Robespierre's nose

 A video of  Marianne Gilchrist's excellent talk on Robespierre portraits, given in Cardiff in December 2022, has now been posted on the website of the ARBR Les Amis de Robespierre. Super-sleuthing Marianne!

Sèvres Extraordinaire! (Exhibition)

A press release has been published for a major new exhibition of Sèvres sculpture at the Bard Graduate Center, New York, which will run from 21th September 2024 to 5th January 2025.

Remembering Alistair Laing

The death has been announced of the art historian Alistair Laing, long-time curator at the National Trust and renowned expert on  French 18th-century painting, drawing and sculpture.

Policing same-sex relations - book and website

A collection of documents on the policing of homosexuality in 18th-century Paris, is published by Penn State University Press. The editor/author is Jeffrey Merrick, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. 

Versailles celebrates the horse (Exhibition)

 A new exhibition, on the role of  horses in  history opens at Versailles to coincide with the Olympic Equestrian events.  Horse in Majesty: At the Heart of a Civilisation will run from 2nd July to 3rd November and features some 300 works displayed in various different areas of the Palace. 

Exhibition on Revolutionary costume

An exhibition on Revolutionary dress will run at the Musée de la la Révolution française at Vizille, from 28th June to 10th November. 

Quentin La Tour book

A new book on Maurice Quentin de La Tour was  published on 6th June.  The volume by Xavier Salmon, Director of works on paper at the Louvre, is the first monograph on the artist since 1928.

The Swing - new insights

 In the The Burlington Magazine for May: Yuriko Jackall, former curator of French paintings at the Wallace Collection outlines new findings on  Fragonard's The swing. The article has been made freely available on the Web: 

Jefferson letter to be auctioned

A rare autograph letter from Thomas Jefferson to Tench Coxe, written from Monticello to be sold by Siegel Auctions on 27th June 2024.  

"In this letter, written in 1795, Jefferson espouses the momentum of the "ball of liberty" and denounces the "atrocities of Robespierre" and the French Reign of Terror".

Remembering Éric Hazan

 The death on 6th June has been announced of the veteran Left-wing historian and publisher Éric Hazan, who  is known particularly for his works on the history of Paris. 

Sèvres at Waddesdon (Exhibition)

 This summer Waddesdon Manor showcases the work of Louis-Denis Armand (1723-1796), an artist at the Sèvres Manufactory who specialised in birds;  the exhibition, "Flights of Fancy: Birds at Waddesdon", runs from 22nd May - 27th October. 

Marie-Antoinette documentary

An English-language versions of the 2020 French TV documentary Marie-Antoinette, les derniers secrets d'une reine has recently been posted on YouTube.