Immarcescible
Limoges enamels from the Renaissance and their collectors
Limoges enamels from the Renaissance have fascinated people for five centuries with their enduring brilliance and their ability to transcend time. The new exhibition at Galerie Kugel traces their history, as well as that of their passionate and visionary collectors.
In an 1866 poem addressed to the enamel painter Claudius Popelin, Théophile Gautier celebrates “the imperishable enamel”—this vitrified material whose brilliance defies the centuries. At the end of the 15th century, Limoges, already renowned for its medieval enamels, developed a new way of painting on copper. The works gathered in this exhibition cover a century of excellence, from 1520 to 1620, marked by the rise of this distinctly French art. Copper, coated with colored glass fired in a kiln, produces a smooth, glossy, and unalterable surface: neither light, nor air, nor time can alter its deep colors and the delicate golds enhanced by the brush. Thus, one holds in one’s hands an imperishable image, in the most concrete sense: unalterable, it will not fade.
Renaissance Limoges enamels have long been a specialty of the Kugel Gallery. In the 1990s, Hubert de Givenchy sold his famous Boulle cabinet with its Apollo chariot and the enamel collection it contained to Alexis and Nicolas Kugel. He had an overflowing passion for these pieces, particularly those in grisaille, bucking the trend of a then-dormant market, and had assembled a remarkable collection. Presented at the 1994 Biennale des Antiquaires, it was not dispersed: the Kugel brothers sold it all at once, in the opening hours, to Pierre Bergé. The news of this spectacular sale was enough to revitalize the market for Renaissance Limoges enamels.
The exhibition offers the general public a unique opportunity to discover over 70 pieces. From the creation of these objects to the present day, the richly illustrated catalogue accompanying the exhibition will trace periods of enthusiasm and neglect, demonstrating that in each generation, a few curious and discerning collectors are all it takes to revive this timeless beauty. Many of their names are still familiar: the various branches of the Rothschild family,
J. P. Morgan, Henry Clay Frick, William Randolph Hearst, Hubert de Givenchy, Pierre Bergé, and Yves Saint Laurent… And, of course, dealers like the Kugels, who have rediscovered the enduring brilliance of this art.
