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“This isn’t your grandmother’s china—unless, of course, your grandmother was the queen of France,” quipped Lance Esplund of the Wall Street Journal in his review of Bard Graduate Center’s current exhibition of “French ceramic splendor.” According to Esplund, “Few exhibition titles merit exclamation points. … Sèvres Extraordinaire! Sculpture from 1740 Until Today … live[s] up to the hype.”
Apollo magazine has shortlisted Sèvres Extraordinaire for its Exhibition of the Year Award. In her review, Rachel Hunter Himes said that the exhibition “proves that there is a piece of French porcelain for every occasion, be it formal, witty, serious or slight.” She continued, “By insisting that we see this porcelain as sculpture, the exhibition’s curators dispute the second-class status often assigned to decorative art. It’s a chance to expand our understanding of what sculpture is, how it’s made (not just by one set of hands, but by many and in multiples), and where it goes. Although all porcelain is collaborative, requiring the specialised labour of many hands, the designers take top billing. Names such as Boizot and Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard (the son of the painter) lent the manufactory prestige in the 18th and 19th centuries. Visitors to the exhibition might also note two vases by Auguste Rodin, whose beginnings as a decorative sculptor have been overshadowed by his later career. Despite this long history of artist collaborations, it’s still a pleasant surprise to see the names of modern and contemporary artists—Louise Bourgeois, Yayoi Kusama—attached to Sèvres objects.”
And in the New York Times, Will Heinrich included Sèvres Extraordinaire on his list of headliner shows for fall and noted that its “nearly 200 objects, including many never before seen outside France, chart the history of the Sèvres Manufactory and its beautiful ceramics.”
Sèvres Extraordinaire! Sculpture from 1740 until Today presents the history of the Sèvres Manufactory and its production of extraordinary sculptural objects in various ceramic pastes. Organized by Sèvres, Manufacture et Musée nationaux, and Bard Graduate Center, the exhibition is the first outside of France to highlight the production of sculpture made at the famed porcelain manufactory.
From extravagant Rococo to restrained Neoclassical, from romantic, neo-Gothic inventions to the elegant curves of the Art Nouveau or the geometries of the Art Deco, and in partnership with artists associated with Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, and Pop art, Sèvres has continually pushed the boundaries of ceramic production, creating objects that are neither functional nor decorative but rather art that it simply calls “sculpture.”
Apollo magazine has shortlisted Sèvres Extraordinaire for its Exhibition of the Year Award. In her review, Rachel Hunter Himes said that the exhibition “proves that there is a piece of French porcelain for every occasion, be it formal, witty, serious or slight.” She continued, “By insisting that we see this porcelain as sculpture, the exhibition’s curators dispute the second-class status often assigned to decorative art. It’s a chance to expand our understanding of what sculpture is, how it’s made (not just by one set of hands, but by many and in multiples), and where it goes. Although all porcelain is collaborative, requiring the specialised labour of many hands, the designers take top billing. Names such as Boizot and Alexandre-Évariste Fragonard (the son of the painter) lent the manufactory prestige in the 18th and 19th centuries. Visitors to the exhibition might also note two vases by Auguste Rodin, whose beginnings as a decorative sculptor have been overshadowed by his later career. Despite this long history of artist collaborations, it’s still a pleasant surprise to see the names of modern and contemporary artists—Louise Bourgeois, Yayoi Kusama—attached to Sèvres objects.”
And in the New York Times, Will Heinrich included Sèvres Extraordinaire on his list of headliner shows for fall and noted that its “nearly 200 objects, including many never before seen outside France, chart the history of the Sèvres Manufactory and its beautiful ceramics.”
Exhibition Description
Sèvres Extraordinaire! Sculpture from 1740 until Today presents the history of the Sèvres Manufactory and its production of extraordinary sculptural objects in various ceramic pastes. Organized by Sèvres, Manufacture et Musée nationaux, and Bard Graduate Center, the exhibition is the first outside of France to highlight the production of sculpture made at the famed porcelain manufactory.
From extravagant Rococo to restrained Neoclassical, from romantic, neo-Gothic inventions to the elegant curves of the Art Nouveau or the geometries of the Art Deco, and in partnership with artists associated with Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, and Pop art, Sèvres has continually pushed the boundaries of ceramic production, creating objects that are neither functional nor decorative but rather art that it simply calls “sculpture.”
