The Tokyo Palace Museum, or originally the "Palais des Musées d'art moderne", faces the Seine on the Avenue de New York, which was called Quai Debilly and then Avenue de Tokio (from 1918 to 1945) when it was built. Hence its name. The Palais de Tokyo is, with the Palais de Chaillot and the Palais d'Iéna, one of the three permanent buildings resulting from the International Exhibition of 1937
Location of the Tokyo Palace Museum
The Palais de Tokyo, whose original name is Palais des Musées d'art moderne, is a building dedicated to modern and contemporary art. It is located at 13, avenue du Président-Wilson in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. It is northeast of the Palais de Chaillot, a few hundred meters, following the banks of the Seine.
Origin of the museums - a history of moves
The initial project in 1934 was to replace the overcrowded Musée du Luxembourg. After the Universal Exhibition, its purpose was to contain two museums of modern art: one for the city of Paris, the other for the State, qualified as a "national museum".
During the Second World War, the basements were used to store sequestered Jewish property. In the 1950s, the "east" wing underwent major renovations that allowed for the opening of the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris in 1961, based on works from the Petit Palais.
The Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris still occupies the "east" wing of the building, while the Musée National d'Art Moderne, located in the "west" wing, saw its collections transferred for the most part to the Centre Pompidou in the 1970s and, for the remaining part, to the Musée d'Orsay in the 1980s.
The Tokyo Palace itself - "west wing"
The west wing, thus left free, now houses a center for contemporary art, specifically bearing the name "Palais de Tokyo". The Centre d'Art Contemporain is an interdisciplinary place devoted to contemporary creation in all its forms: painting, sculpture, design, fashion, video, cinema, literature, dance.
Since 2002, the people in charge of the Palais de Tokyo have worked hard to make it one of the largest contemporary art centers in Europe. They encourage contemporary creation with an eclectic and inventive program around emerging and established artists from all horizons.
Collection of the Tokyo Palace Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris
The Museum of Modern Art of Paris or MAM, opened in 1961 in the "east" wing of the palace, presents the municipal collection of modern and contemporary art since the Fauvism. It is rich with more than 10,000 works, mainly focused on artistic movements related to the French Capital and more recently on the European art scene.
It reopened in 2012 expanded and renovated, increasing from 8,000 to 22,000 square meters. The exhibition space is one of the largest for contemporary art on the international scene.
The Museums' buildings
The outer shell of the building is completely covered with marble.
The building is of a sober and monumental style, composed of two symmetrical wings connected by a large peristyle, on either side of an axis perpendicular to the Seine, on which the water mirror is located.
A terrace overlooking the Seine river, below the monumental staircase supported on the hill, decorated with bas-reliefs entitled "Allegory to the glory of the Arts" by Alfred Janniot and topped by the statue representing "a France" by Antoine Bourdelle.
The building opens with high windows overlooking the Seine and the Eiffel Tower to the south. The glazed ceilings allow most of the rooms to be lit by natural light. The important Art Deco style exterior decoration is completed by the "Centaur and Eros" metopes by Marcel Gaumont on the west side, "Sirens and Hercules" by Léon Baudry on the east side, and the bronze doors by the ironworker Adalbert Szabo with reliefs by André Bizette-Lindet, on the Avenue du Président-Wilson side. The eight allegories in gilded bronze of the door by Gabriel Forestier, its pediment in low relief "The City of Paris crowning the arts", by Raymond Subes with reliefs by Louis Dideron, on the Avenue de New-York side. Numerous isolated statues were placed on the terraces of the water mirror designed by Félix Févola, of which only "the reclining Nymphs" by Louis Dejean, Léon-Ernest Drivier and Auguste Guénot remain.
On the square in front of the Palais de Tokyo was erected in 1948 a monument to the memory of the fighters of Free France by Antoine Bourdelle. At its feet is engraved a verse by Charles Péguy "Mother, here are your sons who fought so hard" and below, on a background of the Lorraine cross, the dedication: / To the volunteers of the Free French Forces who died / for the honor and freedom of France / June 18, 1940 - May 8, 1945".
The Tokyo Palace Museum and the Skateboard
The Palais de Tokyo with its vast esplanade and its marble steps, is a mecca for Parisian skateboarding. Nicknamed the "Dome", it is considered a mythical spot. Many high level skateboarders have tried it, like Flo Marfaing, Lucas Puig or Eniz Fazliov.
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