The Battle Over Murakami's Versailles Exhibit

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Oct 27th 2010 at 3:01AM

Versailles has gotten a little whimsical kick lately in the form of an exhibit from Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami. But according to the Wall Street Journal, not everyone is a fan. Prince Sixte-Henri de Bourbon-Parmet, a descendant of Louis XIV wants to stop the exhibit long before it is set to end in December. The prince says that the colorful exhibit dishonors his family and French culture in general.

The exhibit at the Château de Versailles is set to run September 14 through December 12 and features installations in the gilded Hall of Mirrors as well as other palace rooms. The exhibit includes a total of 22 works by Murakami. Of the 22 works on display in 15 rooms, 11 were created specifically for this event. Before the exhibit opened in September a group called the Coordination Défense de Versailles launched a petition against the installation. It has now gathered over 7,000 signatures. The Murakami Versailles Facebook page is full of people giving their opinions. Some find the exhibit fabulous, others see it as an outrage.

ArtInfo rounded up a bunch of responses from critics around the world and found a similar polarity of thought. Le Figaro blogger Sébastien Le Fol commented that the show was cute and appealing but found that the pieces didn't really engage with the surroundings in Versailles. Many of the critics mentioned that they were sure that the exhibit, with its bright colors and manga inspiration, would be popular but that it as Le Monde art critic Harry Bellet said, "it makes you think that contemporary art collectors are big kids."

Gallery: Takashi Murakami's Versailles Exhibit

A similar outcry was heard when American pop artist brought his oversized shiny baubles to Versailles in 2008. Pieces like Koons' "Balloon Dog" shown above, were placed inside many palace rooms and outside the palace attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors. That time, as BBC News reports, it was Prince Sixte-Henri's nephew, Prince Charles-Emmanuel de Bourbon-Parme who took on the task of trying to stop the exhibit. His lawsuit called the exhibit "a desecration and an attack on the respect due to the dead" and said that he and his family had "right of access to their heritage without pornographic restraint." Although Koons had created many pieces that featured his ex-wife Italian porn star La Ciccolina, none of those items were on display at Versailles. The prince's efforts failed in the courts.

In an artist's statement on the Murakami Versailles website, Murakami says: "For a Japanese like me, the Château de Versailles is one of the greatest symbols of Western history. It is the emblem of an ambition for elegance, sophistication and art that most of us can only dream of." He speaks to the legacy of the building and also of using it as a springboard for his own flights of fancy adding that the Versailles of his imagination is a "kind of completely separate and unreal world."

Murakami has become famous over the past few years not just as an artist but as an artist who combines commerce and artistic ambition as well as high and low art. His collaborations with Louis Vuitton have included the popular rainbow colored Monogram Multicore line. In 2007, a Murakami exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles included a boutique that featured Louis Vuitton handbags and other pricey leather goods available for sale. He employs many people in studios around the world and is in many ways more empire than artist.

Like Koons, Murakami has created some pieces that are a bit controversial.In May 2008, his "My Lonesome Cowboy," a sculpture of a masturbating boy, sold for $15.2 million at a Sotheby's auction. The Versailles exhibit doesn't veer into this territory, keeping things mostly cute and perhaps a little weird, like "Pom & Me" below.

Murakami's art has achieved very high prices in recent years but he also has become one of the faces of the so-called "art slump" that followed the recession. The art market appears to be rebounding lately. His Miss ko2, 1997 heads to auction through Phillips de Pury on November 8 and is estimated to sell for between $4 and $6 million.

Tags: Takashi Murakami, versailles

Filed under: Art

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 9)

Nastya Oct 28th 2010 6:07AM

I have some of his Louis Vuitton accessories! :D

Please get with the times, Princey. Manga is not just for kids (Some of it REALLY isn't, if you catch my drift. *shudder*); it's a huge and varied art style and cultural phenomenon. Just because it's not YOUR cultural phenomemon, that does not mean that it's not a respectable art form. Sheesh. People already think that the French are xenophobic. Stop making it worse.

Lmm019 Oct 28th 2010 8:16AM

I agree it should be removed, although not because of the art itself. I didn't mind the artwork, I minded WHERE the art was placed! I wanted to see Versailles as it might have looked during the Revolution or at the treaty signing. The beautiful opulence of the place was covered by this exhibit because the large pieces immediately the spotlight. I don't live in France, and I will probably never get the opportunity to visit Versailles again. So for me, who came to see the building itself, the exhibit ruined it.

Clifford Gabrellas Oct 28th 2010 10:47AM

I love it, and I think of Marie Antoinette were resurrected from the grave
she'd love it too!

candace Oct 28th 2010 11:43AM

People don't travel to Versailles from all over the world to look at these goofy new art exhibits. This is the trip of a lifetime for many. They wouldn't spend that $$ to see manga or the latest in pop culture art.

This is why so many people hate artists!

ech Oct 28th 2010 12:30PM

you would probably buy a random art generator and be blown away.

or actually buy something out of a catalog that said something like "genuine antiques manufacturing company"

niijisrus Oct 28th 2010 6:39AM

I must agree with the Prince. Versailles has a long and distinguished, sophisticated history. Allowing manga inspired "art" to desecrate the property is a disgrace and it makes the French look ridiulous to the rest of the world. France already looks ridiculous to the rest of us, it doesn't need help from overpaid, underinspired artists.

jake191218 Oct 28th 2010 7:03AM

How in the world does this art desecrate the property? Books, art, music, etc. are a matter of personal taste. If the French look ridiculous to the rest of the world it isn't because of this situation. It's art, get over it.

BArbara Oct 28th 2010 6:42AM

complaining NOW . the exibit is almost over.. HE,the prince, should look these exibits over BEFORE they are seen by thousands of people.. Now is not the time. Oh he, the prince, wanted to make his name known before the newspeople.. He, th eprince, was not getting enough of his own coverage!! Get with it mr. prince>> people like like it..

jpuzzlewhiz Oct 28th 2010 11:51AM

It's spelled E-X-H-I-B-I-T.

juniperb97 Oct 28th 2010 1:12PM

It's just an exhibit!!! It's not going to stay there permenantly.

Sharon Oct 28th 2010 6:44AM

We just visited Versailles a month ago and this exhibit was horrible. Honestly, it almost ruined the beautiful rooms and we commented on it many times, because it was so distracting. I don't know what they were thinking, but we hated it. If you have never bee to Versailles, you really can't comment honestly about this mess. Take all those stupid things out of those wonderful rooms now! You may consider it cute and art, but it doesn't belong there.

mark Oct 28th 2010 7:54AM

Grow up.

Theresa watkins Oct 28th 2010 8:27AM

Just from what I've seen of the art it was cute but I agree it just doesn't have a place in the beautiful rooms they were in. It looked very out of place and almost tacky. Now in a less formal setting it would have looked even better!

katie Oct 28th 2010 12:42PM

i have been to France a few years ago and visited Versailles and i totally agree, that balloon ( art ) doesn it belong there.....Versailles is so opulent and beautiful, when you visit it you put yourself back in history....This type of Art takes away from that......i agree with the French ....put it somewhere else not in Versailles, that would be like putting that ballon art on one of the altars in St. Peters in Rome....it is a disgrave to such historical sites .........

Sharon Oct 28th 2010 7:19AM

Oh, good heavens, get over your selves. This world is in such a turmoil and we need some light heartedness. Those that say the exhibit distracted from the beauty of the building have a very small mind. Look at the exhibit and then look at the building. Smile at the art and then wonder at the builders achivements!! SMK

klasakt Oct 28th 2010 10:19AM

No they don't have a small mind. I grew up with the phrase, "There is a time and place for everything." This art may be of the time, but it is not of the place. There are millions of great art museums in France and the rest of Europe where this exhibit would be more appropriate. I do not go to classic, historical venues to see modern artwork. I am visiting those historical venues for the ambiance and history of themselves, not a modern depiction of our world today. I can see that just by leaving the house.

vettura Oct 28th 2010 7:32AM

Art is subjective. I have friends who think that my childish drawings are great.

tyrebitre Oct 28th 2010 9:31AM

"Art is subjective. "----------------------------

I agree: however, I think these particular works of "art" should be subjected to a fire.

Sylvia Arotin Oct 28th 2010 9:59AM

I live in a neighborhood that exihbits the strangest assortment of wood and metal and rags and they get funding for this because they call it art. At least what is out there in France is recognizable as something, but the junk across the street is an eyesore.