The Man with the Carnation: Fans from the Gérard Lévy collection

Fantasy and folly take centre stage in a spellbinding exhibition of more than 80 fans, on display for the first time in the UK…

The intriguingly titled, The Man with the Carnation showcases the fan collection of Gérard Lévy (1934–2016), a revered dealer and connoisseur of Asian art and antique photography who collected fans for pleasure. Born in Morocco, Lévy lived most of his life in France where in 1966 he opened Galerie Gérard Lévy (designed by Le Corbusier) in Paris.

An urbane figure who always wore on his lapel a carnation flower, Lévy’s fan collection echoes some of his broader artistic interests – surrealism, for example. Themes such as fantasy, folly and exoticism resonate throughout the exhibition and reinforce his quest to collect the kitsch, curious, naïve and exemplary. A fan decorated by Gustave Doré (1832-1883), celebrated for his hauntingly beautiful engravings for Dante’s Divine Comedy, is just one of the many highlights. Fans from the Far East also feature prominently within the exhibition and include an eighteenth century Chinese folding fan with fine cinnabar lacquer guards and another painted with the Thirteen Factories in Canton (modern day Guangzhou).

The exhibition spotlights a gentleman who possessed a deep knowledge of and appreciation for beautiful objects. The Fan Museum is honoured to work with Galerie Gérard Lévy and continue our ‘Entente Cordiale.’
Helene Alexander, Director, The Fan Museum

It was my intention that my collection should be “off the beaten track”. Should you share my “taste” in fans I will know that I was right to collect along these lines. In any case I have had enormous pleasure from my collection.
Gérard Lévy, 2004