1929: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York purchases the Grand Salon of the Hôtel de la Bouexière
Though comfortably ensconced now at Mia, the Grand Salon of the Hôtel de la Bouexière wandered on its way to Minneapolis, a journey as complex and intriguing as the decor itself. In the late 1920s, Gaillard's mansion was divvied up by the Parisian art and architecture dealers Arnold Seligmann, Rey and Company, who sold off several paneled rooms—including this one—to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, for a record sum. One week later, the stock market crash of 1929 precipitated the Great Depression, and the room languished in storage through fires, water damage, and bug infestations.
1949: A miniature view
In 1949 ,the Metropolitan Museum of Art commissioned a model of the Hôtel de la Bouexière in Paris (c.1735). Robert Carlhian produced a watercolor featuring a proposed design for the installation at the Met. It includes four overdoor paintings and draperies that the Met hoped to include in the room's installation. The original decorative features were lost by the time the Met purchased the room.
1983: The Groves Foundation donates the Grand Salon to Mia
Unable to justify the room's installation due to extensive restoration needs and space limitations, the Met decided to deaccession the room in 1965. In 1969, the room and maquette were sold to the Dalva Brothers, antique dealers based in New York. The room came to Mia in 1983 thanks to the Twin Cities-based Groves Foundation and the generosity of Carolyn and Franklin Groves, connoisseurs of French art committed to providing an architectural context for Mia's collection of French decorative arts.
1985: Condition critical
Registrar Ken Krenz, during his first day on the job in 1985, assessed the condition of Mia's new prize. He found the remains of various critters that once called the crates home.
2002: The road to restoration
In 2002, Mia sent a portion of the room back to France, where specialists restored the panels to their original glory. But the room's intricately carved cornice—the ornamental moulding where the walls meet the ceiling—was too deteriorated and delicate to make the trip. So French conservators spent months reviving it here, in Minneapolis.
2005: Carpentry and craft
Al Silberstein, Mia locksmith and carpenter, painstakingly researched fireplaces from the 1700s, and when the French conservation team came to Minneapolis they brought what they needed to reconstruct the Grand Salon's hearth: 18th-century bricks from a chateau in France.
2005: Putting the puzzle back together
Installation took a full year (2004 to 2005), from building the space to house the room to properly placing each panel. After all was said and done, Mia had a fashionable French time machine for visiting the 1700s.