of his philosophy and the ultimate expression of his fantasies, joined the collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, further enhancing the archives of the incarcerated divine marquis .

A work of major national heritage interest for the Musée d Art Moderne A group featuring 36 original works (collages and drawings), a model, archive documents, photographs and engineering elements from the project for The Pont-Neuf Wrapped by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Paris, 1975-1985.

Exceptional testimony of an urban art project that has left its mark on the collective memory, this unique collection recalls Christo and Jeanne-Claude's desire to create not only a temporary work of art in direct contact with reality, but also to use the history of the oldest bridge in Paris as a source of inspiration. Extremely rare in the production of both artists due to the ambitious nature of the project, this ensemble, put together through a precise selection of works and a truly pivotal documentary, photographic and technical corpus, is the only one of its kind in national collections. In joining the collections of the Musée National d Art Moderne, it allows valuable testimony to be preserved of a unique artistic approach in the 20th century.

A national treasure for the Musée Rodin A sculpture by Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), I am Beautiful, plaster, signed A. Rodin on the underside of the base, circa 1885.

This extremely rare and remarkable trial piece in plaster by the key French sculptor August Rodin, the title of which is linked to Charles Baudelaire's verse I am beautiful, O mortals, like a dream of stone , appeared to likely be the original assemblage of the motif that links those of The Crouching Woman and The Falling Man. As such, this sculpture represents the first recorded use of the assemblage technique in the history of Rodin s processes, one so representative of the artist. Its acquisition complemented the series of prior versions already held in French public collections, while also

furthering our knowledge of the creative process of this great sculptor from the second half of the 19th century, who paved the way for modern sculpture.  

A donation for the Musée Franco-Americain du Château de Blérancourt Granted by Madame Carlotta Edwina Gray Horton, a group of 44 works by the American painter William Samuel Horton.

This selection of works, spanning nearly all of Horton s career, demonstrates the talent of an artist as comfortable with landscape painting as with still life, who mastered the techniques of oil painting, pastel and drawing with charcoal and watercolour. It includes a particularly large number of depictions of Venice, Pompeii, England and Scotland, as well as New York and a wonderful San Francisco landscape. It also features several images of nature adorned with seasonal colours, indicating the close Impressionist ties of this artist, a tireless explorer. By joining the national collections, this ensemble considerably improves our understanding of the artist and makes the Musée Franco-Américain du Château de Blérancourt home to his works, documentation and archives a key venue for research on Horton.

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