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FranceandtheevolutionofarthistoryintheCentralandEasternEurope.Threecases...
FranceandCentralandEastEuropeancountries
likeasilentthreat.Itmustbenoted,amongother
things,thatFrencharthistory,whosedevelopment
waslessprecociousthanGermanKunstwissenschaft,
hadbeenfollowingthescientificconquestsofthe
neighbourswithamixtureofinterestandsuspicion
fromtheearliestyearsofthecentury.
Réau’sworkasahistorianisperfectlyorganicto
thisquestforanintellectualexpansionofFrance
abroad.TheworkshepublishedwhileinSaint-
Petersburgwere,asmanyattempts,toproducethe
historicaljustificationofthisclaim:inhisessays,
Réauelaboratesondifferentaspectsoftheinflu-
enceofFrenchcultureonRussiabetweenthe18th
and19thcentury,presentingFrenchcultureandart
astheessentialandsolefoundationofmodernart
andcultureinRussia.Readingthehistoricalpast
alongtheselineswasclearlyawaytolegitimize
Frenchexpansionisminthepresent.Themostac-
complishedexpressionofthesetendenciesarethe
severalvolumesofhisHistoiredel’expansiondel’art
françaismoderne7,oneofwhichisdevotedtoRussia
andtheSlaviccountries,andhisL
’EuropeFrançaise
ausiècledesLumières,from19388,whosetitlebe-
traysthetheoreticalpresuppositionsatwork.The
Expositiondel’artfrançaisdu19thsièclethatRéau
organizedin1912inSaint-Petersburg,incollabo-
rationwithGeorgyLukomsky,headedinthesame
direction,anddevotedawholeroomtoacolonyof
FrenchartistsworkinginRussia9.
ThisoutlookwaswelcomedbytheRussianschol-
arsandartistswhohadgatheredaroundthejournal
“Apollon”
,strivingtopromoteanimageofRussia
asanaristocratic,cultured,Europeanandfrancoph-
onecountry,asopposedtothequasi-medievaland
peasantRussiatheRomanticshadportrayed,and
Viollet-le-DuchadimportedintoFrance.Suchwas
thecaseofAlexandreBenoisorGeorgyLukomsky.
Réau’srelationshipswiththiscircleofintellectuals
andcriticsbegantodeterioratewhentheRussians,
andhisclosecollaboratorLukomskyinparticular,
begantoaccusehimofborrowingtooliterallyfrom
theirstudiesonRussianart.Afewmonthslater,war
andtheRussianrevolutionwouldradicallytrans-
formthenatureofculturalandartisticexchange
betweenFranceandRussia10.
23
AsecondexamplewouldbetherolethatHenri
FocillonplayedintheestablishmentofaFrench
instituteofBucharest.Allinall,thisisthecasein
whichtherelationshipsbetweentheFrenchin-
stituteandthelocalcommunityofarthistorians
workedbest,sowellindeedthatwemighteven
speakofadirectinfluenceoftheFrenchparadigm
forarthistoryontheevolutionofthisdisciplinein
anEastEuropeancountry,namelyRomania.
TheestablishmentoftheInstitutewasanef-
fectoftheVersaillestreaty,andofthenewcultural
policiesFrancebegantopromoteaftertheGreat
War.OnJune15,1919,anagreementwassigned
inVersailles,a“Conventionrelativeaurecrutement,
austatutetautraitementdupersonneluniversitaire
misparlegouvernementfrançaisàladispositiondu
gouvernementroumain”(Agreementontheem-
ployment,statusandincomeofuniversityperson-
nelthattheFrenchgovernmentisgoingtoputat
thedisposalofitsRomaniancounterpart),stipulat-
ingtheinvestmentof1,4millionfrancsthatFrance
wastoadvanceandRomaniawouldbegintopay
backafter1923.DatingfromSeptember1919,that
is,itwastechnicallypossibletosetupa“Mission
UniversitaireFrançaise”toRomania,andin1919
geographerEmmanueldeMartonnewasinvitedto
teachforasemesteratClujuniversity11.
In1921,inthegeneralcontextoftheseexchang-
es,agroupofstudentsfromClujuniversity,ledby
GeorgeOprescu,visitedFranceandmetHenri
FocilloninLyon.Itwasthebeginningofafriend-
shipthatwouldprovecrucialfortheRomanian
arthistorian,asthecorrespondencebetweenthe
twoscholarsunmistakeablyproves12.ForFocil-
lon,inturn,itwasthebeginningofanambitious
project.Attheendof1922hewrotetoOprescu:
“youknowverywellthatIdreamofestablishing
aFrenchinstituteinRomania.I’mworkingonthis
matterwiththecarethattheartisansofoldputinto
themakingoftheircorporativemasterpieces”13.
So,astringofbureaucraticstepsbeganthatled
tothefoundationoftheInstitute,officiallyopened
attheCarolFoundationonMay29,1924.Focillon
playedacrucialroleinthisprocess:amongother
things,hewastheheadofdiplomaticnegotiations,
duringwhichhemetsomeofthemostbrilliant
representativesoftheRomanianintellectualélite,
7Réau(1924).
8Réau(1938).
9Medvedkova(2002:419).
10Medvedkova(2002:419-420).
11Godin(1998).
12Focillon(1992).
13Focillon(1992:9),mytranslation.
