Paris Picasso Museum for big-picture revamp
Source: Agencies |
August 24, 2009, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Picasso Museum in Paris is closing its doors for renovations, spiriting away its masterpieces under high security to government warehouses for more than two years while seeking to expand the much-visited but cramped site.
Museum admittance was free to all visitors yesterday, the last day before work begins.
It would stop lending out Picasso artworks during the overhaul, which would begin with experts updating, computerizing and restoring the inventory, museum director Anne Baldassari said on Saturday.
The museum, in a baroque mansion in the Marais district of Paris, opened in 1985, and traces the Spanish-born artist's prolific career. Picasso died in 1973.
Renovation of the 3,000-square-meter space will begin early next year. It is expected to last two years and cost 20 million euros (US$28.67 million), according to the museum.
"It needs modernizing," Baldassari said, citing electrical problems and the need to make it more accessible to people with reduced mobility.
She also wants to boost attendance - currently about half a million people a year - and attract more young people by expanding exhibition space and adding halls for student activities.
While the museum has about 5,000 pieces in stock, it only displays 250 to 300 at a time. "We can't continue like this," she said.
To guard against theft of the museum's riches during the renovation, the artworks would be packaged and shipped, under tight security, to storerooms managed by the national museum authority.
Picasso's paintings, sculptures and sketches are among the world's most coveted artworks and are often targeted by thieves.
The museum will continue to host education and cultural events related to the Picasso collection at other sites.
Museum admittance was free to all visitors yesterday, the last day before work begins.
It would stop lending out Picasso artworks during the overhaul, which would begin with experts updating, computerizing and restoring the inventory, museum director Anne Baldassari said on Saturday.
The museum, in a baroque mansion in the Marais district of Paris, opened in 1985, and traces the Spanish-born artist's prolific career. Picasso died in 1973.
Renovation of the 3,000-square-meter space will begin early next year. It is expected to last two years and cost 20 million euros (US$28.67 million), according to the museum.
"It needs modernizing," Baldassari said, citing electrical problems and the need to make it more accessible to people with reduced mobility.
She also wants to boost attendance - currently about half a million people a year - and attract more young people by expanding exhibition space and adding halls for student activities.
While the museum has about 5,000 pieces in stock, it only displays 250 to 300 at a time. "We can't continue like this," she said.
To guard against theft of the museum's riches during the renovation, the artworks would be packaged and shipped, under tight security, to storerooms managed by the national museum authority.
Picasso's paintings, sculptures and sketches are among the world's most coveted artworks and are often targeted by thieves.
The museum will continue to host education and cultural events related to the Picasso collection at other sites.
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