Gainsborough, Reynolds, Turner ... All the big names in British painting are coming together. From September 11 to February 16, the Musée du Luxembourg, in Paris, hosts an exhibition called "the golden age of British painting". 68 masterpieces from the 18th and 19th centuries were lent by the prestigious Tate Modern Museum in London for five months.
This collaboration is exceptional. "It's amazing for us to lend as many paintings," said Martin Myrone, chief curator of English painting at Tate. "There are empty walls at home in London but we are going to fill them in. What is really important, especially now, is to be able to celebrate English culture and highlight its diversity and quality", adds -t it.
Tate has generously lent its masterpieces
The Tate asked the French museum to create a "dream list", a list of his desires. "We started working on a list of dreams that already included Reynolds Archers ," says Cécile Maisonneuve, Scientific Advisor at the Réunion des Musées Nationaux. This painting, also called Colonel Acland and Lord Sydney , is the highlight of the exhibition. There are two aristocratic men shooting in the forest.
© Tate, London, 2019
The London museum has shown the same generosity for the works of the painter William Turner. "We thought that the Tate would not let go of a big Turner, we chose a small one and the Tate offered us a big one," says Cécile Maisonneuve. Visitors will be able to say thank you to the English, because the final result of the exhibition is sublime.