Monets or Van Goghs on billboards: 32 French cities are exhibiting photographs of master paintings in the streets and commercial areas until mid-December in the hope of circumventing “what is ugly”.
The operation, called ”Beauty will save the world”, was born in 2021, in Saint-Dizier (Haute-Marne). And for this fourth edition, it is therefore extending its borders. The mayor of Saint-Dizier, Quentin Brière, even hopes that it will be widespread in France in 2025.
“Divert what is ugly”
After Covid, “we had this slightly crazy, but somewhat simple, idea of diverting what is ugly, an advertising billboard that is made to sell, in order to display beauty,” explained the young city councilor. , Tuesday, during a press conference at the salon of mayors and local authorities in Paris, claiming to want to “create gaps of light in people’s lives”.
For the 2024 edition, high-resolution photos of paintings by Ingres, Caillebotte and Renoir will adorn shop windows, construction site gates and advertising panels until December 8. In total, a thousand supports spread across the 32 partner cities, ranging from Aix-en Provence to Roanne or Béthune. “We pick up art when we get out of our car and drive our children to school,” “without having to go through the museum door,” says Didier Fusillier, president of the Réunion des musées nationaux-Grand Palais. , which made high-resolution photos of the paintings available to the municipalities, drawn from a photographic collection of 1.5 million works.
“This is how we bring people to museums”
“We take culture everywhere and we know that that’s how we bring people to museums,” adds Yann Galut, mayor of Bourges, whose city has been designated European Capital of Culture in 2028.
For all these elected officials, this operation also has the merit of being almost painless for finances at a time of budgetary restrictions imposed by the State. The modest reproduction rights paid to potential rights holders are also paid collectively. “Budgetally, it’s a zero-sum game,” assures the mayor of Laval, Florian Bercault.
Related News :