The new graphic arts cabinet of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs

The wealth of the collections of the Museum of Decorative Arts in the field of graphic arts, particularly ornamental drawings and wallpaper, was well known but was not at all showcased, preserved or catalogued in good conditions.
In recent years, thanks in particular to Olivier Gabet and Bénédicte Gady, respectively director of the museum and in charge of the graphic art collections, everything has changed. The inventory has made great progress, even if this work is far from finished. No fewer than one million works are preserved, including some collections of several hundred or even several thousand pieces [1] Although the collection is now well known and most of it has been catalogued, it would take 643 years for the current staff to complete the inventory. This calculation, which is,…