Bienvenue and welcome back to Musée Musings, your idiosyncratic guide to Paris and art. Recently I wrote about an exhibition I saw at the Institut Giacometti, which in its current home, is a lovely place to enjoy art. (Fig 1) Alas, the Institut won’t be in that sweet little hotel particulier much longer. It’s moving to a much bigger, much more visible space in about a year. I thought about the move as I walked past its future home earlier this week on my way to the Grand Palais. It wasn’t my normal route, but the students were protesting again and metro stops around the city center were closed, again.
Figure 1. Institut Giacometti, rue Victor Schœlcher, 14th arrondissement
The Institut Giacometti will be relocating to the southern end of Pont Alexandre III, across the Seine from the Grand Palais and Petit Palais. Its new home is currently being renovated. It was initially built as the Pavilion for the 1900 World's Fair. After the Fair, it was a train station for 46 years. Then, for 70 years, until 2022, Air France rented it from the city. First it was a check-in hall (when check-in happened in the city and passengers were bused to the airport). When airports became more than take off and landing strips, Air France used the building for corporate offices. (Figs 2, 3).
Figure 2. The future Fondation Giacometti with the Air France logo still in place
Figure 3. As I walked past the building site of the Fondation Giacometti
This week’s offering - a dip into the archives for a piece on the Institut Giacometti in its current location. It was the first museum I visited after Covid lockdown and I have left in the harrowing details about getting to a museum when so much of life in Paris was not yet working. Gros bisous, Dr. B.
