Musée Guimet - Guimet research plan 2026-2030

Guimet research plan 2026 2030 19

Part 1 → The structuring axes of research at the Villa Guimet

The Musée d ' Ennery ’ s

collections in context

As part of the axis on the history of Asian arts , a project will also be dedicated to

the collections of the Musée d ' Ennery , attached to the Musée Guimet . They include

about 8 000 objects of various typologies , mainly from Japan , but also from China

and Vietnam . In the past , they have mainly been studied from the point of view of

their formation in the light of the historical context of the late 19thcentury and the

networks of sociability ( in particular with the work of Elisabeth Emery ) . This is why

this project will focus on the study of the objects themselves . Given the size of the

collection , we will conf ine ourselves , to begin with , to coherent groups of relatively

modest size : kakiemon porcelain – intended for export in the 18th century – whose

importance of those in the collections of the Musée d ' Ennery has recently been

recognized ; nanban chests , which their early reunion by Clémence d ' Ennery makes

remarkable as such ; decorative masks inspired by the theatre and the so - called

Kobe dolls , objects considered negligible because they were produced in

a commercial context and therefore ignored by research ; the objects of the Chinese

scholar . It will be a question of placing these collections in their historical context

of creation , of documenting them as well as of approaching them with renewed

questions , specif ic to each corpus .

This long - term project can be the subject of a regular research workshop , with 6

to 8 sessions of 3 hours per year . It will require the cooperation of various European

and Japanese specialists depending on the corpus , and partnerships with

universities or with the École du Louvre will be possible within the framework of

master ' s degrees . It can also be enhanced by regular study days and mediation

tools of fered to the public visiting the Ennery museum .

It should also be noted that , as part of a vast project to renovate and enhance the

Hôtel d ' Ennery , a new collection will be installed from the end of 2027 and for

a period of 50 years in the spaces on the ground f loor ( not occupied today ) and

in a newly created museum basement : the collection of Japanese ukiyo - e prints

from the Edo period by Georges Leskowicz .

This collection , initiated in the early 2000s , now rivals in its richness and excellence

the largest private collections of prints in the world . Indeed , the masterful works of

Hiroshige and Hokusai rub shoulders with those of Utamaro and Sharaku , among

the outstanding artists of this period . The complete series of Mirrors of Japanese

and Chinese Poetry by Hokusai or the very f irst prints of the series of 69 stages of

the Kisokaido road by Hiroshige and Eisen are some of the treasures of this set ,

which has nearly 4000 pieces .

The coexistence , on the same site , of two collections , that of Clémence d ' Ennery

and that of Georges Leskowicz , as exceptional as they are complementary

( one essentially composed of decorative arts , the other of graphic arts ) will open

up new and fruitful perspectives of research around themes as varied as Japonism

in France , the reception of Japanese arts in our country , their influence on the

artistic movements of the second half of the 19th century and throughout the 20th

century etc

Between text and image :

the written word as

a contextual source

In a broader context , there has always been a deep interconnection between image

and text in Asian art . Indeed , in many Asian cultures , the written word is not only

a means of communication ; it is an art in itself , a bearer of aesthetics , philosophy

and spirituality . Writing became a visual language , often inseparable from painting ,

architecture , and even decorative objects . Thus , in traditional Chinese paintings ,

the written word is often integrated into the visual composition . Similarly , poems

or maxims are frequently inscribed directly on the painted scrolls , as an extension

or interpretation of the landscape depicted . In Indian art , particularly in the museum ' s

collection , inscriptions and calligraphy pages in Persian appear on the back of

Indian miniatures , all schools combined . However , these have not been suf f iciently

studied and translated so far .

This is why the research project entitled " Between text and image " will aim to better

understand the place of the written word in the collections of the Musée Guimet .

In particular , it will endeavour to complete the database of the museum ' s Japanese

art collections by transcribing and translating the inscriptions on the works into

French . Specific care will be taken with the " related texts " , for example the

documents accompanying the scrolls such as the certificates of authenticity

( kiwamegaki ) that allow them to be documented . Collaborations with various

specialists will therefore be necessary .

Moreover , in Buddhist paintings , the text reveals crucial information to indicate

the place where they were to be presented , and the names of the donors .

This fusion of text and image thus reflects an aesthetic thought in which the

boundaries between disciplines are blurred . From then on , the written word enriches

the meaning of the work , while bringing an additional graphic dimension . The corpus

of this study will therefore consist in studying the set of miniatures acquired

by Émile Guimet in 1891 ( MG 9110 to MG 9195 ) bearing on the back fragments

of unidentified and untranslated texts in Persian ( India ) , as well as Buddhist

paintings ( Himalayan area , China , Korea , Japan , Vietnam , Cambodia , Burma , Laos )

and the lapidary ( Cambodia , Vietnam ) .

Similarly , a number of Chinese , Japanese and Vietnamese ceramics present a vast

corpus of inscriptions that contribute to the decoration of these works : dedicatory

inscriptions , poems , auspicious formulas . Their translation will help to clarify the

nature of these works and to better place them in the historical and intellectual

context in which they were born .

Handscroll Depicting the Legend of Saigyō Japan Edo Period 17th 18th century paper MA 1365 02