After 2008, and the grand opera by Christian Lacroix, which took its cue from the museum's collections, after Musée Réattu, Chambres d’écho, revisiting in 2009 the whole of a photography collection launched in 1965, this year is marked by A pied d’œuvre, an all-new visit that revolves around the studio, the birthplace of a work.
The visit begins at the emblematic heart of the museum, the simmering studio of Jacques Réattu, where the early 19th century Arles painter - winner of the Grand Prix de Rome - worked looking out on the Rhone. It then unfolds throughout the building, inviting visitors to discover recent works - paintings, sculptures, sound art and more, commissioned from the many artists who have been captivated by the atmosphere they found here.
It takes an intuitive approach to examining the body of the collections, by weaving together two points of view. The first is that of the emerging work - as seen through the logic of a fragment, through a preparatory study, through recovered or discarded objects. The second concerns itself with the constitution of a collection by a museum that pays unusual attention to the notion of the laboratory.
It folds into its embrace many of the latest crop of new acquisitions from 2008 and 2009, which include museum purchases, artists' donations and works on loan from national collections.
It is intended that this installation of the collections will develop and grow to mirror the cultural life of the museum, its temporary exhibitions, acquisitions, encounters and other activities.
