Ongoing exhibitions

Alsace
Dreaming the lost province
1871-1914

From 6^th october 2021 to 7^th february 2022
at Jean-Jacques Henner national museum

 In patnership with Alsatian museum

The Jean-Jacques Henner National Museum, in partnership with the Strasbourg Alsatian Museum, offers an exhibition on the image of Alsace, a lost province, following  the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Based on several works by the painter Jean-Jacques Henner (1829-1905), one of the major figures of the Alsatians of Paris, the exhibition questions the way in which the image of Alsace from Paris is constructed and disseminated between 1871 and 1914.

A set of varied works (paintings, sculptures, art and everyday objects, drawings, posters,prints...), divided into five sections, offers both picturesque, historical and popular representations of Alsace and the intimate vision of Jean-Jacques Henner. Starting from a spectacular image of the War of 1870 and its consequences - the loss of a part of the national territory -, the exhibition addresses the way in which the myth of Alsace, like a lost province, was constructed. The mourning of the "little homeland" is followed by the image of exile or the myth of unfailing resistance to the invader.

The exhibition touches on the sociability networks of the Alsatians of Paris and their important impact on French cultural, political and economic life. The notion of revenge is also discussed. A specific room is dedicated to the dissemination and instrumentalization of the image of the lost provinces in popular culture (objects of daily life, toys, advertising products...).

This exhibition takes place in the context of the commemorations of the 150th anniversary of the Franco-Prussian War and the memory of the 150th anniversary of the Treaty of Frankfurt (May 1871), by which defeated France ceded Alsace and Moselle to Germany.

In addition, the Museum Jean-Jacques Henner also celebrates the 150th anniversary of its "Alsatian Mona Lisa", “L’Alsace. Elle attend”, a painting reproduced in a lot of school textbooks and disseminated abundantly by engraving.

For the occasion, generous loans from institutions and private collections from the "Grand Est" region (Strasbourg, Colmar, Mulhouse, Reims, Epinal, Nancy, Hagondange, Belfort, Logelbach), Cahors, Lille, Pau and Suresnes and Paris, were granted.

Direction
Marie-Cécile Forest, Director of Jean-Jacques Henner and Gustave Moreau national museums

Exhibition curators 
Maeva Abillard, curator of Jean-Jacques Henner national museum
Marie Pottecher, chief curator of cultural heritage, Director  Alsatian museum;
assisted by Candice Runderkamp-Dollé, curator assistant of Alsatian museum, in charge of collections, and by Marie Vancostenoble, curator assistant of Jean-Jacques Henner national museum. 

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Financial support for the exhibition and the related catalogue was provided by Novalix society

Media relations	Download Press release
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PARTNER EXHIBITIONS : 

Jean-Jacques Henner (1829-1905) La Chair et l'Idéal  at Strasbourg Fine Arts museum  More informations  Press release
Jean-Jacques Henner drawer at Mulhouse Fine Arts museum More informations