Works from the collection of Antoine de Galbert. More than 1,200 works by 800 artists form a ribbon some three metres high and running some 200 metres along each of the foundation's walls. Works are hung irrespective of shape, size, medium, history, monetary value or the artist 's repute. To ensure a minimum of coherency, only works of modern and contemporary art are included.
For its tenth anniversary, la maison rouge
presents, from June 14th to September 21st 2014,
Le mur (The Wall) – works from the collection
of Antoine de Galbert, the eleventh in a series
of exhibitions showing private collections.
After ten exhibitions showing diverse collectors’
worlds, this anniversary brings a much-awaited
opportunity for a broader presentation of the
collection assembled by la maison rouge’s founder
and chairman, Antoine de Galbert; an important
part of his personal life and one rarely seen outside
the private sphere until now. Unlike the previous
showings of private collections, for which curators
made representative choices from a large body
of works, Antoine de Galbert has imagined a very
particular approach to this hanging:
“The idea for this exhibition came to me during
my daily browsing of the books in my library.
Volumes are classed alphabetically, which produces
some unexpected propinquities. Jean Dubuffet
and Marcel Duchamp are neighbours. When I look
at this Noah’s Ark, I feel all the artists are navigating
the same river, for the same reasons, as Christian
Boltanski observed: “Whether Aloïse, myself,
or a sixteenth-century painter, the same questions
are raised: death, the quest for beauty, nature, sex...
There are a limited number of subjects in art.
Only the words and the vocabularies change (...)1”.
The library is an archive of the collection, visual
souvenirs of a long journey, and the collector’s
imaginary museum. [...] Leaving aside an idea
certain curators have already explored, namely
to hang the works alphabetically, I decided
on a hanging that would present the majority
of the works in my collection in an order that
would be defined by a computer programme with,
as sole data, their size when framed and inventory
number. The programme was developed by
an IT specialist using the Monte-Carlo method,
a process that will be familiar to mathematicians.
It calculates a numerical value using random
processes, i.e. probabilistic techniques. Its name
alludes to the random nature of casino games.
More than 1,200 works
by 800 artists form a ribbon
some three metres high
and running some
200 metres along each
of the foundation’s walls.
Works are hung irrespective of shape, size, medium,
history, monetary value or the artist’s repute.
To ensure a minimum of coherency, only works
of modern and contemporary art are included. They
are by artists of different ages and nationalities,
male and female. Doubtless they would have liked
to see their work shown in perfect conditions,
on a blank wall, at an ideal height, at a reasonable
distance from other artists’ work. I hope they will
forgive what may resemble a lack of respect
for their work. I hope too that the curators, whom
I respect and with whom la maison rouge
frequently collaborates, do not imagine that this
Wall challenges their legitimate role or, even more
so, is in any way a criticism on my part.
It remains to be seen, for I am writing these lines
before the final result is revealed, whether our
public really can see and engage with these works.
Still, as in everyday life, the more “unseeable”
something is, the greater our desire to see.”
(Antoine de Galbert in The Wall, published by Fage Éditions,
catalogue to the exhibition)
The exhibition does not present Antoine de Galbert’s
complete collection; installations, sculptures,
videos, indigenous art and older works are excluded,
hence visitors will be offered only a partial view
of the collection. Rather, Le mur (The Wall) will
raise a certain number of questions concerning
the actual act of collecting, hanging, storing
and showing art. It is also a diachronic portrait
of a collector who reveals his likes and tastes
to the world without disowning any of his choices,
past or present. Ultimately the visitor makes his
or her own selection, invents their own itinerary,
guided by their own perception, curiosity and tastes...
In its own way, this unconventional divulging
forms a sequel to the presentation of works from
Antoine de Galbert’s collection that was part
of the foundation’s inaugural exhibition, L’Intime
(Behind closed doors: the private life of collections),
where works borrowed from the hallway of his home
were hung frame against frame to welcome
the first visitors to la maison rouge.
Bringing an additional unexpected dimension
to this project, Antoine de Galbert has invited
Claude Rutault to react to this random hanging.
The artist, whose paintings are intimately related
to the walls on which they are shown, responded
by proposing the first ever updating of his
Definition/Method collection 23, apparitions 2012,
in which canvases of various shapes and sizes
are painted the same colour as the wall on which
they are hung, and spread throughout the
gallery space.
Le mur (The Wall)will also show Definition/Method
diptyque/rutault 2011, which Antoine de Galbert
acquired a few months ago through a trade.
A painting from the collection by Eugène Leroy
is shown with a canvas by Rutault having
the same dimensions and painted the same
colour as the wall.
around the exhibition
Throughout the three months of the exhibition,
different speakers, artists, art historians and
curators will be invited to give their point of view,
and suggest their viewing order in guided tours.
A catalogue will be published by Fage Éditions
as part of the privées collection. It will feature an
eleven-metre long leporello reproducing,
in its entirety, the hanging of The Wall, a text
by Antoine de Galbert, an interview between
Anaël Pigeat and Antoine de Galbert, and an essay
by art historian Sophie Delpeux on hangings
that defy exhibition “rules”.
A documentary (52 min.) directed by Alyssa Verbizh
and produced by Terra Luna will be released
in September. It will trace key moments in preparing
the exhibition, together with an interview
of Antoine de Galbert.
1. Art Press 2 Special Issue, quarterly, n°30, autumn 2013
Image: Project Le mur (The Wall). © DR la maison rouge, 2014
press contact claudine colin communication – 28 rue de Sévigné – 75004 Paris
Laure Jardry – laure@claudinecolin.com – t : +33 (0)1 42 72 60 01 – f : +33 (0)1 42 72 50 23
Preview Friday June 13th 6pm – 9pm
Press preview 4pm – 6pm
la maison rouge
fondation antoine de galbert
10 bd de la bastille - 75 012 paris france
opening days and times
Wednesday to Sunday from 11am to 7pm
Late nights Thursday until 9pm
Closed December 25th, January 1st and May 1st
admission
Full price: € 8,50
Concessions: € 5.50 (13-18, students,
full-time artists, over 65s)
Free for under 13s, job-seekers, companions
to disabled visitors, members of ICOM
and Amis de la maison rouge
Annual pass: full price € 22
Annual pass: concessions € 15
Free and unlimited access to the exhibitions
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