Ulrich Leben is a visiting professor and special exhibitions curator at BGC. He is a co-curator of the Hoentschel exhibition with Daniëlle Kisluk-Grosheide, and Deborah L. Krohn.

In his various roles as an influential French designer, collector, and art dealer, Georges Hoentschel introduced a learned approach to interior decoration that uniquely integrated eighteenth-century furnishings within the emerging idiom of Art Nouveau. In this gallery talk Ulrich Leben will discuss the recent research that illuminates the scope of Hoentschel’s contributions and singular place that the Hoentschel collectin (at the Metropolitan Museum) presents as a research tool for the international dissemination of “French taste.” A tasting that features new French wines will conclude the program