Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile
February 1–April 24, 2005
RELATED EVENTS AND PUBLICATIONS
All events are free and are held in the Harold M. Williams Auditorium, unless
otherwise noted. Seating reservations are required. For reservations and information,
please call 310-440-7300 or visit www.getty.edu. Tickets are available on-site or by
phone.
ARTIST-AT-WORK DEMONSTRATIONS
Drop by as artist Peter Zokosky demonstrates painting techniques used by JacquesLouis David.
Thursdays: March 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31, April 7
Sundays: March 6, 13, and 20, April 3
1:00–3:00 p.m.
Museum Courtyard
CURATORS’ GALLERY TALKS
Curators Scott Schaefer, Jon Seydl, and Charlotte Eyerman from the department
of paintings, J. Paul Getty Museum, will lead gallery talks on the exhibition
Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile. No reservations required. Meet under the
stairs in the Museum Entrance Hall.
Thursdays: February 10, March 17, and April 21
1:30 p.m.
Exhibitions Pavilion
EXHIBITION TOURS
One-hour exhibition overviews, led by gallery teachers and curators, are offered
Tuesdays–Sundays at 1:30 p.m. beginning February 8. Meet under the stairs in the
Museum Entrance Hall.
EXHIBITION VIDEOS
Watch short videos about three of David’s paintings and the stories behind them: a
young woman’s tragic relationship to her French Revolutionary father; the importance
of fashion to Bonaparte’s nieces as a statement of identity; and the psychology of a
mythological romance. Visit the resource lounge at the end of the exhibition.
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FILM SERIES
Napoleon Complex: Six Films in Search of an Emperor
This six-part film series spans two weekends with films exploring the life and times of
Napoleon Bonaparte. Presented in partnership with the UCLA Film and Television
Archive. Reservations available beginning February 24 at 9:00 a.m.
Napoleon (1927, Abel Gance)
Friday, March 4, 7:00 p.m.
Conquest (1937, Clarence Brown)
Saturday, March 5, 7:30 p.m.
Desiree (1954, Henry Koster)
Sunday, March 6, 3:00 p.m.
The Duellists (1977, Ridley Scott)
Friday, March 11, 7:30 p.m.
Waterloo (1970, Sergei Bondarchuk)
Saturday, March 12, 7:30 p.m.
The Emperor’s New Clothes (2001, Alan Taylor)
Sunday, March 13, 3:00 p.m.
GALLERY COURSE
Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile
This two-part gallery course examines the career of Jacques-Louis David, from his
beginnings as an insurgent artist bucking the ancien régime Academy system to his
mature role as a major figure in the French Revolution, his resurgence as Napoleon’s
portraitist and, ultimately, his exile in Brussels. Each session includes a lecture by Jon
Seydl, Assistant Curator of Paintings, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and gallery
discussions of the paintings and drawings in the exhibition. Course fee $20. Limited to
40 participants.
Reservations available beginning January 20 at 9:00 a.m.
Saturdays, February 12 and 19, 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Museum galleries and studios
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GETTYGUIDE™
Take a self-guided audio tour. Learn from curators how David recast himself from
French Revolutionary to Napoleon’s key image-shaper, and continued his career even
in exile. Pick up GettyGuide free in the Museum Entrance Hall or at the exhibition’s
start.
LECTURES
The Exhibitions Pavilion is open until 9:00 p.m. for these lectures.
ARTIST SERIES PANEL
Politics of Portraits
Columnist and author Arianna Huffington, guerrilla poster artist Robbie Conal, and
royal portrait painter Richard Stone discuss political portraiture in conjunction with
the exhibition. Barry Munitz, President and CEO, J. Paul Getty Trust, moderates.
Reservations available beginning January 20 at 9:00 a.m.
Thursday, February 10, 7:00 p.m.
The Anger of Achilles: How David Reinvented Tragic History Painting in Exile
Thomas Crow, Director, the Getty Research Institute, discusses Jacques-Louis David,
who had made his reputation as a painter of grand public canvases that dramatized
tragic conflicts on a scale and in a mode of address that competed with the theatrical
stage. In exile, his status in eclipse, he returned to tragedy, but now on an intimate
scale, with a newly compressed tension that competed with the triumphs of his earlier
life.
Thursday, March 10, 7:00 p.m.
Jacques-Louis David, Court Artist to Napoleon
Philippe Bordes, Professor of History of Art, Université Lyon 2, and guest curator of
the exhibition, discusses David, who although a staunch republican during the French
Revolution, was appointed First Painter to Napoleon in 1804. How did this come
about and how did he play out his role at court? A number of little-known decorative
arts projects by David will be highlighted.
Thursday, March 24, 7:00 p.m.
The Power and the Glory: David and the Arts of Fashion from Empire to Exile
Aileen Ribeiro, Professor in the History of Art at the University of London, Courtauld
Institute of Art, London, examines how David uses fashion as display, propaganda, and
nostalgia, in his work. It looks at the splendors of dress at court during the First
Empire, and discusses the links between fashion and the historical past.
Thursday, April 7, 7:00 p.m.
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POINT-OF-VIEW TALKS
Talks are held at 6:00 and 7:30 p.m. in the Exhibitions Pavilion. Sign up at the
Museum Information Desk beginning at 4:30 p.m.
Leo Braudy, author of Frenzy of Renown: Fame and Its History and Bing Professor of
English, University of Southern California, discusses heroes and fame in relation to the
exhibition.
Friday, March 4
Alex Donis, a Los-Angeles-based visual artist whose politically charged paintings have
been the center of controversy and censorship, leads a witty discussion on David,
desire, and the memory of the Parisian couture.
Friday, April 15
PUBLICATIONS
Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile
by Philippe Bordes
This 356-page catalogue of the exhibition is published by Yale University Press. Bordes
offers a new understanding of David and his creative output while under Napoleon’s
favor through his exile in Brussels. (Cloth: $75; paper: $49.50) Available in the Getty
Bookstore or by calling 310-440-7059.
Jacques-Louis David: The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis
by Dorothy Johnson, Getty Publications
This 104-page book examines this painting in the Getty collection in the context of
David's career and artistic achievements and against the broader background of the
turmoil of the time. (Paper: $19.95) Available in the Getty Bookstore, by calling 800223-3431 or 310-440-7059, or online at www.getty.edu.
RELATED EXHIBITIONS
A Revolutionary Age: Drawing in Europe, 1770–1820
January 18–May 1, 2005
This exhibition presents French, English, and Spanish drawings reflecting the social,
political, and intellectual upheavals of the late 18th century, when artists including
Jacques-Louis David, his students, and his contemporaries sought to make a modern
art out of a distant past. Classical subject matter, newly in vogue following
archaeological discoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum, was interpreted in a variety of
ways, from the spare and sculptural manner of Neoclassicism to the energetic drama
of the Romantic Movement. A Revolutionary Age complements the Premiere
Presentation exhibition Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile, and includes drawings
from the Getty’s collection by David, Jean-Baptiste Greuze, William Blake, and
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes.
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Drawn to Rome: French Neoclassical Sketchbooks and Prints
February 1–April 24, 2005
Drawn from the special collections of the Research Library at the Getty Research
Institute, this exhibition surveys sketchbooks and prints produced at the French
Academy in Rome between 1750 and 1800. During this period, pensionnaires—a
select group of student painters and architects who studied in Rome—were driven to
improve their skills and refine their aesthetics by exploring the city and filling
sketchbooks with ancient, Renaissance, and Baroque sculpture, architecture, and
painting. The exhibition calls attention to these sketchbooks and a large group of
related prints as a distinct body of work. It considers the methods by which architects
and painters such as Marie-Joseph Peyre, Jacques-Louis David, Louis Gauffier, and
Charles Percier extracted characteristics from their models and suppressed others in an
attempt to generate a new classical aesthetic.
VISIT WWW.GETTY.EDU
Visit our special exhibition Web site to learn more about David’s life and career. Zoom
in on the artist’s paintings, read excerpts from his letters and autobiography, and
explore the tumultuous historical events of his lifetime.
Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile has been organized by the J. Paul Getty Museum
and the Sterling Francine Clark Art Institute. The exhibition is supported by an
indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Beth Brett
Getty Communications Dept.
310-440-6473
[email protected]