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Exhibitions from the Art & Architecture Collection

Decoration in the Age of Napoleon: Empire Elegance Versus Regency Refinement
Edna Barnes Salomon Room (Third Floor)
September 3, 2004 through April 3, 2005

Two distinctive movements, now known as the Empire Style and the Regency Style, were born out of the formal Neoclassicism that dominated late eighteenth-century European building and decoration. These styles were stimulated by the rivalry of France and England and their rulers. Napoleon I (1769-1821), self-styled Emperor of the French, assumed the throne in 1804 and immediately launched an ambitious art and design program that lasted until his reign ended in 1815. Across the English Channel, the Prince Regent, the future King George IV (1762-1830), also proved to be an active patron of the arts. Romantic-era forces shaped the new Empire and Regency styles: the cult of personality, typified in the Byronic hero; the appeal of antique and exotic civilizations; the use of pageantry and spectacle; and new interpretations of traditional and nationalistic ideals.

Through objects from six divisions in The New York Public Library’s Humanities and Social Sciences Library, this exhibition will explore the social conditions that created the decorative idioms of the early 19th century. Key pattern books by artists are displayed, their designs inspired by new archaeological findings in Greece, Rome, Pompeii, and Egypt. These include publications by Napoleon’s principal architects, Charles Percier and Pierre Fontaine; Baron Dominique Vivant Denon, director of the Musée Napoleon and responsible for introducing Egyptomania to Empire design; and original, innovative goldsmith designs from the period, among others. The Regency Style will be explored through plate books by a number of influential English architects and decorators, among them Henry Holland, John Nash, Thomas Hope, and Charles Heathcote Tatham. Also on display will be maps showing the boundaries of the rival empires, and caricatures and color portraits of key individuals.

Press Release

Exhibition Brochure (PDF - 4.4 MB)

A Research Guide to the Empire and Regency Styles

A Research Guide to the Napoleonic Era