The Grand Palais, Paris

 

What do Guillaume Apollinaire, Karl Lagerfeld, Prince and Thomas Dutronc have in common? Answer – they are all great admirers of the Grand Palais’ architecture. Built for the Universal Exhibition in 1900, it was classified as a historic monument in 2000. Situated in the very heart of Paris on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, it is particularly famous for its glass roof, the largest in Europe.

Détail de l'escalier d'honneur du Grand palais, 2009 © François Tomasi



 





What dreams are made of…

Grand Palais statistics:

- 72,000 m2 total floor area

- 13,500 m2 floor area in the Nave

- 450,000 m3 air volume in the Nave

- 8,500 tonnes of metal in the whole Grand Palais

- 60 tonnes of “mignonette green” paint in the Nave

- 200,000 tonnes of stone

- 1,500 construction workers on site in 1900

 

Because we believe in culture in the broadest sense of the term, our programme is a mixture of fine arts, fashion, photography, music, dance, cinema, theatre, and even sport. In the past year we have collaborated with the Met, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, FIAC, Paris Photo, Red Bull, Ludéric Evènement, Chanel, Radio FG, and MK2, among others. In short, the Grand Palais responds to its 2 million visitors each year in all their diversity and different needs.

 

 

The Musée du Luxembourg, Paris

 

The Musée du Luxembourg is a delightful museum tucked away in the heart of the Latin Quarter. With 400,000 annual visitors, it is managed by us on behalf of its true custodian, the Senate. It was initially set up in the Palais du Luxembourg, which was built for Queen Marie de Medici in 1630. It became the first museum open to the public in 1750. The history continues today, with two exhibitions annually on specific themes, for example: “The Renaissance in Europe”, “Art and Power”, and “The Palace, the Garden and the Museum: the Luxembourg in the Heart of Paris, the Capital of the Arts”.

 

In 2010 the museum was renovated by the architects Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines, who recently completed the Centre Pompidou Metz. We liked their aesthetic and environmentally friendly approach to the project, with installations designed out of cardboard tubes – for us, a way to make a small gesture on behalf of the planet.

 

 

Partner museums

 

As cultural life is not restricted to Paris, we are happy to work on a regular basis with some twenty museums in France, spread widely across the country, as you will see from the following list :

 

Musée de Cluny – Musée national du Moyen Âge, Paris (The National Museum of the Middle Ages)

Musée national de la Renaissance, Château d’Ecouen

Musée d’archéologie nationale, Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye

Musées des Châteaux de Malmaison et de Bois-Préau (dedicated to Napoleonic history)

Musée national de Port-Royal des Champs, Magny-les-Hameaux (history of Jansenism and Port-Royal)

Musées et Domaine nationaux de Compiègne, Château de Compiègne

Musée de la Coopération franco-américaine, Château de Blérancourt

Musée Magnin, Dijon

Musée National des Deux Victoires Clemenceau-de Lattre, Mouilleron-en-Pareds (dedicated to two of France’s best-known political and military figures)

Musée national Napoléonien, Ile d’Aix

Musée de la Maison Bonaparte, Ajaccio

Musée national de Préhistoire, Les-Eyzies-de-Tayac

Musée national du Château de Pau

Musée national Marc Chagall, Nice

Musée national Fernand Léger, Biot

Musée national Picasso. La Guerre et La Paix (housing the painting War and Peace)