Georges Hoentschel in the museums

The interior designer: most of the decors that he designed are still to be seen in the mansions. For example, the Hotel de Ganay, the Erraruziz Palace in Buenos Aires or Luton Hoo in England, today converted into a hotel. The Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris has preserved the Pavillon de l’Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs, allowing us to appreciate the quality of the work executed by 50 craftsmen under the aegis of Georges Hoentschel’s studios. This beautiful ensemble, typical of the Art Nouveau style, proves the talent of the assembleur Georges Hoentschel and includes furniture, ceramics and a Symbolist fresco. Some of the designs were lost with the demolition of the houses (Julius Wernher’s London residence, Jacques Doucet’s mansion, Rue Spontini). At the start of 20^th century, Jacques Doucet put together a collection of furniture and paintings from the 18th century in France, including pictures by La Tour, Chardin Watteau and furniture by Roentgen and Jacob. He was preparing a home, with his marriage in view, but the wedding was cancelled, so Doucet decided to sell everything at auction. The newspapers called it “the sale of the century” after it realised 15 million gold francs.

The collector: after the premature death of his wife, Antoinette Desaillle, Georges Hoentschel sold part of the collections that adorned his Hall in the mansion on the Boulevard Flandrin to his friend John Pierpont Morgan. Today, the 1,882 pieces from his collection constitute the basis of the French 18^th century and Medieval departments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It is possible to view the medieval statuette “Angel from Le Lude” in the Frick Collection in New York. It is a piece of enormous charm that obsessed the collector Frick until he managed to acquire it from the private mansion of Pierpont Morgan. The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum has Monet’s “La débâcle par temps gris” on view, in Lisbon, Portugal. Stoneware collections are in the Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye Museum and the Musée d’Orsay.