“I do it my way”
An exclusive interview with Marc Restellini, director of the Pinacothèque de Paris
MúzeumCafé 22.
The Pinacothèque de Paris gallery opened in 2003 and has had a colossal career in a short time. The managers of other, centuries old, highly respected museums in Paris with large collections, such as the Louvre or the Musée d’Orsay, and of the more recent ones with contemporary art collections, such as the Centre Pompidou or the Musée d’Art Modern, all look on the sudden growth of the newborn gallery with both envy and amazement, and are keen to discover the secret of its success. The varied themes of the Pinacothèque’s exhibitions, and their impeccable presentation, both professionally and educationally, aimed at teaching visitors have enthralled the public with youthful impudence and vigour. “I’ve wanted to put on exhibitions which help the public discover emotions mediated by art and teach them something they no longer notice amidst the plethora of exhibitions – to see, question and perceive works of art. Such an institution did not exist in Parisian art life and therefore we founded the Pinacothèque, which is privately owned and is able to maintain itself from its own revenues. I am also curiously observing the number of visitors growing from one show to the next, since this seems to indicate that our existence is both necessary and welcome. “The museum building and its offices belong to Crédit Agricole. The foundation was set up with the help of the museum’s friends, various sponsors, private foundations and art collectors living all over the world. The museum is maintained exclusively from ticket sales and the income from its shop. The interior space can be hired for various functions, such as private visits and gatherings. “Let’s take a look, for instance, at the most successful exhibition of 2009, which featured the art of the Dutch golden century loaned by Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum. When I got in touch with the Dutch colleagues some high-ranking specialists from the Louvre suggested to them that they should not loan anything to me. Yet the Dutch responded and in the end we were able to display 126 masterpieces, including a Vermeer and six works by Rembrandt. It was incredibly popular, as witnessed by the four thousand people who besieged the gallery daily. Ultimately we had 750,000 visitors in four months, which is one and a half times as many as the Louvre drew to its Renaissance Venice exhibition running at the same time. “Art institutions should be run not by technocrats but art historians, as used to be the case 50 years ago. I reckon it generally happens internationally, but in my opinion running a museum is a question of vocation and not a career. That is the reason why the Pinacothèque was founded and as a private institution it does not depend on either the official state bodies or politics. “Incidentally, I like to regard myself as a Jedi knight defending the arts, and I really enjoy it when I can irritate the authorities. “It’s a fact that we hang the pictures lower and that you can walk around the cabinets, which are well lit. All this enables us to fulfil our goal, which is to present the works as well and as conveniently as possible for visitors. In big museums it is usually difficult if not impossible to see a work of art well because of inappropriate arrangement. What is even worse is that the public doesn’t understand anything about the displays. The hanging and lighting may be theatrical in our gallery, but my role is precisely to show the real value of the items and that is possible only with the help of artificial means. It’s a fact that the installation of the exhibitions is appreciated by the public. Believe me, I really don’t know why my gallery is doing so well. Perhaps it is because it’s mine and here I do what I like so much. “We like pleasing visitors, therefore we organise many events alongside the exhibitions. We have regular guided tours and various sessions for children and young people. We have our own publisher, so we issue the exhibition catalogues, books, journals and DVDs ourselves. In our shop everyone can find gifts to suit their own taste and financial means. Taking advantage of modern technical developments, the sound tours of the exhibitions can be directly downloaded to your own mobile. “We try to find themes that have not been touched upon earlier. In addition, our exhibitions have a historical-cultural-educational element, as well as an art aspect. We have already displayed the Chinese clay army, the most significant archaeological find of the 20th century. We are getting works of art from collectors all over the world, from Mexico, Italy, Switzerland, China, Japan and Germany, and of course from France. Besides secure keeping, a restoration studio and a laboratory for technical analysis have been established and offer their services to the owners. I reject the approach to museums which arose some time after the Enlightenment and which declared museums haughty, reserved and dusty places. It must never be forgotten that with respect to its origin a museum is the result of a collector’s work, the expression of passion for art on the part of a dynasty, a family, a man or a woman, as is shown by our present exhibitions featuring collections of the Romanovs and the Esterházys.”.