102
Even the Centre Pompidou presents mixed-theme exhibitions, in which – quoting Roland Barthes – the Citroën DS becomes a 20th century cathedral. Innovation passes through new channels
um in Amsterdam, the artworks by the great masters of Flemish painting are harmoniously displayed alongside woodworking treasures, wonderful scientific instruments and everyday objects of the same periods. Even the Centre Pompidou presents mixed-theme exhibitions, in which – quoting Roland Barthes - the Citroën DS becomes a 20th century cathedral. An important catalogue dedicated to the collection of the Musée d’Art Moderne de Saint-Étienne Métropole was published in October 2008 with the support of the Cité du Design. The design collection retraces the evolution of the industrial era from Thonet furniture onwards. A period that covers the many changes that have characterised industrial progress and the mutations in the approach to production. This is not at all surprising for a city which has taken full advantage of the technological advancements that marked the 19th and 20th centuries, and which, during the same period, developed a bent for innovation and creativity. But the city was plagued by the decline of the mining (1940-1960) and steel industries (1970-1990), and by the delocalisation of both the bicycle and arms
industries (1980-2000). Saint-Étienne turned to design to soothe the wounds imparted by these crises, which have on their side determined the identity of design itself. Industrial innovation develops through new media, such as digital design. Nonetheless, it will have to face a deep cultural analysis of the productivity crisis and of its consequences. Saint-Étienne’s design collection is one of the most important in France, together with those of the Parisian Museum of Modern Art, at the Centre Pompidou, and the Museum of Decorative Arts. The latest exhibition, “Histoire des formes de demain” ( Jeanne Brun) was presented in July 2013. It traced the ideologies and utopian design that marked each of the collection’s 22 stages. The great success of this exhibition was undoubtedly due to the richness and variety of its pedagogical approach. In future we expect to admire more examples of the virtuous cooperation between the Musée d’Art Moderne and the Cité du Design (namely, between collecting and creating design): the absolute complementarity of the two institutions, so many times invoked in the past, will be ratified at last.
Top, Jules-Émile Leleu, Bed, armchair, writing desk and bedside table, 1934 (painted steel tube, solid beech and oak wood). Furnishings created for the Alpine sanatoriums of Guébriant and Martel de Janville in Upper Savoy. The bed, measuring 92 x 133 x 202 cm, can be dismantled and the headboard includes two revolving drawers on one large hinge. The visitor’s chair (left) measures 88 x 60 x 85 and features “sommier” springs, the same ones used in beds.
098-102_Lemarchands_ENG.indd 102
19/11/14 19:04