Annabelle d’Huart, porcelain necklace, from her collection of “Choses de flots et de mer” inspired by islands and underwater life

It is always a little adventure to go to Musée de la Céramique de Sèvres just on the other side of the Seine from Boulogne. The 18 th century museum is a paradise for china, ceramics and plates of all kinds and to enliven the public’s appetite, the director of collections and curator of the show, Christine Germain-Donnat, has organised an exhibition based on color : « The Experience of color » includes contemporary artists who worked at Sèvres and paintings from the Pompidou center which is celebrating its 40 years. 

Christine Germain- Donnat, director of the collections

We are welcomed by Annabelle d’Huart’s three large paintings and a series of Sèvres jewellery that she made while spending a year at the Manufacture. Then follow the blue room « Bleu solennel » with three marvelous Deck pieces and the Red room called “Orgy of reds”. Those are mixutres of classical Sèvres an contemporary creations.

Yoshiro Kimura, cup 1999, porcelaine

On the second floor, small rooms develop different themes from cosmetics to gastronomy, red, oranges and yellow, black and white and greys. From Japanese to Danish artists, we get a selection of the best, including gold and sil ver trompe l’oeil from the 19 th century.

Myriam Mechita, Treasure Island, Sèvres biscuit, 2010

There is also some glass by Pierre Charpin to show the joint evolution of color in glass and ceramics. All of these are shown in the middle of the collections with a workshop describing tools and tehnics as well as color samples: the difficulty for artists being that colors change while they are baked. Downstairs, the shop for unique pieces of Sèvres is open to all collectors. Make sure you visit it.

The Red Room mixes contemporary and old Sèvres

In Paris at FIAC, Sèvres will have a small show room with Ombeline d’Arche receiving visitors and starting on the 17 th, Lionel Estève will show his enameled platin porcelaine plaques. Now don’t ever say you don’t know what Sèvres porcelain looks like ! (until April 2, 2018)

Barbara Nanning, vasque, 1995, grès covered in sand and pigments