Eugène Lami : Peintre Et Décorateur De La Famille D'orléans

Exhibition at the Musée Condé, domaine de Chantilly, 23 February - 29 May 2019

Trained by Horace Vernet, then by Baron Gros, Eugène Lami (1800-1890) learned watercolour from the Englishman Bonington. A "painter of official dandyism" according to Baudelaire, he was able to describe with verve the aristocratic leisure activities and the modernity of the princes of Orleans. Eugène Lami was also a talented decorator. He created historicist decorations at the Tuileries and then at Chantilly, foreshadowing those of the Second Empire. After the fall of the July monarchy, he designed baroque decorations with a strong theatrical feel for the Rothschilds in Ferrières and Boulogne.

This catalogue of the first exhibition devoted to the artist offers the opportunity to discover a virtuoso artist, between innovative set designs, lively portraits of the princes and princesses of Orleans, family scenes where intimacy meets history, and leisure activities of the elegant society of the July monarchy.