The art in the national museums of France can move the spirit, titillate the intellect, open the mind, expose an emotion, disturb, excite, inform, or turn a gray afternoon into a time of wonder. But you can’t take the art home with you. However, you can take home a Venus de Milo tchotchke, a Marie-Antoinette manicure set, a Mona Lisa serving tray, and an I Louvre You teddy bear. Such items may be kitsch, cute or tacky, but in a branded world they could be just the gift or personal souvenir that you’ve been looking for.
A public organization named La Réunion des Musées Nationaux et du Grand Palais (RMN-GP) is behind the commercialization of these products as part of their extensive mission within France’s national museum system.
The RMN was created in 1895 to gather and manage funds for the acquisition of works of art to enrich the national collections. Renamed the RMN-GP when the exhibition hall Grand Palais came under its wings, it now oversees 32 national museums including 20 in Paris and the Paris region, plus the Paris the Grand Palais and the Palais de la Porte Dorée exhibition space.
Commercial activities have long been a part of its mission. From its creation, the RMN sold products of the Louvre’s engraving and molding workshops. In the 1930s it began creating post cards, catalogues and guidebooks. Since 1993 it has taken on a more industrial-commercial approach as museum shops expanded in both space and financial importance within the museum system. While still tasked with making acquisitions of artwork as well as organizing temporary exhibitions, managing visitors and publishing catalogues, the RMN-GM currently oversees 34 museum shops.
And now, for your holiday shopping, you don’t even have to get near a museum to purchase some of the RMN-GP’s museum-inspired souvenirs, including items from contemporary designers and creators. In addition to an e-boutique, a selection of products from France’s national museums are available at a pop-up boutique in Paris at 9 rue de Rivoli (metro Saint Paul) until January 5, 2020.
Which bring us to Louvre Monopoly,
Marie-Antoinette and French princess beauty kits,
serving trays on which the Mona Lisa stands on a balcony with the Eiffel Tower behind her and Madame Récamier reclines on a Paris park bench,
Pompon’s panther,
Basquiat skateboards,
Liberté and 1789 t-shirts,
and I Louvre You teddy bears.
Don’t lose heart, art Louvres, the museums themselves are still there.
Text and photos © 2019, Gary Lee Kraut