Nieuwerkerke, a Key Figure of the Fine Arts under the Second Empire
- Art d'Histoire
- May 28
- 4 min read
The mid-nineteenth century in France, under the regime of Napoleon III, marks a pivotal period where pictorial creation—which, like the French people, sought ever greater independence—clashed with government directives placed under the control of one Émilien de Nieuwerkerke.
The Omnipotence of Émilien de Nieuwerkerke within the State Apparatus
While some historians at the end of the century, such as Frédéric Henriet, initially painted a portrait of a man with mediocre tastes who was closed to modernity, more recent studies rehabilitate this highly active senior official and contradict his reputation for incompetence.
A sculptor of modest talent and a third-class medalist in that capacity, Nieuwerkerke managed to occupy all strategic positions between 1849 and 1870: the directorship of the imperial museums, the superintendency of fine arts, while also sitting in the Senate and presiding over admission juries.
This accumulation of functions rested not only on extraordinary administrative skills but also on State favoritism. In January 1864, students of the École des Beaux-Arts publicly mocked him, shouting the nickname "Castor" (Beaver) in the crowd. The ribald nickname referred to his affair with Princess Mathilde, the Emperor's cousin (hence the M on the satirical portrait below).
His leadership was characterised by controversial decisions that sparked the anger of certain artists. The management of national collections under his tutelage led to the highly criticised restoration of Raphael's Saint Michael by the curator Frédéric Villot; horrified, Ingres denounced this amateurism to the Emperor, describing the superintendent as a destroyer. In retaliation, Nieuwerkerke hurried to relegate some of Ingres's canvases to dark corners.
In another instance of amateurism, he oversaw the expensive acquisition of a Renaissance bust that turned out to be a forgery by Giovanni Bastianini.
Ethical standards were also not always met: he drew from the Louvre's reserves to decorate royal apartments during diplomatic visits or, even more seriously, to decorate private clubs where he served as vice-president.
Aesthetic Conservatism
Nieuwerkerke's personal taste made him insensitive to the moderns: Judging Corot's canvases to be blurry and dull, it took an instance of the superintendent's absence for Louvre employees to discreetly hang one of his works.
He showed the same reluctance toward Millet's rustic scenes, even though the administration eventually decorated him in the late 1860s.
Courbet fared little better: The Covered Brook would be the only painting acquired by the State under Nieuwerkerke's administration, and it was subsequently poorly displayed.
The Confrontation at the Palais-Royal
A colourful episode, recounted by Courbet to his patron Alfred Bruyas in October 1853, pitted the superintendent against the man from Franche-Comté.
The Director of Fine Arts, on a mission for the government, invited Gustave Courbet to a fashionable lunch at the Palais-Royal, where he was surrounded by decorated and docile artists. The objective of the manoeuvre was clear: to coax the painter and convince him to tone down the radicalism of his canvases in exchange for an official commission for the Universal Exhibition of 1855.
The reaction of the painter from Ornans was equal to his talent and his ego. Far from complying, especially since Nieuwerkerke was making attractive financial offers, the painter recounted having taken offence, and reportedly told the official that he too WAS A GOVERNMENT and had no lessons to receive from anyone, dealing as an equal with the State and its representative. He did not hesitate to remind Nieuwerkerke that his administration was growing rich on his back while the Salon crowd swarmed in front of his Bathers.
The entrance fees were indeed being pocketed by the State, and his work monopolised the press chronicles.
The mutual misunderstanding was absolute, with the representative of power castigating his interlocutor's incorrigible character, while the latter openly mocked academic rigidity. He decided to manage his own marketing and planned his future independent pavilion for 1855.
The total power of Nieuwerkerke's administration eventually withered when Mathilde grew tired of him; remaining only at the directorship of museums at the beginning of 1870, the Empire, in any case, was set to collapse a few months later.
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