“The Theogony of Hesiod, for us, it’s a big blow! » Faced with the creations of Georges Braque (1882-1963), the director of the Pierre-André-Benoit Museum-Library, located in Alès (Gard), does not hide her joy, or even her pride. With contagious enthusiasm, Carole Hyza explains: “ It’s a Braque masterpiece and we never thought we’d be able to present it in its entirety. This series of sixteen plates has not been shown to the public in its entirety since 2013, during the major retrospective dedicated to the artist at the Grand Palais (Paris). “It was really not won, it was beyond our means”, resumes Françoise Nicol, the curator of the exhibition visible until October 29.
In the sub-prefecture of Gard, the exhibition dedicated to the father of Cubism, on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of his death, is a small event. THE PAB museum, devoted to the work and collection of publisher, printer and artist Pierre-André Benoit (1921-1993), is managed by the community of municipalities, Alès Agglomeration. Its curator, who runs two other museums, had to come to terms with the rather limited means at hand to make this national-scale proposal: a budget of 100,000 euros is about six times less than for an exhibition organized by the regional locomotive, the Fabre Museum, in Montpellier.
“We don’t play in the same category”, frankly recognizes Carole Hyza, who, to respect the budget envelope, had to be inventive. First, the pieces chosen are graphic works and not paintings, which are much less expensive to insure. “But it’s just as interesting, emphasizes Françoise Nicol, professor of art history in Nantes, specialist in Georges Braque, in front of a series of his famous Birds. Because it is drawings, engravings, creations on cardboard, etchings, glued papers and lithographs that make it possible to discover Braque’s work on paper, fundamental in his work. Charcoal or drypoint proceed from the same research as the brush. »
Long-term paid work
To make her project a reality, Carole Hyza benefited from a good alignment of the planets since part of the Museum of Modern Arts in Belfort, owner of the famous Theogony, is under renovation. “In Belfort, the sixteen pieces of The Theogony are never exhibited together. And they are rarely shown because they turn yellow quite easily in the light, explains Cécile Griessmann, in charge of exhibitions and collections for the museums of Belfort. Due to work, they were available. The Alès project seemed relevant to us. » In exchange, the town of Gard lends the town of Belfort four engravings by Picasso (illustrating the VIIIe Pythian of Pindar), presented in the substitution route during the work.
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