Exhibitions at French Maritime Museums
PARIS
« The Lapérouse mystery, a south Pacific investigation »
(March 19th – Oct 20th 2008)
The Musée National de la Marine invites you, for the last weeks, to experience the legend and emotion of a mythical voyage with its exhibition "The Lapérouse mystery, a South Pacific investigation."
Underwater archaeologists working on the shipwreck site have uncovered barter objects, tools and instruments that accompanied Lapérouse's expedition. After an extraordinary voyage of discovery around the world, they had lain two centuries in the silence of the ocean. Now these poignant objects recount the true fate of Lapérouse and his unfortunate companions.
The spectacular scenography, spread over 1,000 sq. m., is divided into stages illustrated by virtual or real images, sound and some striking reconstructions, including the site where La Boussole now lies. Visitors will "dive" down to its wreck.
Lapérouse's expedition, its preparation, progress and ports of call, the ships' dramatic and long unelucidated disappearance, and the artefacts brought to the surface by underwater investigations will engross and enthrall.
« Albert Marquet, itinéraires maritimes » (2008 October 15th – 2009 February 2nd)
The Musée National de la Marine reveals to the public the maritime aspect of the work of painter Albert Marquet (1875-1947). This exhibition, carried out thanks to loans from museums and private French collections, is a premiere. To illustrate the maritime stopovers of Marquet and his stylistics choices, to restore his own vision of the landscapes he contemplated, 70 paintings, 33 watercolours and about thirty drawings were selected, supplemented by lithographies on maritime subjects, which reveal an unknown side of Marquet’s work.
Many of the loans authorized exceptionally by private individuals are new.
The exhibition is a portrait of an artist without emphase with the heart of contemplative in unison with the marine element, in search of life and tranquillity.
« Débarquements » (2008 October 21th – 2009 February 9th)
The exhibition “Débarquements” is an opportunity for the public to understand the concept of unloading maritime and its complex evolution throughout the ages. Visitors are guided through a chronological course divided into 5 pilot sequences, from the Middle Ages to our near future.
BREST
« De Brest en Terre Adélie » (2008 October 30th – 2009 February)
In 1948, French Polar Forwardings and the Navy organize a scientific campaign to the Adélie coast. Leaving Brest, this mission of wintering is the first organized by France since Dumont d' Urville discovered the Adélie coast a hundred years earlier.
Arrived too late, the polar ship Commandant Charcot did not manage to pass the pack in order to reach the “white continent”. Renewed the following year with the same objective, the mission is then a success. As part of the Fourth International Polar Year, the Musée National de la Marine will present these two campaigns through the photographs of Luc-Marie Bayle, then lieutenant and painter of the Navy.
ROCHEFORT
« Charles Lapicque, peintre de la marine » (May 30th – Dec 31th )
Independent character, philosophical spirit, scientist, Lapicque reflects on the vision of colors, the appearance of shapes, the movement and the simultaneity of actions. He makes of his own art an experiment, a prolongation of his questions as a physicist. The exhibition presented at the museum of Rochefort develops into two topics: Lapicque painter of the sea (regattas, studies of waves, seagulls and gulls) and Lapicque painter of the Navy (operations and sights taken on board).
TOULON
« André Hambourg (1909-1999), embarquement & escales » (May 24th – Dec. 31th)
In Toulon, nearly a hundred pilot works illustrating the exceptional maritime course of Andre Hambourg will be presented from May 24th. This donation, going from 1929 to 1995, covers the whole career of the artist. The topics approached range from Navy to fishing boats, sailing ships or seaside landscapes.
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