This was the first retrospective exhibition for the eighteenth-century French still-life painter Anne Vallayer-Coster (1744-1818), a highly regarded artist who was one of the favorite painters of Marie-Antoinette. Through a selection of approximately forty of her paintings, the exhibition demonstrates Vallayer-Coster's artistic development as one of the foremost still-life artists of her generation. Accompanying the exhibition is the first catalogue to present the majority of Vallayer-Coster's known oeuvre in full color.
Anne Vallayer-Coster: Painter to the Court of Marie-Antoinette was organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. The exhibition made its debut at the National Gallery of Art in Washington (June 30, 2002, through September 22, 2002) and was presented at the Dallas Museum of Art (October 13, 2002, through January 5, 2003) before opening at The Frick Collection, its third North American venue. Subsequently, it traveled to the Centre de La Vielle Charité in Marseilles, France.
Chief Curator Colin B. Bailey coordinated the New York presentation of this exhibition.
This exhibition was made possible through the support of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman and the Fellows of The Frick Collection.
Cover of exhibition catalog.