As France and China exchange criticism in the run-up to the Olympics, an exhibition at the Hong Kong Museum of Art highlights the two nations' long-standing cultural ties. Paris 1730-1930: A Taste for China traces the fascination in France with Chinese art and its influence on French culture between the 18th and the 20th centuries.
Part of Le French May festival and co-organised by the Musee Guimet in Paris, the show also commemorates 160 years of French presence in Hong Kong and highlights the cultural impact of China in Europe.
The show presents more than 170 assorted artworks from the Musee Guimet, the French national museum of Asian art, and 13 other institutions including the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay and the Centre Pompidou. The artefacts, which include exquisite porcelain, fashion items, furniture, prints, drawings and ancient bronze items, are arranged in chronological order to show an evolution of the French elite's taste for Chinese art.
'This is the second part of our exhibitions in Hong Kong,' says Musee Guimet chief curator Jean-Paul Desroches. 'In 1997, we organised the exhibition From Beijing to Versailles: Artistic Relations between China and France, highlighting the east-west artistic exchanges from the Silk Road to the decorative arts of the Qing court under the influence of the Jesuits. This exhibition picks up from where that left off.'
The French royal families were the first to acquire Chinese art. Like his grandfather, Louis XIV, the regent Philippe d'Orleans (1674-1723) was a sinophile with a rich collection that included countless pieces of Chinese porcelain, many of which were made-to-order with his coat of arms.
The French East India Company ships later imported Chinese commodities to France and wealthy merchants on the Brittany coast followed the royal penchant for Chinese art and personalised crockery services of up to 400 pieces.
Many Chinese designs were adapted to European tastes and needs. Ornate gilded bronze decorations and stands were added to imported Chinese porcelain ware, or a lacquer panel was attached to a commode in the development of chinoiserie - a fanciful European interpretation of Chinese style.
