Marc Restellini, from the Independent
Though still quite young, Marc Restellini’s Parisian exhibition hall, the Pinacothèque, has upset many of the French cultural establishments. Founded in 2007, the Pinacothèque is a privately run, unsubsidized exhibition space whose art shows have attracted more visitors in the last 12 months than the other Parisian exhibition halls.
Many well-known cultural institutions—the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, and the Centre Pompidou to name a few—are less than happy with the Pinacothèque and its director. Restellini has put on a number of high-profile exhibitions with subjects including Roy Lichtenstein, Man Ray and the Chinese warriors of Xi’an (a show the Louvre is supposed to have been bidding for).
Entrance to the Pinacothèque costs about the same as other exhibition halls and yet Restellini has been able to earn a profit on every show except his first. This creates an uncomfortable comparison for the state institutions that need large public subsidies and private sponsors.
Restellini himself is another source of complaint. He is an art historian but has never taken the official French examination for museum curators. His exhibition methods are also under scrutiny. The paintings are individually illuminated and are hung (when possible) at the angle that the painter would have seen while he was creating it.
Restellini has also made significant effort to improve upon the information panels that accompany works of art in the gallery. He says,“What people want is intelligent information on the history of the artist and the work, something not too complex, but not oversimplified.”
Ultimately Restellini’s goal is not to, as he puts it, “spend hundreds of millions of euros on a building with marble and columns,” but to “show paintings and help people to understand them.”
Currently on view at the Pinacothèque until July 18 is the largest ever exhibition of Edvard Munch paintings from private collections.
For more information, check out this article in the Independent.
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