Musée sentimental | Exhibition catalogue

Description

The concept of the "sentimental museum" originated in 18th-century English literature and, following the French Revolution, became central to the project of the first Musée des monuments français-an institution focused not on scholarly study, but on emotion. In the 20th century, artists re-examined this approach, echoing diverse intellectual projects such as Aby Warburg's Mnemosyne Atlas, André Malraux's "Imaginary Museum," and Harald Szeemann's "Museum of Obsessions." From the artist's studio-acting as a repository of objects for inspiration-to artworks that incorporate the practice of collecting through the assembly, accumulation, proliferation, or display of objects from widely varied fields, the idea of the museum has found new life. These proposals-at once bold and moving-create worlds unto themselves and serve as the unifying thread of this book, which draws upon the collections of three major institutions: the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, the Centre Pompidou, and macLYON.