Does a city with such world-class institutions as the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay really need a brand-new museum? French art curator Marc Restellini thinks so — and recently raised many eyebrows here by opening his own private “Pinacothèque” with the crowd-pleasing show “Intimate Picasso” that features Jacqueline Picasso’s personal collection.
Restellini, who insists that he’ll make money with this project, has established a reputation as the mastermind behind a number of blockbuster shows, which have attracted thousands of visitors to the Musée du Luxembourg over the past couple of years. As the artistic director of the French senate’s museum, he organized several popular events including a Modigliani exhibition and “Raphaël: Grace and Beauty.”
The newly opened Pinacothèque is just the first step in an ambitious worldwide plan. Marc Restellini hopes to create a chain of museums in New York, Tokyo and other international cities. In this instance, he managed to borrow $8 million to purchase a space formerly used to display the Baccarat Museum collection and persuaded others to lend several more million to remodel the building. The initial phase of renovation was completed in record time and the space opened its doors last November.
Although privately operated museums are not unusual in the United States, in France most are subsidized by the government. Paris counts nearly 100 state-funded museums. Restellini is confident his venture will be a success despite the Pinacothèque’s off-the-beaten-track location sandwiched between the Gare du Nord and the Gare de l'Est. However, if that is to be the case, it must attract at least 2 000 people per day, if only to cover basic costs.
“I’ve always had a feeling for what people want to see,” he says. The Pinacotèque’s large scale exhibition space will showcase exhibitions made up entirely from private collections. Renovation work was rushed and partly rescheduled so the opening of the “Intimate Picasso” show would coincide with the 30th anniversary of the artist’s death.
Marc Restellini could have chosen to open the show on Valentine’s Day, for the 90 works in this romantic show testify to the tender relationship that existed between Picasso and his last muse. Jacqueline Roque was Picasso’s second and last wife. They were secretly married on March 2, 1961 in Vallauris and spent over 20 years together. To Picasso, she was the ideal woman. He never tired of painting her classical features, and her devotion to him continued long after his death. Many claim that it’s mainly thanks to Jacqueline’s efforts that the Picasso Museum in Paris exists. Yet, once this monument to Picasso was created, she seemed to have lost a sense of purpose in life. She committed suicide 13 years after Picasso’s death.
Picasso painted over 70 portraits of Jacqueline Roque in one year alone. Although there is an ongoing sense of experimentation with form and line, neither are ever jarring, or unflattering as in the portraits of Dora Maar, or the cold, analytical depictions of Marie Therèse Walter. The display also features sculptures, college works, photos and documents that reveal a very personal dimension of Picasso’s final period.
“Picasso intime — La Collection de Jacqueline” To Mar 28, 10am to 7pm, open daily, Pinacothèque de Paris, 30bis rue de Paradis, 10e, M° Poissonière, tel: 01 53 34 06 70, 12E
