Art historian and museum curator Michel Florisoone was born in France in 1904. He began his successful career as a curator at the Louvre in 1936.

 

Florisoone served as Secretary of the Commission de Récupération Artistique (French Commission for Art Recovery) under its President, Monuments Man Albert S. Henraux.

 

Following his return to France, Florisoone became Curator of the French National Museums. In 1960 he was appointed Deputy General of Mobilier National (National Furniture), the official office of the Ministry of Culture devoted to conserving historic tapestries, carpets, upholstery, carpentry, cabinets, chandeliers, and other objects d’art. Florisoone also worked as Curator of the Museum of African and Oceanic Arts in Paris and Vice President of the Association of Catholic Writers.

 

A prolific researcher and writer, Florisoone published several monographs on such notable artists as Goya, Delacroix, Renoir, Manet, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Van Gogh. He also contributed to exhibition catalogues on Charles Le Brun, Eugène Carrière, Pimienta, Leonardo da Vinci, and the French Impressionists. His most well-known publications include: Les grandes périodes de l'histoire de l'art au Musée du Louvre (The Great Periods of Art History at The Louvre, 1955), Les Grands maîtres italiens, XVIe-XVIIe siècles (Great Italian Masters of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, 1958), and Dictionnaire des cathédrales de France (Dictionary of the Cathedrals of France, 1971).

 

The Foundation is very interested in learning more about Michel Florisoone’s life, as well as his military service as a Monuments Man. If you have any information, please contact abottinelli@monumentsmenfoundation.org.