To mark the 40th anniversary of the Musée d'Orsay, a rare and unexpected acquisition is set to attract attention: seventeen fans painted by leading figures of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism have joined the collections thanks to a donation from the Kan family. On display from March 24th in Room 33, at the heart of the Impressionist galleries, this collection includes works by artists such as Degas, Pissarro, Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Foujita. According to the Musée d'Orsay, it is the largest collection of its kind ever assembled.
An exceptional donation for the museum's 40th anniversary
This donation enriches a still underrepresented area of the museum's collections: that of the artist's fan, at the crossroads of painting and decorative arts. According to the Musée d'Orsay, this collection was assembled over the last twenty years by the Kan family, originally from Hong Kong. It comprises eight artists in total, with a strong presence of Camille Pissarro, represented by seven fans, and Paul Gauguin, with four pieces.
The exhibition will allow visitors to see the entire donation for only three months, until June 21, due to the fragility of the works. The museum specifies that, after this initial presentation, only two or three fans will be displayed on a rotating basis. This showcase is part of the institution's anniversary program, which aims to revisit its recent acquisitions and offer new perspectives on 19th and early 20th-century art.
A little-known medium that has become a testing ground
The Impressionists' interest in the fan dates back to the second half of the 19th century, in a context marked by Japonism. This curved format, so different from the traditional rectangular frame, offered artists an unusual compositional space. According to the Musée d'Orsay, Degas was one of the first to boldly embrace it, even going so far as to dedicate an entire room to this medium at the fourth Impressionist exhibition in 1879.
The collection donated to the Musée d'Orsay demonstrates precisely how this object became a laboratory of forms. Pissarro transposed his rural scenes onto it, Gauguin adapted some of his Breton or Tahitian motifs, while Foujita deployed his personal universe. One of the most singular works in the collection, reproduced in the museum's documents, is by Jacques-Émile Blanche: it depicts two young girls seated, each holding a fan, in a play of mirrors that is as delicate as it is playful.
Beyond the allure of these pieces, this donation reminds us that the great Impressionist masters did not only renew easel painting. They also explored more intimate, more decorative formats, sometimes considered minor, but which reveal much about their formal freedom.
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