Fiji 1838: Face to Face

Drawing by Ernest Goupil, portrait of Tanoa Visawaqa, warlord of Bau whose influence during the stay of Dumont d'Urville marked as much the actions and the story of the expedition as the history of the archipelago. © City of Chartres – Museum of Fine Arts.

Fiji 1838 showcases the cultural heritage of Oceania, notably through the drawings of Ernest Goupil (1814-1840), an artist who sailed on the Astrolabe, including those from a previously unseen collection held by the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Chartres. The exhibition has been produced in collaboration with the Musée du Quai Branly/Jacques Chirac.

The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Chartres houses an important collection of objects, works and various documents related to the life of the populations in Oceania. The Bouge Collection was established by Louis-Joseph Bouge throughout his career. Governor of France overseas, he served mainly in Oceania at the beginning of the 20th century. His entire collection was bequeathed to the Museum of Fine Arts by his widow, Emma Quille in 1970. Thanks to this donation, the Chartres Museum today has one of the most important documentary funds in France on the Pacific.

A dedicated scientific committee was set up to study this set found a series of unpublished works, in the form of drawings by Ernest Goupil. Goupil was official cartoonist of the second expedition of the French navigator Jules S.C. Dumont d'Urville at the command of the Astrolabe accompanied by a second corvette, the Zélée. During the journey, he made many sketches depicting the local life and cultural practices of Fijians at that time. Their fairness contrasts with later engravings, marked by the stereotypes of the era. Rare works that have been restored and form the starting point of the exhibition,