Jacques Louis David

How to discuss the David retrospective at the Louvre? By first recognising that it is an undeniable success, and that it must be seen, absolutely, as it shows almost nothing but the artist’s masterpieces. Then by noting that organising such an exhibition, with his best paintings and drawings, presented in a roughly chronological order, is not an achievement in itself. We had already seen a retrospective of this kind at the Louvre: the one devoted to Delacroix. Unsurprisingly, it is by the same curator, Sébastien Allard. What is more surprising, however, is that we realised we could repeat verbatim part of what we had written then (see the article). We therefore self-plagiarised, but we will be forgiven since we announce our intentions straight away. Everything in bold was already in our 2018 text.

1. View of the Jacques Louis David exhibition at the Louvre
Photo: Didier Rykner

See the image in its page

One should not hide one’s pleasure. The exhibition is magnificent because the painter is magnificent. Many masterpieces will be on view, mostly from the Louvre and French museums, some from private collections and international museums […]. But this retrospective is incomplete, and its catalogue is in reality nothing more than a biography of the artist, of which there are many, adding little new to the knowledge of David.
Was there really a need at the Louvre for a David retrospective that brings no originality or new perspective, that largely consists of moving works from the permanent exhibition rooms to those under the pyramid, and whose catalogue is just another biography? Was it necessary when so many major artists are still awaiting theirs, notably Gros or Gérard, or even Jean-Baptiste Regnault or Peyron to name just a few painters directly linked to David or who were his contemporaries? That said, one must recognise [in the text] by Sébastien Allard […] that it is well written […], if not innovative, and that the exhibition gathers…