Event
In September 2022, the Mobilier National, the French National Furniture Collection, lended and shipped the Savonnerie carpet Les Javels from the Elysee Palace in Paris to Villa Albertine in New York.
It was for the double occasion of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 77) and the visit of the President of the Mobilier National, Hervé Lemoine.
Was also organized at Villa Albertine, a conversation on French decorative arts and contemporary design featuring Hervé Lemoine, President of the Mobilier National, Paris; Wolf Burchard, Associate Curator, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and Julien Gardair, Artist.
They talked about the rich history of the Savonnerie carpet manufactory and the Gobelins tapestry manufactory where for more than 400 years, prestigious carpets and tapestries have been woven by hand by skilled weavers. Wolf Burchard depicted the origins of the Manufactory of the Kingdom and the relationships between Louis the XIV, Jean-Baptiste Colbert and Charles Le Brun. Hervé Lemoine presented how Today, the extensive collection of the Mobilier national furnishes the palaces of the republic and the offices of senior government officials.
Wolf Burchard also wrote a text to be published in the new Villa Albertine Mook.
French-born, Brooklyn-based artist Julien Gardair makes carpets, paper cutouts, paintings, sculptures, video, and everything in between. This proclivity for smooth sail between forms in context of specific sites globally paired with his insatiable explorations, make his body of work versatile, whimsical and layered.