They were separated by more than 200 years and catered to entirely different audiences. But French decorative artists of the 18th century and Walt Disney animators in America shared a unique ambition – to breathe life, character and charm into the inanimate.
This spring an exhibition at the Wallace Collection – in collaboration with New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art – will explore Walt Disney’s personal fascination with France and French culture, and the way in which artists behind some of the most celebrated animation films of our time looked to French artworks for their source material.
