FRAME, a tool for cultural diplomacy

parisdiaArtLeave a Comment

img_3086

The glamorous gilded room at the US embassy in Paris

It was a relaxed and joyous occasion at the U.S. Embassy where Ambassador Jane Hartley was as glamorous as ever, perched on very very high heels ! She was hosting a party to celebrate seventeen years of FRAME (French and American museum exchange) and honoring Elizabeth Rohatyn, the founder of this extraordinary alliance between French and American museums, who died very recently. The thirty member museums own 2 million works of art all together and organise joint exhibitions that travel around both countries.

Marie Christine Labourdette, vice president of Frame with Ambassador Hartley and Pierre Provoyeur

Marie-Christine Labourdette, vice president of Frame with Ambassador Hartley and Pierre Provoyeur

The curators had travelled from all over the United States and France to meet for four days at Petit Palais, the most recent new member, the Parisian museum brilliantly run by Christophe Leribault.

Thirty nine alabaster mourners from Burgundy toured seven museums in the US in 2015

Thirty nine alabaster mourners from Burgundy toured seven museums in the US

In 2012, Caravaggio in Montpellier, Los Angeles and Hartford, Ct, was probably the most talked about show and its curator, Michel Hilaire, was there too, also celebrating his Bazille exhibition at Musée d’Orsay. The Mourners (Les Pleurants), an extraordinary group of 39  XIV th century alabaster statues from the Dijon museum was also an extraordinary exhibition which toured seven cities in the US in 2010-2012.

Marie-Paule Vial, who used to run the Museums of Marseille was chatting with everyone, while Pierre Provoyeur, the French director of FRAME was making sure his guests including Stéphane Layani, president of Rungis markets and Pierre Rosenberg, former President of the Louvre, were happy. The speeches were especially fun with Ambassador Hartley mentioning the importance that  « Barack Obama, MY President … » gives to cultural relationships and Marie-Christine Labourdette starting with : « Please excuse my broken English but it is the only one I have… »

Caroline Pacquement and Donald Urquhart, director of collections and exhibitions at the Portand art museum

Caroline Pacquement and Donald Urquhart, director of collections and exhibitions at the Portland art museum

I met by chance the charming head of the Portland Museum, Donald Urquhart, who will show in 2018, the “Paris 1900” exhibition which took place at Petit Palais in 2014. Caroline Pacquement, very moved, was representing the late Mrs Rohatyn with whom she started FRAME seventeen years ago, when this brilliant Ambassadress decided, with Françoise Cachin, then head of French Museums, that the artistic wealth between our two countries had to be better emphasized.
The Embassy never looked prettier with its vases of white flowers everywhere, the new glamorous lighting of the salons and its collection of contemporary paintings. It clearly showed that French American relations are stronger than ever.

Share this Post

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *