Retour d'Asie, an exotic exhibition in the footsteps of collector Henri Cernuschi - our photos

If you love wandering the aisles of the Musée Cernuschi, this new temporary exhibition, which runs from October 6, 2023 to February 4, 2024, is for you! It celebrates the 150th anniversary of famous collector Henri Cernuschi's return from Asia, before he created one of the very first Asian art museums in the capital. In this exhibition, you'll follow in his footsteps as he travels through Asia, between Japan, China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India, before returning to Paris and finally setting up the museum's collections!

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A truly exotic exhibition, where we follow with fascination the itinerary, original for its time, of the traveler whose passion for Asia led to the emergence in the capital of Japonisme, the discovery ofJapanese art by Westerners. His discoveries in the Far East and the acquisitions he made during his long journey helped build one of Europe's most important collections of Asian art.

Between 1871 and 1873, almost 5,000 works of art were brought back by sea to the capital, precious shipments of bronzes, ceramics, paintings, prints, lacquered and carved wooden objects, photographs and exceptional illustrated books. In Asia, Cernuschi discovered the importance of bronze work, neglected by Europeans, an alloy on which he would focus his collection of objets d'art.

Such works in France not only fascinated the curious, but also European artists and craftsmen of the time, such as Gustave Moreau, who drew inspiration from them for his paintings. As a lover of Asian art, Cernuschi created a veritable temple near the Parc Monceau to watch over his jewels, and keep them alive right up to the present day!

The exhibition pays tribute to the collector, whose return from Asia is being celebrated by unveiling restored Japanese sculpted dragons in the permanent collections, which have not been exhibited since 1930! Almost 12 metres high, this unique monumental frieze, located behind the immense Buddha, depicts three dragons chasing the pearl of wisdom between waves and clouds.