Art Of The Day Weekly
#523 - from 16 July 2018 to 5 September 2018
Skeleton in a shroud, sitting on a tomb, France, dated 1547 Ivory H. 9.6; L. 8.8; Depth 3 cm Donations baronne Henri de Rothschild, 1926 Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris © Felipe Ribon
Looking at death right in the eye
TOULOUSE – Vanitas in the past was a recurrent theme among artists in the past: whether it was the trembling flame of a candle, soap suds, a timer, or even more, a skull, were used to remind man of the inanity of their projects, in face of the abyss after death. It took a certain doses of eccentricity to collect this type of representations, and even more so if the collector was a woman born at the end of the 19th century. But the baroness of Rothschild (1874-1926) had no such fears and had had daily contact with death as a nurse during the First World War. This surprising collection of skeletons and skulls (some of them smoking a cigar) has preserved its integrity through the donation the baroness made to the museum of decorative arts (Musée des Arts décoratifs). The Japanese ivories, the tiepins, and snuff oxes are accompanied by more recent creations by Alberola or Barceló, to show the permanence of the theme.
• Même pas peur! (Not even afraid) Les collections de la baronne Henri de Rothschild at the Fondation Bemberg, from 29 June to 30 September 2018.