Van der kemp gerald translator (4 risultati)

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. First English-language Edition. 71, [1] pages. Survey of the most famous locale in all Monet's oeuvre. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. Over 50 Color & b/w Illustrations (illustratore). Book.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. No Dust Jacket.

Trade paperback. Condizione: Fair. Later printing. Format is approximately 5 inches by 7.25 inches. 78, [2] pages. Illustrated front cover. English text version. Illustrations (color). The author was Conservateur en chef du Musee de Versailles et des Trianons. The Palace of Versailles is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about 12 miles west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, under the direction of the French Ministry of Culture, by the Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles. About 15,000,000 people visit the palace, park, or gardens of Versailles every year, making it one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world. Louis XIII built a simple hunting lodge on the site of the Palace of Versailles in 1623 and replaced it with a small château in 1631-34. Louis XIV expanded the château into a palace in several phases from 1661 to 1715. It was a favorite residence for both kings, and in 1682, Louis XIV moved the seat of his court and government to Versailles, making the palace the de facto capital of France. This state of affairs was continued by Kings Louis XV and Louis XVI, who primarily made interior alterations to the palace, but in 1789 the royal family and capital of France returned to Paris. For the rest of the French Revolution, the Palace of Versailles was largely abandoned and emptied of its contents. The palace and park were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979 for its importance as the center of power, art, and science in France during the 17th and 18th centuries. Gerald Van der Kemp was the French art expert who masterminded the restoration of Louis XIV's palace at Versailles and saved the ''Mona Lisa'' from destruction by the Nazis. In the 35 years that he was in charge of Versailles, Mr. Van der Kemp devoted himself to returning its principal galleries, apartments and rooms to the way they looked in the 17th and 18th centuries, after many years of neglect by a nation ambiguous in its attitude toward symbols of royalty. With the encouragement of President Charles de Gaulle and his culture Minister, the writer André Malraux, Mr. Van der Kemp scoured the world for treasures sold after the French Revolution and assembled an army of master craftsmen -- carvers, plasterers, gilders, silversmiths, seamstresses -- to repair or recreate the palace's lost splendors. But probably his most important contribution to that task was to mobilize another kind of army, an army of the rich, to supplement the French government's modest financial contribution. He set up the Versailles Foundation in New York City. Most of those who funneled money into the reconstruction of Versailles were Americans, including two generations of Rockefellers, Barbara Hutton, Estée Lauder and the Wildenstein family of art dealers. Funds also came from European and other benefactors, including the French branch of the Rothschild family, Pierre David-Weil of Lazard Frere, the investment bank, the Aga Khan and Arturo Lopez-Wilshaw, a rich Argentine. In all about three quarters of the money being spent on restoring Versailles, a task that continues, has come from private donations. Born May 5, 1912, at Charenton-le-Pont in the Val-de-Marne, into a family of Dutch origin, Mr. Van der Kemp studied at the École du Louvre and the Institute of Arts and Archaeology. In 1936 he joined the Louvre Museum as an assistant curator, was called up at the start of World War II, was captured but escaped and found his way to the Château de Valencay in southwestern France, where many of the country's greatest artistic treasures had been sent for safe keeping, including Leonardo's ''Mona Lisa,'' which Mr. Van der Kemp often kept in his bedroom. He had a narrow escape from death when a German commander, apparently seeking revenge for the killing of some of his men by the resistance, threatened to shoot him and burn the building with its treasures. But Mr. Van der Kemp managed to save his own life, the ''Mona Lisa'' and the other treasures by convincing the officer that Hitler would never forgive him for such an act of cultural barbarism. Jacques Girard (Photographs) (illustratore).…

Hardcover. Dust Jacket Included. Near Fine, Few Light Creases/NF light Edgewear, Short Tear. First Edition. ISBN:086565039x. Limited to 1250 copies. Profusely Illustrated (illustratore). Book.