Galerie Colbert

By parisian on 27/06/2010 in Attractions

Photo of Paris Attraction Galerie Colbert

A “hub” exclusively dedicated to art history and cultural heritage has recently been inaugurated in the heart of Paris. Nestled in a superbly renovated 19th century complex, the Galerie Colbert is located directly across from the historical quadrangle of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF – National Library of France), adjacent to the Palais Royal, the Comedie Française and the Louvre. This 16,000-square-metre complex is now home to France’s Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art (INHA – National Institute of Art History) and the Institut National du Patrimoine (INP- National Heritage Institute). Built around a magnificent rotunda lit up by a glass roof, the five-story high structure provides training to conservators and restorers of cultural heritage.

By bringing together both institutes in one location, the Galerie has built bridges between the worlds of research and conservation, of museums and institutes of higher learning. Prior even to the opening of the Galerie Colbert (which comes under the authority of two ministries, National Education and Research, and Culture and Communications), students, researchers, teachers, librarians and archivists were already immersed in studious activity, hard at work in the state-of-the-art classrooms or busy delving into the 40,000-plus volumes made available to them, with unrestricted access to the joint library.

Built in 1826, the Galerie Colbert, historically in competition with a neighbouring covered passageway, the famous Galerie Vivienne, originally housed fashion and perfume boutiques as well as reading rooms and book or music publishers. Though deserted in the 19th century, with its rotunda destroyed in 1910, the Galerie Colbert was saved thanks to contemporary interest in 19th century architecture, which led to the passageway’s registration, in 1974, in the Inventaire Supplémentaire des Monuments Historiques (Additional Inventory of Historic Monuments). It was subsequently acquired the same year by the BNF as a storehouse for the library’s reserved collection. The two institutes were permanently established in the Galerie following an initial restoration campaign and a general architectural overhaul in 2002.

Founded in 2001 after more than two decades of consultation between the authorities and the scientific community, the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art (INHA) is a public establishment of a scientific, cultural and professional nature. As a training and research institute, it brings together a wide variety of partners, from universities and specialised research centres to organisations, learned societies, and other bodies. Its mission is to promote exchanges between the different entities dedicated to art history, to help develop the collective tools necessary for research, and to support the dissemination (on its website) and valorisation of research (namely via the publication of theses). Research areas include the history of archaeology, architecture and artistic taste; the history of art history, contemporary art archives; the relationship between the fine arts, music, theatre and cinema; and themes such as “post-colonialism and globalisation”.

The INHA’s most spectacular accomplishment to date has been the creation of a large library dedicated to the history of art and archaeology and grouping various specialised collections. Ultimately, the library will include over 1,400,000 documents, of which 250,000 will immediately be available in free access. This enterprise would certainly have delighted the originator of this historical monument, couturier and patron of the arts Jacques Doucet (1853-1929). An impassioned and generous collector, he bequeathed his entire art and archaeology library to the University of Paris, as well as his collections. Accordingly, beautiful engraving, print, lithograph, photograph and poster exhibition regularly grace the walls of the Galerie Colbert.

This collection will soon be enlarged by the collections of the Bibliothèque Centrale des Musées Nationaux (Central Library of National Museums) – an institution that retains one of the largest collections of museum catalogues and specialised works, the collections of the Bibliothèque de l’Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts (Library of the School of Fine Arts) and, soon after, the collections of the Ecole Nationale des Chartes (National School of Charters). All of the new additions will be housed in the Quadrilatère Richelieu, which also contains the BNF’s specialised collections (manuscripts, coins, medallions and ancient charts and maps, engravings and photographs, and items related to the performing arts).

The Institut National du Patrimoine (INP) provides high-level training for curators and conservators of cultural heritage. The curators train at the Galerie Colbert, while the conservators attend a special site in Saint-Denis. Every year, the Département des Conservateurs (Department of Curators) organises a competitive entrance examination and recruits, for an 18-month scientific and administrative training course, approximately 30 cultural heritage conservators (out of 1,000 applicants) for specialisation in six fields: Archaeology, Archives, Inventories, Historical Monuments, Museums, and Scientific, Technical and Natural Sites. These curators, who already possess very specialised scientific training, pursue their own personal research in parallel to the training course. They also have access to internships in France and abroad, while foreign interns are hosted in Paris.

On the restoration side, the 20 students admitted annually (out of 150-200 applicants) at the Saint-Denis site undertake five years of training in one of the seven specialised fields offered: Fired Arts (metal, glass, ceramics, enamel), Graphic Arts and Books, Textile Arts, Furniture, Painting (canvas or murals), Sculpture, and Photography. After a detailed examination of the works in an ultra-modern scientific analysis laboratory, the students are initiated to various restoration techniques during workshops.

Over 80% of the restorers who receive a degree from the INP are freelance professionals working for private or public clients, while others are employed by heritage institutions. Since 2002, this unique institution, which is unrivalled worldwide, has been involved in major international collaboration projects, in particular with China and Morocco, and with the Ecole du Patrimoine Africain (School for African Heritage) in Benin. (Text Source: Claudine Canetti , Actualité en France (magazine of the ministry of Foreign Affairs))

Galerie Colbert is located in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris. So, you may want to see;