ITALIAN RENAISSANCE MAJOLICAS
-THE PAUL GILLET
 COLLECTION
FROM MUSÉE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS IN LYON -
AT THE FONDATION BEMBERG

Just 20 years ago, the Fondation Bemberg opened its doors in Toulouse in one of the most beautiful Renaissance buildings, the Hôtel d'Assézat. To celebrate this anniversary and pay a tribute to its creator Georges Bemberg, its président, Guillermo de Osma, wished to invite every summer, an exhibition in relation with the most beautiful private collections from France or the world. To  initiate this new politics in the best way, the Fondation will host, from 25 June to 27 September 2015, the exhibition “Les majoliques italiennes de la Renaissance de la collection Paul Gillet” (Italian renaissance Majolicas from the Paul Gillet collection).

This selection of nearly one hundred exceptional pieces presents a panorama of Renaissance ceramics which is both comprehensive and brilliant. Paul Gillet (1874-1971), an industrialist from Lyon, started this collection at the beginning of the XXth century. These objects, that have reached us miraculously, represent one of the most beautiful collections in Europe. Paul Gillet and his widow acted as true philanthropists and left their collection to the Musée des arts décoratifs in Lyon, where it is usually kept.

Majolica is the name of these Italian ceramics that reflect the extraordinary artistic vitality of the Renaissance in the Southern peninsula. By adding the brightness of the luster and the splendor of its colors, it lends itself perfectly to ornamental or historiated decors inspired by the repertoire of the antiquity. The painters of these miniature paintings the themes from mythology, from history, as well as from fables and popular episodes or allegoric subjects.

This precious exhibition echoes the period of the Renaissance Georges Bemberg loved so. Indeed, this profoundly humanist and European collector who dedicated his life to art, was very sensitive to the universalist perspective of that time. This exhibition is in perfect harmony with the collections of the Fondation, not only its objets d’art and its Majolicas - which George Bemberg also valued greatly -, but also its collection of Renaissance bronzes and its many paintings from the XVIth century: Veronese, Tintoretto, Clouet, Cranach, among others.

Three years after the demise of its founder, the Fondation Bemberg starts another chapter of its history. A new purchasing policy and this specific exhibition clearly show its intention to further open the museum’s doors to the public to invite them to share the passion for art.