Flights of Fancy: The Birds of Louis-Denis Armand (1723–1796)

A Françoise and George Selz Lecture on Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century French Decorative Arts and Culture by Mia Jackson (Waddesdon Manor)

In this lecture, Mia Jackson (curator of decorative arts at Waddesdon Manor) will talk about her recent exhibition, Flights of Fancy, the first ever survey of the life and work of the recently rediscovered Sèvres painter Louis-Denis Armand (1723–1796), now celebrated as one of the foremost painters of birds. Very few artisans from the eighteenth century have left us such a detailed biography; over thirty drawings by Armand survive, and research into the drawings and their inscriptions (by Jackson and collaborator Bernard Dragesco) has revealed a wealth of detail about the artist, his life, his work, and even his political opinions.

December 11 at 6pm
38 West 86th Street, BGC Lecture Hall