A rare glimpse behind the scenes of the world's most influential museums Who are the people shaping the world's most renowned museums? In this captivating book, Donatien Grau offers a rare glimpse behind the scenes of leading art institutions and their visionary directors. Through insightful conversations with some of the most influential figures in the museum world, he reveals how they opened their doors to ever-growing audiences while preserving artistic excellence. From the Louvre in Paris to the Guggenheim in New York, these personal accounts explore the balance between curatorial vision, cultural responsibility, and the evolving role of museums in society. The book sheds light on the people, ideas, and strategies that have transformed museums into cultural landmarks. Part personal reflection, part cultural history, this volume reads like a thrilling journey through the corridors of power, art, and public engagement. A must-read for art lovers, cultural professionals, and anyone curious about what happens beyond the museum walls. Featuring interviews with: Michel Laclotte (Louvre), Sir Alan Bowness (Tate), Sir Timothy Clifford (National Galleries of Scotland), Philippe de Montebello (Metropolitan Museum of Art), Irina Antonova (Pushkin Museum), Peter-Klaus Schuster (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin), Sir Mark Jones (V&A), Tom Krens (Guggenheim), Wilfried Seipel (KHM), Henri Loyrette (Musée d'Orsay, Louvre).

A gripping art book that reads like a cultural thriller.

Klappentext

We think art museums have been here forever. And yet they change all the time, notably thanks to the individuals who lead them. For this impressive inquiry, Donatien Grau travelled to Williamstown, New York, Vienna, Oxford, Ampthill, Moscow, Berlin, London, to speak to the people who made the world of museums from the 1960s to the 2000s. Read how the Louvre had its first director from its first director; how the Guggenheim Bilbao was invented from the man who invented it; how Cellini's Saliera was retrieved after having been stolen from the Kunsthistorisches Museum, by the man who retrieved it; how the Pushkin lived through the ages by its Director for fifty years. Read how museums across the Western world became what they are today: places for world-audiences, political forums, as much as places for the contemplation of art. Interviews with MICHEL LACLOTTE, Director of the Louvre, Paris, 1987- 1995; SIR ALAN BOWNESS, Director of the Tate, London, 1980-1988; SIR TIMOTHY CLIFFORD, Director of the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 1984-2006; PHILIPPE DE MONTEBELLO, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1977-2009; IRINA ANTONOVA, Director of the Pushkin Museum, Moscow, 1961-2013; PETER-KLAUS SCHUSTER, General Director of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 1998- 2008; SIR MARK JONES, Director of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London 2001-2011; TOM KRENS, Director of the Guggenheim Museum, New York, Venice, and Bilbao, 1988-2008; WILFRIED SEIPEL, General Director of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 1998-2008; HENRI LOYRETTE, Director of the Musée d'Orsay, Paris (1994-2001), and the Louvre, Paris (2001-2013). DONATIEN GRAU (*1987) is a critic, scholar, and museum executive. He was selected by Apollo Magazine as one of the "Forty under Forty Europe" in 2014 and currently serve as the musée d'Orsay's head of contemporary programs.

Inhalt
Cover Table of Contents Introduction The Connoisseurial Museum Conversation with Michel Laclotte Conversation with Sir Alan Bowness Conversation with Sir Timothy Clifford Conversation with Philippe de Montebello The Political Museum Conversation with Irina Antonova Conversation with Peter-Klaus Schuster Conversation with Sir Mark Jones The Museum in the Global World Conversation with Tom Krens Conversation with Henri Loyrette Colophon