L’objet pour passion : remarques sur la démarche intellectuelle de Raymond Koechlin (1860-1931), historien de l’art

The object as a passion : remarks on the intellectual approach of the art historian Raymond Koechlin. Raymond Koechlin’s activity (1860-1931) as a member of the “Société des Amis du Louvre et du Conseil des musées nationaux” is very well-known today. His role in the UCAD and the character of his collection would deserve a study too ; therefore, this article is devoted to his historiographic production. On one hand it is the question of showing how Koechlin’s interests and method were affected by his activity as a collectioner of oriental art objects. On the other hand, the study aims to show that Koechlin’s Alsacian origins and his education in the Ecole libre en Sciences Politiques profoundly marked his approach to European and Asiatic cultures. The writer’s historiographic position is thus defined better, without disregarding the relationship between his colleagues and French and German friends.