About this Exhibition

This exhibition presents chemistry-based abstract art pieces that artist and scientist Daniel Jay developed during a residency at the Tufts University Center for European Studies in Talloires, France in Spring 2015. Daniel Jay used dyes, chemicals and chemical reactions to create art works inspired by the life and science of Claude-Louis Berthollet, one of the greatest French chemists, born in Talloires in 1748.

Colleague of Lavoisier, friend and advisor to Napoleon, Berthollet contributed to both theoretical and practical chemistry. He developed the concept of chemical equilibrium and established the nomenclature for chemical compounds that we still use today. He served as director of dye manufacture at the Gobelins tapestry factory, where his work helped to make some of the most beautiful tapestries of their time.

For this exhibition, Jay drew from Berthollet’s science using dyes from his era such as Indigo, Cochineal, Madder and Turmeric and chemicals such as copper sulfate, alum, tin oxide and liquid bleach (which he invented) that he used for textile and tapestry manufacture.

About Daniel Jay

Daniel Jay has had parallel careers in science (as a professor at Harvard and now Tufts University) and in art for the past 30 years. In the mid-1980s, he was elected a junior fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows to do both science and art and was provided with both a laboratory and an art studio there. Recently, he began combining his two passions by developing a series of art influenced by science. Titled ARCHEMY, this current art uses chemicals and chemical reactions to make novel marks on paper.

Find out more about the artist

Above: Warp and Weft Abstract #7 2015, 18" X 24", Copper sulfate, Cochineal, Indigo, Madder and Turmeric on paper.

Gallery Hours

Monday - Thursday, 9:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Friday by appointment
Saturday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
The gallery is closed on Monday, January 18.

Free and Open to the Public

Call for Artists

CallforArtists-Image

Our art exhibition program showcases local and international artists whose work has a connection with French and Francophone culture.

Whether you draw your inspiration from an artistic movement, a specific artist, a subject or a technique, you can submit your work for an opportunity to present your art to the public in our elegant brownstone's gallery in the heart of Back Bay, for month-long exhibitions from September through June.

Artists and projects are selected by a committee of art professionals, artists and art connoisseurs who meet twice a year. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

To submit your work please refer to the Call for Artists in which you will find a detailed description of requirements and conditions.

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, April 12, 2023 6:30 PM To 8:30 PM

The French Library is honored to welcome French Rimbaud’s specialist Alain Borer for a poetic night dedicated to one of the most well-known and talented French poet, Arthur Rimbaud.

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Conference

The impressionist revolutions

In person Master Class: French Culture and History

From Apr 4, 2023 To Apr 25, 2023 6:30 PM To 7:30 PM

Master class on Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Paul Cézanne and Auguste Renoir: four sessions and one Museum of Fine Arts visit to better understand the French impressionists.

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Lecture

Musiciennes de légende by Marina Chiche

Author talk and book signing

Friday, April 7, 2023 6:30 PM To 8:00 PM

The French Library is pleased to welcome award-winning French violinist and author Marina Chiche. Marina will tell us more about her work on making classical music accessible to the widest audience possible and highlighting exceptional women performers forgotten by history because of their gender.

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