Thu, May 9, 6 pm | Reynolds Lecture Hall
The Emperor’s Horse: Establishing the True Provenance of a Sporting Art Masterpiece
with Dr. Sylvain Cordier, Paul Mellon Curator and Head of the Department of European Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Dr. Sylvain Cordier, Paul Mellon Curator and Head of the Department of European Art, will delve into the fascinating and complex history of Alfred Dedreux’s portrait of Napoleon III’s favorite horse, including his discovery that the iconic equine portrait had been stolen from a family of Jewish art dealers in Paris during the Nazi occupation. After exploring how The Emperor’s Horse encapsulates the pageantry of court life under France’s Second Empire, Dr. Cordier will relate the painting’s theft to the broader history of looted art with a behind-the-scenes look at the research methods and resources museums now use to identify stolen artworks and determine legitimate ownership.
To register, please select the date of the lecture, May 9, on the calendar below.
Modernism’s Ambivalences: Charles Ethan Porter’s "Chrysanthemums", c. 1881