French Sculpture Census

French Sculpture Census, a digital archive, cataloging French sculpture in American public collections, is a project directed by Laure de Margerie, and funded by the Nasher Sculpture Center,^[1] the Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art, the Musée d'Orsay, the Ecole du Louvre, and the Musée Rodin^[2][3][4]

Started in September 2009,^[5] in December 2014, French Sculpture Census went online, providing information and images for 7,000 works of French sculpture in American collections,not only museums, but also historic houses, government buildings, corporate collections, and public space, dating from 1500, collaborating with 280 museums.^[6] The site has both French-text and English-text. Searches locate artists, locations, sculptures, places of birth, places of death, gender, sculpture type, medium, period, and plain-text.^[7] The site provides bibliographies, current exhibitions lists, and a glossary.^[8]

June Hargrove, Professor Emerita of Art History at the University of Maryland, participates in the Advisory Committee of the French Sculpture Census.^[9][10]

Laure de Margerie

Laure de Margerie, was Senior Archivist and head of the Sculpture Archives at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris,^[11] from 1978 through 2009, curating the exhibition Facing the Other: Charles Cordier (1827-1905), Ethnographic Sculptor (Paris, Quebec City, New York, 2004/05). De Margerie worked as archivist in charge of historic buildings in Normandy in Rouen (1983-1985). De Margerie oversaw rights and reproductions at the National Archives in Paris (1991-1992). De Margerie was awarded a fellowship at the Clark Art Institute (2000/01). De Margerie was the Sculpture and Decorative Arts Department guest scholar at the J. Paul Getty Museum^[12] in Los Angeles, CA (Fall 2011).^[13][14]

References

1. "French Sculpture Census". Nasher Sculpture Center. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
2. "French Sculpture Census". Musée Rodin (in French). Retrieved 28 November 2021.
3. "List of American exhibitions on French sculpture and French seminal exhibitions, since 1853". French Sculpture Census. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
4. "Interview with Laure de Margerie". Cultural Services. Embassy of France, Washington, D.C. Retrieved 28 November 2021. The University of Texas at Dallas renumerates me part-time, finances part of the travel, and computer equipment. THe Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas just financed programming development between the database and the internet, the creation and the hosting of the site. The (French) National Institute of Art History (INHA) brings in crucial funds that allow me to pay those artists' rights whose work is not yet part of the public domain. The Musée d'Orsay furnishes assistance for the development and the maintenance of the database. The Rodin Museum will finance a researcher who will devote himself to the Rodin files. And the partnership with the Ecole du Louvre permitted 15 interns to study themes related to the Census or to important museum collections.
5. "Issue 118". Newsletter. Henry Moore Institute. March–April 2015. Archived from the original on 29 April 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2021. French Sculpture Census Now Online: ... The database lists French sculpture dating between 1500-1960 that can be found in American public collections, museums, public buildings, historic homes, or displayed in public space. French here is understood in a broad sense to mean artists who are French-born, with acquired French citizenship, or working mainly in France. The bilingual website provides information on 7,000 sculptures created by 700 sculptors and housed in 300 locations. Started in September 2009, the completion date is estimated to be summer 2019. The completed census is expected to number approximately 15,000 records.
6. "Census of French Sculpture in American Collections". The Edith O’Donnell Institute of Art History. The University of Texas at Dallas. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
7. Price, Gary (4 January 2015). "French Sculpture Census, World's First Comprehensive Digital Archive of French Sculpture in America, Launches in Cooperation with Six American and French Institutions". infoDOCKET. Library Journal. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
8. "French Sculpture Census". Visual Resources Center, Department of Art History. University of Chicago. 19 May 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
9. "June Hargrove". Center for the Study of Material and Visual Cultures of Religion. 19 September 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
10. "June Hargrove". Department of Art History & Archaeology. University of Maryland. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
11. "Nasher to participate in French Sculpture Census". The University News. Retrieved 28 November 2021. The University of Dallas' student-run newspaper
12. Feigenbaum, Gail (9 March 2021). Getty Research Journal, No. 13. Getty Publications. ISBN 978-1-60606-716-1.
13. "360 Speaker Series: Stories From The French Sculpture Census". timeout.com/dallas. February 21, 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
14. "European Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings". Cincinnati Art Museum. Retrieved 28 November 2021.