Albanel Appointed Minister of Culture; Free Museums in France?; Venice Biennale Fair; Albertina Goes Modern

ALBANEL APPOINTED MINISTER OF CULTURE

Newly elected French president Nicolas Sarkozy has named Christine Albanel as minister of culture. By appointing the fifty-one-year-old Albanel, Sarkozy allayed fears that the ministry would become part of the ministry of education. Albanel—who replaces Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres—in fact faces a larger role, as she has also been named spokesperson for the government.

In its profile of the new minister, Libérátíon notes Albanel's passion for theater, along with her long-term collaboration with outgoing president Jacques Chirac, for whom she was a speechwriter and cultural advisor from 1982 to 2000. Working in the shadow of Chirac, Albanel is credited with his image makeover—from beer fan to exotic-arts lover—a passion that eventually led to the opening of the Musée des Arts Premiers in Paris.

But publicly, Albanel is best known—and criticized—for her role as the director of the Château de Versailles, a job she has held since 2003. In addition to welcoming Sofia Coppola's crew for the filming of Marie Antoinette, Albanel opened up the venerable castle to contemporary art and invited the rock band Rita Mitsouko to perform at the festival Fêtes de Nuit. "Some of these initiatives, for the most part open to private patronage," notes Libération, "made many cringe, with some evoking the transformation of Versailles into a 'fun park' and others bemoaning the growing appeal to the private sphere—common to all public establishments that are always searching for their own financing."

While just appointed last week, Albanel has already had a busy schedule. According to reports from the AFP, the new minister started out the annual open festival "Night of the Museums" at Mac/Val, the first contemporary art museum to be established in the Paris suburbs at Vitry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne). "There is a great deal at stake in cultural democracy," Albanel told AFP. "A place like [Mac/Val] is the prototype of what must be done: Make people reflect, smile, laugh. It is a beautiful symbol "

According to AFP, Albanel also made an appearance at the Cannes film festival, which is celebrating its sixtieth edition. The minister brought a message from Sarkozy in favor of the much-disputed "cultural exception," which defends France's right to give government subsidies to national cultural practices, despite world free-trade agreements. "Proud of a country that defends the cultural exception," Sarkozy believes that the policy has "given vitality to contemporary creation."

FREE MUSEUMS IN FRANCE?

Will entrance fees at French national museums soon be a thing of the past? La Croix's Sabine Gignoux takes a second look at the controversial measure, which was included in Sarkozy's list of thirty proposals for a "fresh breath" of culture. Gignoux recalls that the practice dates back to revolutionary France: The Louvre, which was opened in 1793, remained free to the public until 1921—a disputed change in policy that came from the development of tourism. Today, only the first Sunday of every month is free to visitors.

A recent study from the French government shows a growing trans-European trend to eliminate entrance fees, from Greece to the Netherlands, with the most notable policy shift coming from Tony Blair's government in 2002. While Sweden joined the movement, the recently elected government undid the policy and has restored fees. For Gignoux, the policy comes with other costs while not necessarily increasing the public's desire to visit museums more frequently. According to recent statistics, visitor numbers are rising despite paying at the door. In Paris alone, the number of visitors to the city's permanent collections has risen from 300,000 in 2001 to 1.5 million last year, which saw the reopening of Petit Palais.

VENICE BIENNALE FAIR?

Die Süddeutsche Zeitung's Eva Karcher and Holger Liebs contend that this summer's "critical mass" of art-world events—Kassel, Basel, Venice, Münster—has already begun with the contemporary auctions last week at Christie's and Sotheby's. Taking a closer look at the market boom, Karcher and Liebs anticipate another frenzy with the June openings. One of the most curious market developments appears to be the fair planned for the Venice Biennale.

"If it used to be common at the Venice Biennale to pick out a work of art, which, a few days later, one might purchase at Art Basel," write Karcher and Liebes. "Now, for the first time, the 'Cornice Art Fair' is taking place in Venice parallel to the national shows inside the pavilions." Set up in the Giardini, this newest biennial fair has been initiated by some of the market's "big players," including Jean-Jacques Aillagon, the former French minister of culture and the current director of the Palazzo Grassi, which is run by megacollector and Christie's owner François Pinault; the Geneva dealer Jan Krugier; and the London art consultant Daniella Luxembourg, who advises Ronald S. Lauder and owns a Zurich gallery with Phillips head Simon de Pury.

"How practical that Daniella Luxembourg is also participating in the fair—a masterpiece in the art of elegant omnipresence," write Karcher and Liebs. "It's been heard that Robert Storr, the curator for the Biennale, has raved over the Venetian parallel action." Maybe Art Basel should run a Biennale?

In the world of art-market expansion, Charles Saatchi is not to be forgotten. "Saatchi's latest coup is the Internet site Your Gallery, modeled on YouTube, a new form for mass trade and talent scouting," write Karcher and Liebs. Where Saatchi goes, many follow. There's also Stephen Fern's Xalt TV, which promises prospective customers with start-up capital of €100,000-plus ($134,819-plus) profits of up to 40 percent within one year. Art Estate—a subsidiary of the Hamburg enterprise EECH—invites investors to participate in the purchase of artworks with "second-class quality" and inflated prices.

When will the bubble burst? "Answer: Forget it!" As long as there is not another war, the bubble promises to keep expanding, especially in the year 2052, when author Piroschka Dossi notes that $136 billion is due to be inherited. "As long time as there's prosperity," said one London gallerist who wished to remain unnamed, "the market will not break down. Art has become for a very broad spectrum of people part their lives. They trust in art. Art is today a major asset."

ALBERTINA GOES MODERN

Vienna's Albertina is making a move toward becoming a modern-art museum. As Der Standard reports, the stately institution will be hosting two private collections, which include works by Monet, Picasso, Cezanne, Kandinsky, Modigliani, Renoir, Matisse, and Klee, among other modern masters. Albertina director Klaus A. Schröder announced that the venerable print collection would soon be expanded, thanks to the collections of Mathias Batliner and Herbert Forberg. To present these holdings, Schröder also intends to make some major renovations, which has been met with criticism.

— Jen Allen