Paris exhibition celebrates Statue of Liberty creator

The Musée d’Orsay in Paris is paying tribute, starting Tuesday, to the creator of the Statue of Liberty, Auguste Bartholdi, with an exhibition combining archival documents and virtual reality experiences that explore the construction of the monumental statue, AFP reports.

Marking the 140th anniversary of the statue and the 250th anniversary of the declaration of United States independence, the Paris museum — dedicated to art from the late 19th and early 20th centuries — is presenting the exhibition “Auguste Bartholdi. Liberty Enlightening the World,” documenting the story of the famous monument, a symbol of New York, as well as that of its French creator (1834–1904), CE Report quotes AGERPRES.

From the Egyptian grandeur that inspired him to the technical complexities of the construction project, as well as the republican values promoted by the monument and the publicity campaign required to secure funding, the exhibition demonstrates that the Statue of Liberty is firmly rooted in its era.

In a gallery covering nearly 700 square metres, where admission is by reservation, visitors can take part in an immersive virtual reality experience that transports them for 35 minutes in the footsteps of the man who aspired to create “the eighth wonder of the world.”

Visitors attend the inaugural dinner held at the residence of politician and historian Édouard de Laboulaye, meet Gustave Eiffel, the designer of the statue’s internal framework — who would later create the famous Parisian tower — and American journalist Joseph Pulitzer. They also interact with Parisians and New Yorkers who witnessed the construction.

A model depicting Bartholdi leaning against a smaller version of the Statue of Liberty welcomes visitors to the exhibition’s classical section, which is open to everyone.

The aim of the exhibition is to bring the statue’s creator back into the spotlight, as his work is “so famous that his name has remained in the shadows.”

This is the first time in 40 years that a major French museum has devoted an exhibition to Auguste Bartholdi, says Juliette Chevée, the exhibition’s curator and director of the Bartholdi Museum in Colmar, in Alsace, eastern France, the sculptor’s birthplace. The Colmar museum has loaned 70 pieces to the Paris museum for the exhibition.

Photographs, posters and period “merchandise” mainly tell the story of the difficulties involved in raising the funds needed to build the statue and its pedestal on both sides of the Atlantic.

The exhibition will remain open to visitors until January 31, 2027.

At the end of September, the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris will dedicate a video and 3D exhibition to the construction of the Statue of Liberty in the Gaget workshops.

Photo: Musée d’Orsay