Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature
Encyclopedia
The Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature (Museum of Hunting and Nature) is a private museum of hunting
and nature
located in the IIIe arrondissement
at 62, rue des Archives, Paris
, France
. It is open daily except Mondays and holidays, and an admission fee is charged. The museum depicts the relationships between humans and the natural environment, particularly through the traditions and practices of hunting: its purpose is to celebrate hunting and the love and preservation of nature. The museum has been characterized by the Smithsonian magazine as “one of the most rewarding and inventive in Paris," and is described in tourist guidebooks and other media as quirky, astonishing, strange and eclectic.
(1651-1655), the only private mansion designed by architect François Mansart
that still exists. Since 2002, it is also housed in the Hôtel de Mongelas (1703), as well. It opened in 1967 and was thoroughly renovated in 2007.
, and made to look like vines, antlers and tree branches. The ceiling of one room has been covered in owl feathers in a work called The Night of Diana by contemporary Belgian artist Jan Fabre, previously known for decorating the ceiling of the Royal Palace in Brussels with more than a million and a half beetle wing cases. The museum's rooms have names such as Room of the Boar, Salon of the Dogs and Cabinet of the Wolf.
The museum's chief curator is Claude d'Anthenaise.
The collection is partly made up of objects and works that were gathered personally by François and Jacqueline Sommer: their collection totalled nearly three thousand hunting-related objects, including nearly five hundred engravings.
The museum displays ancient and contemporary works together: in the Salon of the Dogs, a collection of gold dog collars throughout the ages is displayed alongside 17th-century portraits of Louis XIV's pets and a small white version of the Scottie dog sculpture Puppy by contemporary American ceramic artist Jeff Koons
. It also includes fantastical elements: an alcove dedicated to unicorns contains a small curio cabinet, the 2005 video Unicorn by French video artist Maïder Fortune, work by contemporary artist Jean-Michel Othoniel
, and a 1957 sculpture by Janine Janet.
Weapons and hunting accessories
The museum includes an array of weaponry from the 16th through to the 19th centuries, including spears, cross bows, hunting horns, powder flasks and guns. Guns include ones owned by Louis XIII, Marie-Thérèse of Austria, Napoleon Ier, and Napoleon III.
Hunting products
The museum houses hundreds of trophies and taxidermied animals from Europe, Africa, Asia and America. These include a polar bear, lion, tiger, cheetah, fox, rhinoceros, bison, water buffalo and many birds. In the Room of Trophies, Le Souillot, a wall-mounted animatronic albino boar head by contemporary French artist Nicolas Darrot, speaks to museum visitors in French.
Artistic representations
The museum includes representations of hunting and nature scenes by historically significant artists such as Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens, German Renaissance painter Lucas Cranach the Elder
, 17th century Flemish painter Frans Snyders, official 'painter of the hunt and animals' Alexandre-François Desportes
and naturalistic French Rococo painter Jean-Baptiste Oudry
, as well as contemporary artists such as Belgian multidisciplinary artist and sculptor Jan Fabre
, French glass sculptor Jean-Michel Othoniel
and contemporary French watercolour painter Francoise Petrovitch.
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
and nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
located in the IIIe arrondissement
IIIe arrondissement
The 3rd arrondissement of Paris, situated on the right bank of the River Seine, is the second smallest in area after the 2nd arrondissement. The arrondissement contains the northern, quieter part of the medieval district of Le Marais...
at 62, rue des Archives, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It is open daily except Mondays and holidays, and an admission fee is charged. The museum depicts the relationships between humans and the natural environment, particularly through the traditions and practices of hunting: its purpose is to celebrate hunting and the love and preservation of nature. The museum has been characterized by the Smithsonian magazine as “one of the most rewarding and inventive in Paris," and is described in tourist guidebooks and other media as quirky, astonishing, strange and eclectic.
Origins
The museum was founded in 1964 by wealthy French industrialist rugmaker François Sommer (1904-1973) and his wife Jacqueline, who were avid hunters and conservationists. It is operated by the Fondation de la Maison de la Chasse et de la Nature, which the couple also founded. The museum is housed within the Hôtel de GuénégaudHôtel de Guénégaud
-3rd arrondissement:At 60, rue des Archives, this Hôtel de Guénégaud was built between 1651 and 1655 for Jean-François de Guénégaud des Brosses, secrétaire du Roi, maître des Comptes and conseiller d'État, by François Mansart . It now houses the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature and the Club de la...
(1651-1655), the only private mansion designed by architect François Mansart
François Mansart
François Mansart was a French architect credited with introducing classicism into Baroque architecture of France...
that still exists. Since 2002, it is also housed in the Hôtel de Mongelas (1703), as well. It opened in 1967 and was thoroughly renovated in 2007.
Overview
The museum, housed in the limestone Hôtel de Guénégaud under a 99-year lease, is made up of multiple rooms paneled in wood and outfitted with bronze decorative fixtures designed by Brazilian sculptor Saint Clair CeminSaint Clair Cemin
Saint Clair Cemin is a sculptor.He studied at the École Nationale Superiore des Beaux Arts in Paris, France, in 1975, and moved to New York in 1978, to live and work. Saint Clair Cemin currently shows with the Brent Sikkema Gallery in New York City...
, and made to look like vines, antlers and tree branches. The ceiling of one room has been covered in owl feathers in a work called The Night of Diana by contemporary Belgian artist Jan Fabre, previously known for decorating the ceiling of the Royal Palace in Brussels with more than a million and a half beetle wing cases. The museum's rooms have names such as Room of the Boar, Salon of the Dogs and Cabinet of the Wolf.
The museum's chief curator is Claude d'Anthenaise.
The collection is partly made up of objects and works that were gathered personally by François and Jacqueline Sommer: their collection totalled nearly three thousand hunting-related objects, including nearly five hundred engravings.
The museum displays ancient and contemporary works together: in the Salon of the Dogs, a collection of gold dog collars throughout the ages is displayed alongside 17th-century portraits of Louis XIV's pets and a small white version of the Scottie dog sculpture Puppy by contemporary American ceramic artist Jeff Koons
Jeff Koons
Jeffrey "Jeff" Koons is an American artist known for his reproductions of banal objects—such as balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror finish surfaces....
. It also includes fantastical elements: an alcove dedicated to unicorns contains a small curio cabinet, the 2005 video Unicorn by French video artist Maïder Fortune, work by contemporary artist Jean-Michel Othoniel
Jean-Michel Othoniel
Jean-Michel Othoniel is a contemporary artist born in 1964 in Saint-Etienne . He lives and works in Paris.-Biography:An artist who has a passion for all sorts of metamorphoses, sublimations and transmutations, Jean-Michel Othoniel has a predilection for materials with reversible properties...
, and a 1957 sculpture by Janine Janet.
Collection
The museum is organized around three themes: weapons and other instruments of hunting such as guns and horns; hunting products such as trophies and taxidermied animals; and artistic representations of wildlife and hunting such as paintings, prints, sculptures, tapestries, ceramics and furniture.Weapons and hunting accessories
The museum includes an array of weaponry from the 16th through to the 19th centuries, including spears, cross bows, hunting horns, powder flasks and guns. Guns include ones owned by Louis XIII, Marie-Thérèse of Austria, Napoleon Ier, and Napoleon III.
Hunting products
The museum houses hundreds of trophies and taxidermied animals from Europe, Africa, Asia and America. These include a polar bear, lion, tiger, cheetah, fox, rhinoceros, bison, water buffalo and many birds. In the Room of Trophies, Le Souillot, a wall-mounted animatronic albino boar head by contemporary French artist Nicolas Darrot, speaks to museum visitors in French.
Artistic representations
The museum includes representations of hunting and nature scenes by historically significant artists such as Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens, German Renaissance painter Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder , was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving...
, 17th century Flemish painter Frans Snyders, official 'painter of the hunt and animals' Alexandre-François Desportes
Alexandre-François Desportes
Alexandre-François Desportes was a French painter and decorative designer who specialised in animals.Desportes was born in Champigneul, Marne. He studied in Paris, in the studio of the Flemish painter Nicasius Bernaerts, a pupil of Frans Snyders...
and naturalistic French Rococo painter Jean-Baptiste Oudry
Jean-Baptiste Oudry
Jean-Baptiste Oudry was a French Rococo painter, engraver, and tapestry designer. He is particularly well known for his naturalistic pictures of animals and his hunt pieces depicting game.-Biography:...
, as well as contemporary artists such as Belgian multidisciplinary artist and sculptor Jan Fabre
Jan Fabre
Jan Fabre is a Belgian multidisciplinary artist, playwright, stage director, choreographer and designer.He studied at the Municipal Institute of Decorative Arts and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp...
, French glass sculptor Jean-Michel Othoniel
Jean-Michel Othoniel
Jean-Michel Othoniel is a contemporary artist born in 1964 in Saint-Etienne . He lives and works in Paris.-Biography:An artist who has a passion for all sorts of metamorphoses, sublimations and transmutations, Jean-Michel Othoniel has a predilection for materials with reversible properties...
and contemporary French watercolour painter Francoise Petrovitch.