Open every day, except
Mondays, from 10am-5:40pm. 8 rue Elzévir, 75003.
Métro: Saint-Paul
Ernest
Cognacq and Marie-Louise Jay made their fortune in a decidedly
20th-century way by selling mass-produced goods in the very modern La
Samaritaine department store. When it came to their own shopping
tastes, however, the couple preferred the one-of-a-kind and the
custom-made, and their taste
in art and furniture was far more old-fashioned. Between 1900 and 1925,
they amassed one of the finest private collections of 18th-century
painting
and objets d'art, which the couple then donated
to the city of Paris. The Cognacq-Jay's collection is now
beautifully installed in four
floors of the restored Hôtel Donon. It doesn't take a big leap of
the imagination to see and feel what daily home life for members of the
ancien régime must have been like before the Revolution
luxuriating in a Louis XVI chair covered with Beauvais tapestry made
after designs by Oudry and Boucher, checking the time on a stunning
mantle clock by Sèvres, penning a brief note on a Boulle bureau
inlaid with ivory, and settling in, after a
long hard day, on a royal bed à la Polonaise. (There is a
magnificent one on the Cognacq-Jay's third floor which once belonged to
the Madame Adelaïde, aunt to the king).
Thanks to a stunning collection of
portraits by Fragonard, Nattier,
Gérard, Labille-Guiard, and Van Loo, we also get a vivid sense
of
what these people looked like. Artists paid meticulous attention to
sumptuous
details in the clothes and jewelry of their sitters, so the paintings
will
also interest budding fashion historians. Our favorites were the
personalities
captured in still fresh-looking pastels by Quentin de la Tour (room
12),
and the wacky genre scenes by Hubert Robert, including one of an
archaeologist
falling from the temple frieze he is studying (room 9). Works by Greuze
and Watteau round out these highlights. Like the rococo style itself, there are
many hidden surprises here,
so take your time when exploring each of the intimate rooms. Don't miss
the series of vitrines showcasing precious snuff boxes, pocket watches,
and tiny enamel portraits, tucked away in a hall space on the third
floor
(room 16).
donated
to the city of Paris.
