Charles Percier: Architecture and Design in an Age of Revolutions

Although well known for his close collaboration with Pierre François Léonard Fontaine (1762–1853), this exhibition focused primarily on the individual accomplishments of Charles Percier (1764–1838), whose commissions for public and private clients significantly influenced decorative arts and architecture during an extremely turbulent and rapidly changing period in French history.

Featuring over 130 objects from principal museums and cultural institutions in France and the United States, as well as key objects from private collections, the exhibition included Percier’s designs for furniture, porcelain, metalwork, and the renovation of the rue de Rivoli—the construction of which transformed the center of Paris. Rare drawings and spectacular examples of early nineteenth-century cabinets, candelabras, and tureens will also be displayed. Examining his most seminal works, such as sketches for the arc du Carrousel, the interior designs for Josephine Bonaparte’s rooms at the Tuileries palace, and the magnificent books dedicated to Roman palaces and interior decoration, the exhibition demonstrated the diverse and extraordinary creations of an artist whose work brilliantly bridged ancien régime court culture and the industrial production of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The accompanying publication "Charles Percier: Architecture and Design in an Age of Revolutions" has been awarded the 2017 Alice Award. The book is edited by Jean-Philippe Garric, professor of history of architecture at the University of Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne and co-published by Bard Graduate Center Gallery, château de Fontainebleau, Réunion des musées nationaux–Grand Palais, and Yale University Press.