Today’s NYT’s story “’This Space for Rent’: Arts Must Now Woo Commerce” reports on the crisis European museums face as government subsidies and corporate contributions dry up. To remain viable, European museums are now renting their facades and facilities to advertisers and corporate sponsors.
The sellout hasn’t gone without an outcry. Famous architects and museum directors petitioned Italy’s Minister of Culture last summer to remove huge ads that detract from Venice’s classic views. And, at least in one instance of the unseemly coupling, the aesthetic yardstick was levered against the commercial barbarians. The Musée d’Orsay may have sold out to Chanel No. 5, but drew a line when it came to Coca Cola. “The flacon of Chanel is beautiful because it is made in three dimensions and moves with the wind,” said an insider at d’Orsay. Take that, Andy Warhol!
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