Late 19th-Century French Poupées & Bébés

A Françoise and George Selz Lecture on Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century French Decorative Arts and Culture by Kathy Libraty

Wednesday, April 9, 2025

38 West 86th Street, Lecture Hall

gallery@bgc.bard.edu

$15 General | $12 Seniors | Free for people associated with a college or university, people with museum ID, people with disabilities and caregivers, and BGC members

In this lecture, celebrated antique doll specialist, collector, and dealer Kathy Libraty will explore the cultural significance of dolls in late nineteenth-century France. With a rare opportunity to examine never-before-seen archival examples from the period, this talk will trace an evolution from the French Poupée—the Fashion Lady doll of the 1870s and her role as ambassador of la mode to the international community—to the rise of the French bébé, or child doll, in the 1880s. Through these dolls, Libraty will explore changing views on child rearing, as well as the increase in leisure time that permitted and encouraged the use of playthings. She will also discuss the socioeconomic conditions which turned these decorative art objects into an industry, marketable to a burgeoning middle class in France and abroad.

Born in Paris, France, and emigrating to the US at the age of 4 with her family, Kathy Libraty loved all things French. While she didn’t have many dolls as a child, she fell in love with them as an adult when she found old dolls in a dumpster. After 35 years of collecting, researching, restoring, and selling antique dolls, she gained a wealth of knowledge on the subject. Libraty is equally versed in German as well as French dolls of the “Golden Period” of doll production in late nineteenth-century Europe when German and French doll manufacturers competed for the European and American doll market. But the artistry and superiority of French dolls with their lavish costumes is definitely her preferred niche. Recognized in The New York Times and Brooklyn Magazine, she was also featured on Eyewitness News and Antiques Roadshow as well as other local and international media outlets.

Bard Graduate Center is grateful for the generous support of the Selz Foundation.

Image: Courtesy of Kathy Libraty.