Fluctuat nec mergitur
The Grand Louvre project and expansion of the Fine Arts Museum
MúzeumCafé 20.
Rather than architectural and technical aspects, I would like to touch on strategic questions. Since the Fine Arts Museum’s temporary exhibitions and spaces serving the public are to be located under Heroes’ Square, clearly a new situation arises as regards use of the ‘old’ building, allowing for a radical reorganisation of the permanent exhibitions, storerooms and restorers’ workshops. When François Mitterrand spoke of the Grand Louvre mission, in the forefront was the need for radical improvement in the conditions for museum visitors. In this respect significant changes have already taken place in the Fine Arts Museum in the recent past. In Mitterand’s view, after the issue of serving the public what followed was the widest possible access to the collections – not forgetting their enrichment – which present the visitor with the surprise of an unexpected adventure. The Louvre had come under fire because of its masterpieces hidden in storerooms, and organising the new permanent exhibitions was an incredible challenge for its museologists. The architect I.M. Pei was an indispensable partner and more than one room bears his emblematic signature. For example, I would call the attention of museum specialists to the rebirth of the Rubens hall, which demonstrates both the possibilities and limitations of solutions to problems of aesthetics, lighting and monument protection. For the Fine Arts Museum this is something very topical. It has been emphasised that the art historian should be an equal partner in this matter, not as an office-holder but first and foremost as a scholar. At the same time the art historian is capable of strengthening a museum’s reputation, if continuous information is made available and the consequences are known to the public.