| Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris | |
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The Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris |
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Location within Paris
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| Established | 1961 |
| Location | Palais de Tokyo, 11 avenue du Président Wilson, 75016 Paris, France |
| Type | Art museum |
| Visitor figures | 800 000 |
| Director | Fabrice Hergott |
| Public transit access | Iéna |
| Website | Official site |
Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (French pronunciation: [myze daʁ mɔdɛʁn də la vil də paʁi], Paris Museum of Modern Art) is the City of Paris Museum of Modern Art dedicated to the arts of the 20th/21st centuries. It is located at 11 Avenue du Président Wilson in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.[1]
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Located in the eastern wing of the Palais de Tokyo and constructed for the International Exhibition of Arts and Technology of 1937,[2] the museum was inaugurated in 1961. The museum collections include over 8000 works illustrating various trends of the art of the 20th century. Exhibitions on the major movements and artists highlights from the European scene of the 20th century, but also monographic and thematic exhibitions present the main trends of today's art. Temporary exhibitions run every six weeks.[2]
The museum collections include, among others, works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Raoul Dufy, Maurice de Vlaminck, Georges Rouault, Fernand Léger, Georges Braque, Francis Picabia, Amedeo Modigliani, Giorgio de Chirico, Kees van Dongen, Pierre Bonnard, Chaïm Soutine, André Derain, Suzanne Valadon, Maurice Utrillo, Robert and Sonia Delaunay, František Kupka, Juan Gris, Hans Bellmer, René Iché, Jean Fautrier, Jean Arp, Alberto Giacometti, Yves Klein, Pierre Soulages.
On 20 May 2010, the museum reported the overnight theft of five paintings from its collection. The paintings taken were Le pigeon aux petits pois (The Pigeon with the Peas) by Pablo Picasso, La Pastorale by Henri Matisse, L'Olivier Près de l'Estaque (Olive Tree near Estaque) by Georges Braque, La Femme à l'Éventail (Woman with a Fan) by Amedeo Modigliani and Nature Morte aux Chandeliers (Still Life with Chandeliers) by Fernand Léger and were valued at €100 million ( US$123 million).[3][4] A window had been smashed and CCTV footage showed a masked man taking the paintings.[3] Authorities believe the thief acted alone.[5] The man carefully removed the paintings from their frames, which he left behind.[6]
The theft is being investigated by the Brigade de Répression du Banditisme specialist unit of the French Police.[4] It is unclear why the alarm systems in the museum failed to detect the robbery, staff only noticing when they arrived at the museum just before 7.00 am.[4][7] The museum closed on 20 May 2010, citing "technical reasons".[6] The theft follows the $162 million heist of masterpieces by Cezanne, Degas, Van Gogh and Monet from Foundation E.G. Bührle in Zurich in February 2008 and could be one of the biggest art thefts in history (by value). It has been described as the "heist of the century".[5][8][9] The French auctioneer and president of the Association du Palais de Tokyo, Pierre Cornette de Saint-Cyr, commented "These five paintings are un-sellable, so thieves, sirs, you are imbeciles, now return them."