BICENTENARY

Six works from the Pasteur Museum on display in the Petit Palais for the exhibition "Albert Edelfelt, Lights of Finland"

From March 10 to July 10, 2022, the Petit Palais is hosting an exhibition on Albert Edelfelt, with a special section on the Portrait of Louis Pasteur, Edelfelt's best known work, which explores the huge impact the painting had at the Paris Salon in 1886. The exhibition, an official Pasteur2022 event, also features six works from the Pasteur Museum, five of which were painted by Albert Edelfelt.

After the retrospectives for Swedish painters Carl Larsson and Anders Zorn, and The Golden Age of Danish Painting, the Petit Palais is continuing its exploration of Nordic artists. This new exhibition, organized with the Helsinki Ateneum Art Museum, is dedicated to Albert Edelfelt, one of Finland's most celebrated painters.

Around a hundred works showcase Edelfelt's career and demonstrate the artist's major contribution to the recognition of Finnish art in the late 19th century.

Among the works on display, one portrait particularly stands out and has its own dedicated section in the exhibition: the Portrait of Louis Pasteur. In 1885, celebrated and praised by critics and the public alike for his portraits, Albert Edelfelt chose to immortalize the scientist, a legendary figure of the time who had just developed the rabies vaccine. His portrait, a visual allegory of science in progress, met with resounding acclaim at the 1886 Paris Salon and sealed Edelfelt's reputation. The painting was subsequently bought by the French government and earned Albert Edelfelt the Legion of Honor. It has since been held at the Musée d'Orsay. The second original produced for Pasteur in 1887 by Albert Edelfelt and Hélène Schjerfberck (1862-1946) was displayed and kept in the main dining room at the Pasteur Museum.

Six works have been loaned by the Institut Pasteur to the Petit Palais for the exhibition, making this one of the museum's most significant loans in recent years.

-     Portrait of Louis Pasteur with his granddaughter Camille Vallery-Radot, painted by Léon Bonnat in 1886, which was also presented at the 1886 Paris Salon.

-     Portrait of Jean-Baptiste Pasteur, painted by Albert Edelfelt, 1881.

-     Portrait of Marie Pasteur in mourning, painted by Albert Edelfelt, 1899.

-     Portrait of Doctor Emile Roux giving a class, painted by Albert Edelfelt, 1895.

-     Portrait of Camille Vallery-Radot, painted by Albert Edelfelt, 1901.

-     Portrait of René Vallery-Radot, painted by Albert Edelfelt, 1888.

 

These paintings, which reflect the close relationship the painter enjoyed with Louis Pasteur and his family, were all removed from the Pasteur Museum on February 28 under the supervision of the museum's teams, by specialist contractors commissioned by the Petit Palais. Each painting was transported in a specially made wooden crate with suitable protective materials.

During the installation of the works

 

 

"The Pasteurian Spirit" lecture on May 24 at 12.30pm

 

To coincide with the exhibition, six lectures will be held from March to June in the Petit Palais auditorium (click here for the full program, p. 18). These include a lecture entitled "The Pasteurian Spirit," held on Tuesday May 24 at 12.30pm, which will be presented by Jean-François Chambon, Vice-President Communications – Scientific Outreach, and Erik Orsenna, Institut Pasteur Ambassador. The lecture, one of the commemorative events held to mark the bicentenary of Louis Pasteur's birth, will focus on the major discoveries of the renowned scientist, who also played a key role in Albert Edelfelt's career.

 

Find out more
 

Link to the exhibition website

Link to the press release

Link to the press kit

 

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