Seeking patrons for Puvis de Chavannes works

24/5/24 - Acquisition - Paris, Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de la Sorbonne - On Sunday 24 March 2024, the Sorbonne Inter-University Library was able to preempt two works by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (ill. 1 and 2), preparatory to elements of the painting adorning the university’s Grand Amphithéâtre, thanks to the patronage of the Fondation Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. The Foundation is now looking for one or more sponsors for the works themselves, totalling €36,000.

1. Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824-1898)
Physics and Geometry
Wash and pencil - 76 x 56 cm
Paris, Bibliothèque interuniversitaire
of the Sorbonne
Photo: SVV Herbette

See the image in its page

2. Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824-1898)
Person Kneeling
Oil on canvas mounted on card - 64 x 55 cm
Paris, Bibliothèque interuniversitaire
of the Sorbonne
Photo: SVV Herbette

See the image in its page

The Sorbonne Inter-University Library is known as the ’Grande Bibliothèque Patrimoniale’. It is the heir to the collection of books, archives and manuscripts of the university founded in 1215. It has been open to the public since 1770, and since the end of the 19th century has occupied the Jacqueline de Romilly room, at the heart of the quadrilateral formed by the university buildings when the Sorbonne was remodelled. Following the events of 1968, the university was split into several entities. Since then, the Interuniversity Library has played a role in preserving this specific heritage, as well as enhancing it through acquisitions. A more surprising activity is the creation and maintenance of a collection of works of art linked to the history of the Sorbonne and its decor.
It was in this capacity that she was able to set her sights on a drawing and an oil sketch by Puvis de Chavannes, preparatory to the painting La Sorbonne or The Sacred Grove of the Sorbonne’s Grand Amphithéâtre (ill. 3), presented by the Herbette auction house in Doullens in the Somme. The first…