Admire, understand, follow the lines, grasp the design, appreciate the alignment of the decorative features… This album, published for the sumptuous exhibition presented at the Palace of Versailles, has one purpose: to reveal the incredible inventive power of the Enlightenment, a century when, for the first time, furniture became art.

At the time, men, some of them architects, others artists, others merchants or just simple artisans, began to organise furniture, working like never before.

Furniture changed its skin, furniture changed its morphology. For the first time, furniture explored new materials, sought new lines. It moved beyond architecture, but also interacted with it while following evolving styles. It became mobile, fleeting; comfort was created. Everyday gestures are intimately connected to furniture, whose identity is revealed here. The relationship between the individual and furniture becomes obvious.

Between layout and creativity, and through the incomparable quality of the expertise, through moods and styles, 18th-century furniture has truly become part of our customs and fashions. It achieved a new status and was recognised, and now it will always be defined as part of the intellectual process of creation.

Authors : Daniel Alcouffe, Gérard Mabille, Yves Carlier, Patrik Hourcade, Patrick Lemasson,
Coeditors : Faton - château de Versailles

ISBN : 9788278441994
Number of pages : 47
Date de publication : 2014
Dimensions: 21 x 28,5 cm
Languages : french