Le slow pace, hands crossed behind his back, ubic gaze, Franck*, fifteen years in the business, criss-crosses the hundreds of square meters devoted to the Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces in his care, on the fifth floor of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.
Two weeks earlier, a few meters from him, a young environmental activist attacked two scenes. A Van Gogh (Self-portrait in Saint-Rémy) on which she tried to stick her hand, then a Gauguin against which she tried to throw soup. Two attempts narrowly foiled by his colleagues. And one modus operandi now familiar to museums – after Mona Lisa was sprayed in the Louvre, a Monet in Potsdam, a Van Gogh in London, a Vermeer in The Hague and, this Sunday, the replica of a mummy in Barcelona…
“High Vigilance”
Secrets on the protective measures then implemented, the Parisian museums refuse to communicate on the subject. More verbose, their “guards” (or “reception and security agents”) tell of the reinforced rules and a “transformed” daily life. “There is no denying it,” says Franck, his walkie-talkie in his chest pocket. This type of action makes everyone nervous…”
“We are required to be extremely vigilant”, confirms in other words a team leader in charge of securing museums at the national level, mentioning “reinforced staff numbers” and “in-depth searches” of visitors – the food, potentially used by activists, is no longer allowed there.
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Thus, in the courtyard of the Rodin Museum, this November morning, the security guard responsible for exploring the bags scrutinizes the contents of the opaque gourds of the visitors. “Technical devices, museums have no shortage of them [vidéoprotection, alarmes, détecteurs de mouvement, NDLR]but nothing replaces human supervision…” he slips in a resolute tone.
Ideal targets
“Nothing like detecting weak signals”, abounds his superior. “Museum security guards are generally trained in all types of offences,” explains the team leader responsible for securing these institutions. Some of them even develop, over time, a sixth sense and spot ill-intentioned visitors even before they take action…”
For the less experienced among them, security experts remind the teams of the basic rules of “profiling” (the analysis of visitor behavior). Thus, “groups of young people” – activists generally acting in groups – are now the subject of discreet but reinforced surveillance. As well as visitors who come “a little too close” to the works. “We observe more those who have a backpack…” says Marie*, a young contract worker at the Rodin Museum.
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Wandering between The Thinker and The kiss – flagship works of the museum, whose notoriety could make them ideal targets – she tells about her new rounds. “I have been asked to spend more time here…” she murmurs, confirming the directive given to museums to increase their vigilance over works considered to be sensitive, with regard to their reputation and/or that of their author.
emotional relationship
A context that puts new pressure on the shoulders of the goalkeepers. And breaks with the meditative – not to say torpid – image of their function. “Our job can seem contemplative, even boring. It must be said that our goal is for nothing to happen… But it’s hard work! recalls Franck from the Musée d’Orsay, who over the years has become “a passionate painter”.
“A lot of agents are! says the security team leader, who also provides training to them. “They very often consider the museum in which they officiate as their and become, over time, very attached to the works he exhibits. Thus, he assures her, “missing an action” of vandalism constitutes, far ahead of the others, their “number 1 fear”.
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Not to mention that an unthwarted act can be harmful to the image of the institution in which they officiate, more specifically its security system, and call into question their own skills. “A number of them have been asking me lately about what they are, under the law, entitled to do or not…” relates the trainer.
Everyone knows, however, that the mission has its limits. “You can’t do much against an activist who acts in the next room, or against an ultra-determined visitor…” breathes Franck from the Musée d’Orsay. And if the activists do not seem to seek to degrade the works of art they attack, what will happen if one of them chooses to attack, tomorrow, an unglazed work? At the Musée de l’Orangerie, where the water lilies by Monet – one of the most monumental achievements of the XXe century – we refuse to comment on “the worst-case scenario…”
*Names have been changed