This article inaugurates a series which, alas, threatens to be a long one: that of closed museums, either partially or totally, those abandoned by cities in a state of vegetation and with no funding to the point of endangering the works they hold.  continue

The Musée de Montmartre is managed by the Société du Vieux Montmartre which originated in 1886 and since 1960 is located in one of the oldest houses on the hill (ill. 1), dating from the 17th century, the former residence of Claude Delarose, known also as Rosimond, an actor and friend of Moliere who succeeded him in most of his roles. It was listed as a Musée de France in 2003.  continue

An understated establishment devoted to a somewhat misunderstood painter, the Musée Henner had closed its doors in 2005 for a complete renovation. It reopened to the public last Saturday, 7 November. The refurbishment did not consist only in reinstating the III Republic aspect of this former private residence, but also entailed the restoration of many of the paintings and those frames which had been removed in the 60’s and which were found lying in the basement.  continue

A little over a year and a half after his appointment at the head of the Musée d’Orsay, Guy Cogeval organized a press conference a few days ago to present the project for reorganizing the collections. He granted us an interview at this time answering all of our questions, notably those concerning paying exhibitions on tour which will finance a large part of the refurbishment.  continue

The opening quote to our investigation was pronounced by the Minister of Culture in response to a question we asked during the press conference on Thursday, 29 January 2009 concerning inventory checks for art works.  continue

While case studies such as “the painting of the month” highlighting a work in the permanent collection are of real interest (new information, identifications or acquisitions are often presented) those focusing on only one work from another museum are rarely justified from a scholarly point of view  continue

Built in 1910, the Musée d’art et d’histoire in Geneva, a municipal museum, is currently a victim of two evils: its state of decay, due to reduced maintenance, calls for immediate restoration, and the lack of space for its permanent collections which continue to grow requires a larger building. Although it would seem wise, for both technical and financial reasons, to associate these tasks, they are very different in their degree of urgency.  continue

We have already discussed Jean-Jacques Aillagon’s determination, stated repeatedly, to restore and reopen the rooms of the Musée de l’Histoire de France of Louis-Philippe  continue

Visitors to Rome have so much to see in the Eternal City that they don’t necessarily think of going to Ariccia, a small town located less than an hour by train from the StazioneTermini  continue

A major collector of 17th and 18th century Italian painting, particularly Roman artists, Fabrizio Lemme is also a generous donor. After offering several works to the Louvre and to the Galleria Nazionale at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome, he has made a very important donation of 128 paintings to the Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia. He granted us this interview which we are publishing at the same time as that of Francesco Petrucci, director of the Palazzo Chigi, along with several articles devoted to the Roman Baroque.  continue

Francesco Petrucci, director of the Palazzo Chigi, holds an architectural degree as a restorer of historical monuments. He has written many studies on the Baroque, notably a monograph on Bernini’s paintings. He thus progressively moved towards the history of painting, also publishing a monograph on Voet, a portrait artist (several of his works are in the Palazzo Chigi). He first supervised the restoration of the palace, then took over as director in 1998.  continue

With all eyes riveted on Abou Dhabi and Verona, the hope was that the Louvre-Atlanta agreement had been put behind us. The most debatable exhibition, that is the one which leased some of the museum’s masterpieces for export without a true scholarly purpose, was over. Following the more traditional and modest presentations albeit with a real content (see news item of 1/4/08), the third year was to be devoted to “The Louvre today and tomorrow”, described on the Louvre-Atlanta website as (...)  continue

On Thursday, 4 September, the new president of the Musée d’Orsay, Guy Cogeval presented his policies for the next four years to the press. He has obviously not been idle since being appointed as he has set out a full agenda which promises to change the look of the museum profoundly. We had already spoken here of the different wall colours tested in two of the rooms (see news item of 2/7/08). The changes were approved by Gae Aulenti, the architect who had remodelled the train station when the (...)  continue

Jennifer Montagu was in Paris during the Salon du Dessin, where she participated to a colloquium about the drawings of sculptors (see our interview with Guilhem Scherf). We took advantage of this occasion to meet and interview her about her former and recent works. This great british art historian, who studied under Gombrich, is always very active.  continue

In 1988, the Musée Calvet in Avignon (ill. 1), housed in a beautiful XVIIIth century mansion built by the architect Franque, closed its doors for renovations that were supposed to last four years. The public should never be totally deprived of a museum: a partial reopening took place only in 1996 although the work had been stopped some time earlier. We will not go into the details of why this remodelling project was never finished. Let us instead turn to the future now that the outlook seems (...)  continue

Jean-Patrice Marandel has been a curator at the LACMA for almost 15 years now. He is especially active in his acquisitions policy which is particularly discerning, often favoring Old Masters, French and Italian from the XVIth to the XVIIIth centuries. We met him in Paris where, as a French-American, he frequently comes to buy paintings and where he anwered our questions about his background, his museum and the evolution of museums both in the United States and Europe. He spoke frankly.  continue

Prince Adam Karol Czartoryski granted us an interview at the time of the presentation in Cracow of the multispectral photography and its results for the Lady with Mink by Leonardo da Vinci, a masterpiece in the collection at the Czartoryski Muzeum in Cracow  continue

Late May 2007, the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Ghent reopened its doors after a four-year closing for renovation work. Little has changed in terms of the entrance hall to welcome the public but such essential elements as the electrical system, the lighting of the works and security measures have been entirely upgraded. Other improvements include the cafeteria, the bookshop, the auditorium and the library which have also benefited from this remodelling. Renovating a museum, unlike an (...)  continue

We met the director of Lumière Technology, Jean Pénicaut a few months ago. The photographic process marketed by this company struck us as being absolutely revolutionary.

During the European Heritage Days last weekend, Alain Tapié, director of the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille invited him to demonstrate this multispectral digitizing system.

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The latest trend in inaugurations is doing it twice. The former French Minister of Culture, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, did not hesitate in officially celebrating the opening of empty museums, weeks or even months before the public could gain admission for the simple act of seeing his name in gold letters  continue