A major retrospective exhibition at the Musée Jacquemart-André is bringing renewed attention to Georges de La Tour, the 17th-century French master known as the "poet of flames." The exhibition presents 25 works by the Lorraine-born artist, representing more than half of his known surviving corpus, marking the first major French exhibition dedicated to La Tour since the Grand Palais retrospective in 1997.
According to exhibition curators Gail Feigenbaum and Pierre Curie, La Tour likely painted more than double what has survived to the present day. Evidence for this estimation comes from two sources: numerous painted copies, some extraordinary works produced by his workshop for authorized collectors and others created outside his atelier, which echo original compositions now lost; and inventories from old collectors that mention his works in various regions of France.
The artist was neither ultra-prolific nor particularly fast in his work, but he was far from being a minor painter working in obscurity. La Tour's fascination partly stems from the rarity of his works, making this exhibition particularly significant for art lovers and scholars alike. The show provides an unprecedented opportunity to study the artist's technique and artistic evolution in depth.
La Tour's mastery of candlelight and torch-lit scenes has earned him recognition as one of the most distinctive painters of his era. His ability to capture the subtle interplay of light and shadow, combined with his profound psychological insight, set him apart from his contemporaries. The curators emphasize that La Tour possessed an exceptional understanding of the human soul, which is evident in the contemplative expressions and spiritual intensity of his subjects.
The exhibition challenges previous assumptions about La Tour's chronological development. Art historians previously believed that he painted daylight scenes early in his career, with nocturnal works coming later. However, early works like "L'Argent versé" (Money Being Paid), dating from around 1621 or 1634, from the Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery, disrupts this chronological theory by demonstrating his sophisticated handling of candlelit scenes from an early period.
The retrospective offers visitors a comprehensive journey through La Tour's artistic development, showcasing his evolution from a provincial painter to a master whose work transcended regional boundaries. His paintings reveal a unique synthesis of Caravaggesque influence and personal innovation, creating a distinctive style that would influence generations of artists.
This exhibition represents a rare opportunity to experience La Tour's complete artistic vision, as his works are scattered across museums and private collections worldwide. The gathering of so many pieces in one location allows for new insights into his working methods, thematic preoccupations, and technical innovations that made him one of France's most enigmatic and powerful painters.
