New MET Exhibit Explores Disney’s French Rococo Inspiration
In the first exhibit of its kind, the Metropolitan Museum of Art debuted a new exhibit yesterday that focuses entirely on the influences of the French Rococo movement on Walt Disney. The exhibit, titled “Inspiring Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts,” explores the early art of Walt Disney Animation Studios as it relates to the 18th century French art movement. Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” also features prominently in the collection.
Angela Lansbury narrates the preview of the exhibit that introduces the influence of 18th century French art on Walt Disney during his many trips to France as a young person. “Young Walt was about to turn seventeen when he first set foot in France, and the buildings, the art, and the atmosphere he came upon had an extraordinary influence on the animated world that he would go on to create,” Lansbury magically states. The incredible actress is the perfect choice for the narration as the exhibit also celebrates the 50th anniversary of one of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ most artistic pieces of all, “Beauty and the Beast,” in which she voices the delightful Mrs. Potts.
Image Credit: Disney
MET Exhibit Feautures Abundance of Works
Along with sketches and structures, the exhibit also displays 60 works from the movement, including a series of porcelain figures that inspired the thoughtful teapot as well as her colleagues, Lumiere and Cogsworth.
Lots of magic happening at The Met ✨ https://t.co/pk0vkLMYuo
— The Metropolitan Museum of Art (@metmuseum) December 10, 2021
“Sixty works of 18th-century European decorative arts and design—from tapestries and furniture to Boulle clocks and Sèvres porcelain—will be featured alongside 150 production artworks and works on paper from the Walt Disney Animation Research Library, Walt Disney Archives, Walt Disney Imagineering Collection, and The Walt Disney Family Museum. Selected film footage illustrating the extraordinary technological and artistic developments of the studio during Disney’s lifetime and beyond will also be shown,” according to the MET’s website.
Following its run at the MET, the collection will travel to the Wallace Collection, an art musuem in Manchester Square, London.
