De Saisset Museum
Encyclopedia
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University is a private, not-for-profit, Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California, United States. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus , whose...
opened in the early 1950s after Isabel de Saisset, the last member of a French pioneer family bequeathed her estate to the University of Santa Clara. The museum owns nearly 10,000 art pieces and historical artifacts, including the work of early Californian artist and university alumnus Ernest de Saisset
Ernest de Saisset
Ernest de Saisset is an French Painter who studied at Santa Clara College, now known as Santa Clara University.-Biography:Ernest de Saisset was born to a prominent California family who had immigrated from France during the time of the California Gold Rush. He was the eldest son of Pedro de...
and a considerable collection of California mission artifacts. The de Saisset recently completed a major renovation of its storage facilities and is open to the public free of charge.
Facility
The 19210 square feet (1,784.7 m²) building is located in front of Mission Santa Clara de AsísMission Santa Clara de Asís
Mission Santa Clara de Asís was founded on January 12, 1777 and named for Santa Clara de Asis , the foundress of the order of the Poor Clares. Although ruined and rebuilt six times, the settlement was never abandoned.-History:...
and has been a part of the University campus since 1955. It is one of only two museums in the San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
area accredited by the American Association of Museums
American Association of Museums
The American Association of Museums is a non-profit association that has brought museums together since its founding in 1906, helping develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and advocating on issues of concern to the museum community...
.
The museum is housed in a three level building that conforms with the Mission Style
Mission Style
-Architecture:* Mission Revival Style architecture* Architecture of the California Missions* Spanish Colonial Revival Style architecture* The architecture of the Prairie School, including Frank Lloyd Wright's* American Craftsman* Craftsman Furniture-Furniture:...
prevalent on the Santa Clara campus and bears the de Saisset family crest above the foyer door. The ground floor holds a foyer, several rooms for visiting exhibits, and a large lecture hall for presentations and activities. The upstairs includes room for exhibits from the permanent collection and a bathroom, and the basement displays historical artifacts, artwork from the permanent collection, and houses viewing drawers for many of the European prints.
de Saisset family
Pedro de Saisset, the father of Isabel and Ernest, emigrated from FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
near the time of the gold rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
intending to capitalize on the newfound wealth in the region. While in the area, he served as a consular representative in San Jose and founded the Brush Electric Light company in San Jose. While in San Jose, de Saisset married Maria Palomares and together had four children: Henrietta, Ernest, Pierre, and Isabel. Of these, Henrietta was the only one to marry, and none of the siblings had any children of their own.
Ernest was the oldest of the children and began his education at Santa Clara College when he was sixteen. He continued as a student for three years, showing potential in French and drawing. During the final year of his studies, Ernest studied painting with Fr. Tortone, who highly approved of his work. Since art instructors were in short supply in pioneer California, the de Saisset family sent Ernest to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
for further study in art. In 1895, he returned to California; however, he died four years later.
Museum
Before her death, Isabel de Saisset informed the President and governing board of the University of her wish to donate family real estate and the family art collection for the purpose of constructing a gallery and museum. Many of her personal items — jewels, silver, and tapestries — were also donated. Since that time, the museum has expanded its collections to include many objects from the United States and abroad."Highlights of the de Saisset’s permanent collection include Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
, Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
, Rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
, and 19th century prints by artists such as Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
, William Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
, and Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Giovanni Battista Piranesi was an Italian artist famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric "prisons" .-His Life:...
. Modernist prints in the de Saisset Collection include works by Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
, Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
, and Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
." The Museum also houses important collections of contemporary prints and photographs.
External links
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