Paris comes to life again post-summer holidays for 'la rentrée'. This autumn will bring a few changes on the cultural front, as well as some new sights.
JEFF KOONS’ BOUQUET OF TULIPS
In the wake of the terrorist attacks of November 2015 that killed 130 people, American artist Jeff Koons offered the city of Paris a gift, in the form of a giant sculpture of a hand holding a multi-coloured bouquet of 11 shiny tulips. He said it was intended as “a symbol of remembrance, optimism and healing”.
Instead, it turned out to be a source of controversy and disagreement. Critics said the saccharine piece was not an appropriate commemoration of a terrorist attack. Also at issue was where the 12-metre-high work would be erected.
Initially, a spot between the Palais de Tokyo and the Musée d’Art Moderne was proposed, but that plan was scrapped over public criticism that the site had no connection with the attacks. Others had more aesthetic concerns, notably that the sculpture “would upset the present harmony between the columns of the Musée d'Art Moderne and the Palais de Tokyo and the view of the Eiffel Tower,” in the words of an open letter signed by 23 cultural figures, including former French culture minister Frédéric Mitterrand.
Next up on the suggested location list was the Parc de la Villette in northeastern Paris rejected by Koons’ team as not sufficiently central.
Three years on, all that has finally been resolved, and instillation of the work began last week in the gardens behind the Petit Palais, just off the Champs Élysées. The anticipated inauguration date is October 5, which is also the annual Nuit Blanche in Paris, when cultural institutions in the French capital stay open all night and waive entry fees.
LEONARDO DA VINCI AT THE LOUVRE
Another highly anticipated addition to the Parisian art scene this fall will be more ephemeral: a temporary exhibition of the works of Italian master Leonardo Da Vinci marking the 500th anniversary of the artist’s death and burial in France.
In addition to the Mona Lisa, the museum owns four other paintings by the Renaissance artist. These will be displayed alongside nearly 120 other works that have been brought in from all over the world. The exhibition has been in the making for more than a decade.
The show is scheduled to open on October 24, 2019 and run through February 24, 2020. A timed reservation will be required to visit the exhibition, even for those who can enter for free. By the beginning of 2020, reservations will also be required in order to visit the permanent collections.
POMPIDOU CENTRE
Once considered a modernist marvel, four decades after its opening, the Renzo Piano-Richard Roberts classic is in need of a bit of a facelift. Its famous external glass-encased escalator will be closed for renovations beginning in November 2019. Fortunately for visitors, that won’t mean closure of the museum, simply that they must enter from the other side of the building on Rue Beaubourg. While that will mean missing out on the enchanting views of Paris one normally enjoys on ascent, art lovers will still be able to see the Frances Bacon retrospective, another expected blockbuster, which will run from September 11, 2019 to January 20, 2020. To manage the expected crowds, the Pompidou is implementing a reservation-only system for the show. Construction is expected to be finished by September, 2020.
