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PARIS Beaubourg Is Ten

The modern-art center of Beaubourg, once the scandal and the glory of contemporary architecture, has passed its tenth anniversary and settled down to busy institutional life. And, like most museums nowadays, it needs more space. Begun on the initiative of former President Georges Pompidou, it houses the principal collection of modern painting in France, as well as a library and research center. The pressure for space has grown steadily. First the administration moved out to other quarters nearby. Soon the “classic” modern-art collection will be looking for a home elsewhere too. The library, the only one of its kind in Paris open to the general public, wants to expand into the entire present building. Criticism has been leveled at the poor showing the museum has given contemporary art. Beaubourg does have some space for such works on its neglected ground floor, but only 6 per cent of its visitors direct their footsteps there. Like most museums, Beaubourg is in the business of attracting the mass public, and to do this it must give its greatest attention and its best space to the “star” painters who already have solid followings. Pompidou’s principal reason for establishing the center was to win back for Paris the position of world capital of painting from New York. Beaubourg “has undoubtedly succeeded in all respects—except in that one for which it was conceived,” commented one French art critic.

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PARIS Beaubourg Is Ten

The modern-art center of Beaubourg, once the scandal and the glory of contemporary architecture, has passed its tenth anniversary and settled down to busy institutional life. And, like most museums nowadays, it needs more space. Begun on the initiative of former President Georges Pompidou, it houses the principal collection of modern painting in France, as well as a library and research center. The pressure for space has grown steadily. First the administration moved out to other quarters nearby. Soon the “classic” modern-art collection will be looking for a home elsewhere too. The library, the only one of its kind in Paris open to the general public, wants to expand into the entire present building. Criticism has been leveled at the poor showing the museum has given contemporary art. Beaubourg does have some space for such works on its neglected ground floor, but only 6 per cent of its visitors direct their footsteps there. Like most museums, Beaubourg is in the business of attracting the mass public, and to do this it must give its greatest attention and its best space to the “star” painters who already have solid followings. Pompidou’s principal reason for establishing the center was to win back for Paris the position of world capital of painting from New York. Beaubourg “has undoubtedly succeeded in all respects—except in that one for which it was conceived,” commented one French art critic.