In 1815, Joseph, elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, arrived in America, bringing with him his vast and exquisite collection of 18th-century French paintings, and a new American taste for 18th-century French painting was born. America Collects Eighteenth-century French Painting brings together some of the best and most unusual examples of this type of art that American museums have to offer, and tells their stories on a national stage. Who were the collectors, curators, museum directors and dealers responsible for bringing 18th-century French painting to America? Where are the paintings now?

The book considers America's very real fascination with France in the 18th century: a staunch ally in the Revolutionary wars, a cultural and intellectual model for Franklin, Jefferson and other Americans abroad. It also looks at the way in which the cultural ideal of 18th-century France has continued to endure in the American imagination.