Art is moving home... to the Maison rouge
We know of a few galleries in Paris with space enough to exhibit monumental works (for example Yvon Lambert and Cosmic Galerie in Le Marais.) But here, along the border of the port de l’Arsenal, we’re on the verge of excessiveness : behind a facade, nothing special, of the boulevard de la Bastille, the Fondation Antoine de Galbert has constructed a private exhibition space which is one of the largest of the capital! Over 1300 m2, divided into four gigantic rooms. The Maison rouge reveals to you the world of collectors. A peek through the keyhole!
On the street, nothing spectacular: a bookstore adjoins the entrance (“dressed” by Jean-Michel Alberola), overlooking a café surrounding a house curiously painted red, where the administrative services of the foundation are located. It’s behind all this, on several levels that spread out from the former photoengraver manufacturer’s premises, a series of immense spaces, entirely redesigned by the architect from Grenoble Jean-Yves Clément.
Mix of styles as well : in one of the two dining rooms, we discover a harmonious ensemble – Robert Wilson chairs and a table by Richard Peduzzi, on an Andrée Putman rug –, where works by Sigurdur Arni Sigurdsson, Didier Trenet and Erik Dietman are integrated next to a curious collection of ceramics! As for the attic space, it is by far the most impressive! It contains, like a mini museum, one hundred mounted heads, relics coming from Africa, Asia, the South Sea Islands, and South America, as well as cult objects and even mummies! You can understand that with objects this “loaded”, the collector preferred to “house” them little by little, in the attic…On this visit where you will be plunged up to your eyes in the intimacy of living collections, you will see over 500 works, from some 200 artists, installed as if at home!
Please note : this Autumn, a new exhibition will set the scene for the very contemporary collection of Harald Falckenberg from Hamburg (from October to January). Afterwards, it’s the American artist Ann Hamilton (from February to May) who will take over in the entire space : what a challenge that will be!
