Just as Sasha Baron-Cohen’s released another offensive satire
The Dictator, it seems timely but most likely accidental that the NGV turns its focus to one of the world’s best known despots. Pre-eminent French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, a conqueror famous for his regal finery and princely standards of living, is one of the most glamourous yet maligned rulers in history. Winter Masterpieces this year will look at his and wife Josephine’s dynasty, and we spoke to Curator Laurie Benson about the collection. With a mixture of admiration and sardonic wit he discusses the pieces that will whisk you into an 18th Century wonderland, an extensive ouvre filled with flashy jewellery and imposing portraits.
Bella Arnott-Hoare: What it is about Napoleon that people will be interested in?
Laurie Benson: Where do you start? Obviously he’s a household name, everybody knows who and what Napoleon is, everyone’s heard of him. But there are also a lot of really fantastic connections to Australia that people don’t know about which we explore in the show.
He had a bit of an obsession with Australia.
BAH: For reals?
LB: Yeah, it was quite extraordinary. Well first of all I think he wanted to conquer Australia, claim it as a French territory. But he was also very interested from a scientific point of view. He was always interested in what was happening in other cultures. He actually sent a number of exploratory and scientific expeditions to Australia. They took live animals back to France, as well as hundreds of thousands of species of plants and crops. Josephine brought back literally thousands of Australian plants, and was the first person in the world to breed Black Swans in captivity. She had kangaroos and wombats and emus wandering around their property in France.
BAH: Woah. Weird.
LB: And they outlived her, which is even more interesting.
BAH: So is there a kind of style that you could pinpoint as being Napoleonic in terms of the art?
LB: Well the bottom line about us doing an art show is it is about art and style, and Napoleon was really central to the creation of the empire style. Once he became Emperor he personally imposed standards of dress and uses of symbolism in sculpture, art and painting that were very much to his taste, and his own personal interest and style. He imposed a standard of court dress – the women had to wear fabulous gowns and be covered in jewels – that was something he ordered for his court. And he, along with Josephine, really did set new trends in fashion. It also impacted on painting because he had a particular taste and patronised a number of key French artists, and that style really evolved. The empire style of classicism, like the painter
Jacques-Louis David, really did take off in the Napoleonic era. So there’s lots of decorative arts and painting, jewellery and fashion – all these trends in style.
BAH: So how do you think these things contributed to who he was as a leader?
LB: I think they’re just part of his personality. He had an extraordinarily strong personality but he really thought altruistically that he was doing the right thing by society. By imposing certain rules and regulations he really thought he was freeing people. When he was imposing his own taste he [thought] he was doing it for the good of France. He literally wanted the French manufacturing industries to have a tremendous boost so he personally patronised the major factories is Paris and outside Paris.
BAH: So do you think that this exhibition portrays him as a benevolent figure? Or is it a bit more ambiguous?
LB: I don’t think he was ever benevolent. As we all know, history is written by the winners and of course Napoleon was ultimately defeated. From his enemies’ standpoint, the Austrians and Russians, he’s considered an ogre and a villain. But in broad historical terms, what he did still has an impact on countries today. Like that sense of discipline, and the law and formality he instilled into the legal system, [as well as] how the public service operates. Strangely enough, a lot of those aspects have been adopted by many countries. It still exists today, the sense of justice that you have today in France. So there are certain aspects of his rule and his style of governance still impacting today.
BAH: So tell me about Josephine and her role in the exhibition. It sounds like she’s quite prevalent even though the exhibition is about Napoleon.
LB: Her main contribution was their creation of their property
Malmaison, which she bought while Napoleon was away on campaign in Egypt. She really transformed that into this extraordinary international centre of horticulture and scientific interest, and had this gigantic greenhouse that would cultivate thousands of exotic plants. So you could go to a dinner at Malmaison in winter and be served up oranges and summer fruits, because she was growjng them in her greenhouse. There’d also be exotic fruits. She kept up that international interest and was very liberal in her approach. Even when Britain was at war with France she still collaborated with British horticulturalists for information. It wasn’t just fashion or fun.
BAH: How did you decide on the works in this exhibition?
LB: That’s the toughest question of all really because there were literally thousands of objects to choose from. We had to get it down to objects that would tell a story. Fantastic beautiful objects that would fit in with the story we’re trying to tell in the exhibition. Obviously you want some really key images, such as the David image of him crossing the Alps (see above detailed image), and the wonderful portrait of him as a young man – absolutely iconic images which everyone will recognise. We wanted to tell the smaller stories [as well], the resurgence of the porcelain factories, wonderful jewels and the fantastic architecture that he and Josephine were imposing. So we had to tailor particular objects to the show.
BAH: What are the most iconic pieces, do you think?
LB: We begin with the French Revolution, where Napoleon cut his teeth as a soldier, and then later we have really grand portraits of Napoleon as the emperor – and one of his thrones was pretty spectacular. We do have a lot of militaria as well, the decorative side of the military,
BAH: So what do you think the exhibit articulates about his time in power?
LB: It just shows that degree of opulence and richness that he instilled in the court, that style and taste. To a degree really, that sense of being world leaders in style has never really left France. We’re trying to show how he and Josephine, and the courtiers around them, as fashion icons, fashion leaders. Culturally I don’t think that’s really changed in France. There’s pride in France.
Napoleon: Revolution to Empire opens Saturday 2 June and runs til Sunday 7 October at the National Gallery of Victoria. Catch up on Napoleon’s visit to Australia so far on their Facebook page or check out Everguide's galleries from opening night and the Napoleon Light Display.
WORDS: Bella Arnott-Hoare