of the Fondation Napoléon. The event proved a resounding success, with the press opening attended by over one hundred journalists, far more than usual for an NGV Winter Masterpiece exhibition. The exhibition formally opens to the public on Saturday 2 June. Photos from the opening can be found on our Facebook page.
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Interview with Ted Gott
Ted Gott, senior curator of International Art at the NGV and co-curator of "Napoleon: Revolution to Empire", recently took a few moments out of his busy schedule to chat to napoleon.org about some of his favourite items that the gallery has managed to borrow for the event, and some of the challenges behind putting together an exhibition of this magnitude. In amongst discussion of platypuses, confusing skeleton clocks, and grognards, we also found out what the trickiest item he has ever had to install for an exhibition was, and what it takes to move a giant bronze bust weighing one tonne.
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Preparing for the exhibition
Those looking to prepare their visit to "Napoleon: Revolution to Empire" will find plenty of information and background details on the dedicated minisite produced by the NGV. An audio guide for Apple devices, narrated by the Australian actress Rachael Blake, will be available for download once the exhibition is open to the public (it will also be available via iTunes). It is also possible to purchase your tickets online via the Australian branch of Ticketmaster, thereby avoiding any queues and allowing you to stroll straight into the exhibition. You can start getting in the mood for the magnificent spectacle awaiting you with footage from the stunning video and lights display screened outside the gallery back in May. And finally, if you are in the area this weekend, don't forget to head along to the symposium which takes place tomorrow and features talks from members of the NGV and Fondation Napoléon team.
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PAINTING OF THE MONTH
La comtesse Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély, by François Gérard
At the very end of the 18th century, Gérard put to one side history painting and executed some remarkably beautiful portraits. Indeed, he became famous through his portraiture, and it was to this that he owed his appointment as official portrait painter to Napoleon, the imperial family and the great dignitaries of the Empire. After renditions such as The Painter Isabey and his daughter and Larévellière-Lépeaux, Gérard took as his model the sensuous wife of Regnaud de Saint-Jean d'Angély, Augustine-Françoise-Eléonore de Guesnon de Bonneuil, known as Laure de Bonneuil.
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SEEN ON THE WEB
History Today Student Page: the Napoleonic Era
The History Today website regularly features a selection of educational resources for students and teachers alike. One of their recent updates is an extensive list of articles on the Napoleonic era taken from their archives. Those who want to catch up on everything that History Today has to offer will find plenty of reading material on the period, including articles on the curious judicial headache Napoleon's surrender to the Royal Navy in 1815 gave British authorities, Napoleon's reputation as a military commander, and a "what if" imagining of what might have happened had the French emperor landed on British soil.
200 YEARS AGO
War of 1812: Madison's war message to the Senate
The outbreak of hostilities following the failed Peace of Amiens had left the United States of America caught between British dominance of the seas and the French-imposed Continental System. The rights of American trading ships were violated on numerous occasions by both French and British forces seeking to impose their control and weaken that of their opponent: as a result, in 1807 President Thomas Jefferson announced an embargo on all American ships leaving American territory in the hope that European trade would be severely weakened. As it was, the American economy suffered, and a number of abortive attempts were made in 1810 to resurrect American trade across the Atlantic. Finally, faced with the choice of backing down on the embargo or forcing Britain to back down, on 1 June 1812 the American president James Madison submitted his war message to the Senate, outlining a declaration of war on Britain.
His message described "a series of [British] acts hostile to the United States as an independent and neutral nation" and emphasised how the US' maritime rights had been violated:
"Our commerce has been plundered in every sea, the great staples of our country have been cut off from their legitimate markets, and a destructive blow aimed at our agricultural and maritime interests [...] Not content with these occasional expedients for laying waste our neutral trade, the cabinet of Britain resorted at length to the sweeping system of blockades, under the name of Orders in Council, which has been molded [sic] and managed as might best suit its political views, its commercial jealousies, or the avidity of British cruisers."
In short, Madison made it clear that Britain's conduct amounted to multiple acts of war:
"We behold, in fine, on the side of Great Britain, a state of war against the United States, and on the side of the United States a state of peace toward Great Britain."
Hostilities were formally declared on 18 June 1812, thereby officially opening a new theatre of war in the Napoleonic conflict.
The full text of Madison's message can be found here (external link).
150 YEARS AGO
The Treaty of Saigon
Following the fall of Vinh Long in March 1862, the Vietnamese emperor Tu Duc was moved to treat with the French forces in the area. The subsequent Treaty of Saigon, agreed on 5 June 1862 despite Tu Duc's reluctance, saw Saigon, parts of southern Cochinchina and the island of Poulo Condor (known today as Con Son Island) become French territory. The treaty also secured the opening of three ports - Tourane (today Da Nang), Ba Lat and Quan-nam - to French trade and access to the Mekong river. Catholics were granted the freedom to practise their religion. These concessions were however followed by a period of anti-French insurrection in Cochinchina. This guerrilla resistance - which Bonard, the French admiral in charge of the expedition, alleged was supported in secret by the Vietnamese emperor - continued to break out sporadically over the next couple of years. The resistance was used by the French occupation authorities to justify taking control of three further provinces - Chau Doc, Ha Tien and Vinh Long - in Cochinchina in 1867. The Treaty of Hué, which confirmed the agreements made in Saigon, was signed on 14 April 1863.
Wishing you an excellent "Napoleonic" week,
Peter Hicks & Hamish Davey Wright
Historians and web-editors
THE NAPOLEON.ORG BULLETIN, N° 629, 1 - 7 JUNE 2012
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© This Napoleon.org weekly bulletin is published by the Fondation Napoléon. Reproduction or all or part of this bulletin is forbidden, without prior agreement of the Fondation Napoléon.
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OPERATION ST HELENA
The Fondation Napoléon and the Souvenir Napoléonien, in association with the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have announced an international fund-raising campaign to restore and save Napoleon I's residence on the island of St Helena. All the details regarding the campaign as well as donation forms and advice for donating from outside France, can be found on napoleon.org.
FONDATION NAPOLEON ON THE WEB
Each week we offer you a "mystery link" to somewhere on napoleon.org. Click on the link to discover a part of the website you might not have visited before...
MAGAZINE
Press review
- Reviews in History: Liberal Epic: The Victorian Practice of History from Gibbon to Churchill, by Edward Adams
- Reviews in History: online Dictionaries of National Biography
Seen on the web (external links)
- Full text of James Madison's message to the Senate, 1 June 1812
- Daniel Propper's L'Echo des batailles on forgotten records
EVENTS
On now and coming up
A selection of events taking place now or in the coming weeks, taken from our What's on listings.
Conferences
- The Society for the Study of French History, 26th Annual Conference - "France and Its Neighbours: Towards a Transnational History", York, UK [01/07/2012 - 03/07/2012]
Full details
Exhibitions
- "Napoleon: Revolution to Empire", Melbourne, Australia [02/06/2012 - 07/10/2012]
Full details
- "Algeria, 1830-1962, featuring Jacques Ferrandez", Paris, France [16/05/2012 - 29/07/2012]
Full details
Talks
- 2012 Duldig Lecture: "Modelling liberty – Clay sculptures in the prisons of the French Revolution", Melbourne, Australia [02/06/2012]
Full details
- "Napoleon: Revolution to Empire" introductory symposium, Melbourne, Australia [02/06/2012]
Full details
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