50 years ago, disappeared Frits Lugt (1884-1970), the creator of the Fondation Custodia, which brings together in the Turgot hotel rue de Lille in Paris some 8000 drawings, 15000 prints and 450 paintings, most of which date from the 17e century.

  • Thomas Jones (Trefonnen 1730 or 1742 - 1803 Pencerrig), The Crater atop Mount Vesuvius, circa 1778 - Oil on canvas. - 36 × 44,1 cm - Fondation Custodia, Collection Frits Lugt, Paris, inv. 2019-S.61

Behind the facade of 121 rue de Lille, in the very distinguished 1947th arrondissement of Paris, at the end of an interior courtyard, hides the Hôtel Turgot, an XNUMXth century building where time seems to have stood still. This is where the collection of ancient art, known as the “Frits Lugt Collection”, is established under the aegis of the Fondation Custodia (good custody in Latin). In XNUMX, a Dutch couple Frits Lugt and his wife Jacoba Klever created the Fondation Custodia in Paris. They install their impressive collection in a house accessible to the public, where one can admire and study the works. Even today, it is one of the most important collections of old drawings, prints and artists' letters in private hands, making the Fondation Custodia truly the "house of art on paper" in France. . "Train the eye and memory through a direct relationship with the works", this is the rule of conduct that Frits Lugt has adopted all his life. Domiciled at the Hôtel Turgot, the mansion that belonged to Louis XVI's financial controller, located between rue de Lille and the University, just a few steps from the National Assembly, the Foundation retains a remarkable collection of rare books, portraits, paintings, antiques, stained glass, old frames, sculptures, furniture and Chinese porcelain.

Major exhibitions

Fondation Custodia, a cultural journey through the times of the Grand Siècle

Hotel Turgot - © Jannes Linders

In the Lévis-Mirepoix hotel, adjoining the Turgot hotel, the Fondation Custodia presents, several times a year, major exhibitions which, in turn, highlight the richness of the Frits Lugt Collection. This was notably the case in 2012 with An intimate universe. Paintings from the Frits Lugt Collection or through treasures from other collections or museums with in 2015 Raphael, Titian, Michelangelo. Italian drawings from the Städel Museum in Frankfurt. In perpetual movement, the Foundation also organizes monographic or thematic exhibitions of importance for the history of art, such as the one presented in 2013 on Hieronymus Cock, the famous Antwerp publisher who introduced his contemporary Pieter Bruegel to the whole of Europe. .

Data base

Fondation Custodia, a cultural journey through the times of the Grand Siècle

Large living room - © Jannes Linders

The works of the collection can also be studied in the consultation room, considered one of the most beautiful in the world, where researchers and art lovers are welcomed in the most favorable conditions and an intimate atmosphere. The mission of the Fondation Custodia is to serve the history of art, in the broadest sense of the term. It houses a restoration workshop and one of the most important art history libraries in France with more than 130 volumes in the field of Western fine arts from 000 to 1450. A fact sometimes ignored over time , many collectors put a personal mark on the designs and prints they owned. These are frequently stamped marks, but sometimes also handwritten marks or labels. Free of charge online, the Collection Brands database provides the public with an unparalleled search tool.

Flemish and Dutch art.

Fondation Custodia, a cultural journey through the times of the Grand Siècle

Dutch living room - © Jannes Linders

The curators therefore study the collection constantly supplemented by new donations and acquisitions. Today it has more than 100 pieces. The Foundation lends its works for exhibitions in France and abroad and, on request, also helps French museums to catalog their Flemish and Dutch art collections. It is the place par excellence where curators and researchers, amateurs and collectors from all over the world can share their enthusiasm and their knowledge about works of art. In partnership with French and Dutch universities in particular, the Foundation enables art history students to deepen their knowledge in the arts of drawing and printmaking and provides them with the expertise they need to become specialists. graphic arts. Group workshops are offered, as well as individual courses. For many years now, the Fondation Custodia has been a benchmark for graphic arts restorers. She wishes to further intensify the role she plays in the training of future restorers of works on paper.

Live for art

Fondation Custodia, a cultural journey through the times of the Grand Siècle

Staircase - © Jannes Linders

Today Ger Luijten, the passionate and enthralling director of the Foundation, has taken over. While supporting the Dutch Interuniversity Institute for the History of Art in Florence as well as the Dutch Institute for the History of Art in The Hague, it patiently conserves, restores, embellishes and enriches the collection for present generations and to come up. “Live for art! "  such was the invariable motto of Frits Lugt.  “This collection should not be considered as something fixed but very much alive. It attracted me enormously to serve the ideal of Frits Lugt who is a leading authority in the Netherlands in the field of art history. His motto is in me and in the mind of the entire Foundation team ” explains Ger Luijten in conclusion. Appointment, if all goes on the side of the pandemic, from February 20 to May 23, 2021 since the Fondation Custodia will host the exhibitions On the ground. Painting en plein air 1780-1870 and Charles Donker… A great discovery in prospect.

David Raynal

Custodia Foundation / Frits Lugt Collection

121 rue de Lille 75007 Paris

Tel: + 33 (0) 1 47 05 75 19

coll.lugt@fondationcustodia.fr

To consult the Collection Brands database for free: www.marquesdecollections.fr