Though Vanessa Schmid could very easily and enthusiastically use hundreds of words to describe Philippe II, Duke of Orleans, and his passion for paintings, the New Orleans Museum of Art curator can boil it down to just four: “The man loved art.”
Now, she’s hoping visitors to NOMA will love art as much as he did. To honor the French duke for whom the city of New Orleans is named, as it celebrates its 300th anniversary, the museum on Friday opens the doors to an unprecedented exhibition of nearly 40 paintings from his expansive collection – many not seen in public for centuries and rarely outside of European collections.
The team at NOMA, led by Schmid, the senior research curator for European art, has spent the past several years securing loans of some of the 772 paintings the Duke acquired during his time as regent for Louis XV, the five-year-old king of France.
Philippe II served as French ruler from 1715 until his death in 1723, putting him in power when Jean-Baptiste LeMoyne, Sieur de Bienville established La Nouvelle-Orléans and named the territory in the duke’s honor. The exhibit, “The Orleans Collection,” on view at NOMA through January 27, 2019, is a fitting birthday gift for the city named in his honor.
A striking marble bust of the Duke is the first thing visitors see when they enter the exhibit, followed by his portrait, along with that of his uncle, Louis XIV (the “Sun King”) and Louis XV, who inherited the throne from his father in 1715 but was too young to reign. Schmid affectionately calls him “little Louis,” using the French pronunciation "Louie."
The Orléans Collection
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Philippe II, who was appointed to serve as Louis XV’s regent until the young king came of age, was clearly an avid collector of art, amassing a large collection of paintings and displaying them in his Parisian residence, the Palais-Royal. He employed a court painter, Antoine Coypel, and an oil sketch of what was surely a breathtaking display on the palace ceiling (titled “Assembly of the Gods”) is included in the exhibit.
Philippe II was also France’s first great collector of Dutch and Flemish art, which he displayed in his private apartments. One of those works included here is “The Triumph of Rome: The Youthful Emperor,” by famed 16th century artist Peter Paul Rubens.
The Duke also acquired more than 100 paintings from the collection of Queen Christina of Sweden, several of which are displayed at NOMA.
As was common at the time, many of the paintings reflect religious and mythological themes, including “The Birth of Bacchus” and another Italian work, “Venus Disarming Cupid,” a rendering of which will grace city bus and streetcar ads for the exhibit – no doubt turning heads with its nude figure of the reclining goddess.
Philippe II’s paintings remained in his family for two generations until his grandson, called "Philippe Egalite" (Philippe Equality) sold most of them in the early 1790s to help finance the French Revolution. Art dealers in London re-sold the paintings, first putting them on public exhibition and creating some of the first collections of art in Europe.
For this exhibit, works have been loaned from several museums around the world including the Louvre, Versailles, the National Gallery of London, the J. Paul Getty Museum and the National Gallery of Scotland. There are also 18 works from American collections including museums in California, Florida, Massachusetts, Virginia and Texas.
The closing piece in the exhibit, “The Mill,” is a well-known work by Rembrandt. Schmid said it has only left the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. three times in the past 200 or so years.
Though the Duke clearly appreciated the value of fine art, the exhibit notes that he kept this particular painting in one of his kitchens. Not exactly the place you'd expect to find this master work.
Still, it was in good company with his 771 other treasures and earns a rightful place of honor for the next four months in this crowning achievement for the city's tricentennial at NOMA.
The Orleans Collection is on view Oct. 26 through Jan. 27, 2019 at the New Orleans Museum of Art, One Collins C. Diboll Circle, City Park. In addition to museum admission, an extra $8 fee will be charged. Wednesday admission is free for all visitors from Louisiana, courtesy The Helis Foundation.
