Galerie Claude Lemand

Anne-Claire Legendre, pres­i­dent of the Institut du monde arabe.
The Arab Worlds at the Heart of Modernity.

By wel­coming the Arab World Institute as its Guest of Honour, Moderne Art Fair shines a spot­light on one of the most remark­able col­lec­tions of modern and con­tem­po­rary art from the Arab worlds.

Through a selec­tion of works from the Claude and France Lemand Donation, the fair invites vis­i­tors to dis­cover the artistic uni­verses of Shafic Abboud, Etel Adnan, Dia Al-Azzawi, Baya, Abdallah Benanteur, Chaouki Choukini and Manabu Kochi. These seven major artists reveal the rich­ness, diver­sity and bold­ness of artistic moder­nity across the Arab worlds, bearing wit­ness to the extraor­di­nary vitality of a body of work assem­bled over decades by Claude and France Lemand.

Rarely has an act of patronage so pro­foundly trans­formed the des­tiny of a museum. Before becoming a dona­tion, the work of Claude and France Lemand was first and fore­most the achieve­ment of two visionary col­lec­tors. For more than forty years, they sup­ported artists, shared in their strug­gles, cham­pi­oned their vision with unwa­vering com­mit­ment, and patiently built, work by work, a col­lec­tion that is now unpar­al­leled.

By entrusting nearly two thou­sand works to the Arab World Institute, they did more than enrich its col­lec­tions: they entrusted it with a respon­si­bil­i­ty—to pre­serve, pro­mote and carry for­ward an excep­tional artistic her­itage. Through its scale, coher­ence and cura­to­rial excel­lence, this col­lec­tion now stands as one of the world’s most pres­ti­gious hold­ings devoted to modern and con­tem­po­rary art from the Arab worlds.

These artists have never ceased to engage with their times. Drawing equally on their cul­tural her­itage and on the great cur­rents of inter­na­tional mod­ernism, they devel­oped artistic lan­guages of remark­able orig­i­nality. Beyond the cul­tural his­tory of their respec­tive coun­tries, Shafic Abboud, Etel Adnan, Dia Al-Azzawi, Baya, Abdallah Benanteur and Chaouki Choukini occupy an essen­tial place in the uni­versal his­tory of art—a place that, for too long, remained insuf­fi­ciently recog­nised.

That recog­ni­tion is now firmly taking hold. Their works are reg­u­larly fea­tured by some of the world’s leading cul­tural insti­tu­tions, including the Grand Palais, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tate, Les Franciscaines in Deauville, the Musée Cantini in Marseille, and many others. This inter­na­tional vis­i­bility con­firms their now essen­tial place within the major exhi­bi­tions and public col­lec­tions devoted to modern art.

For the Arab World Institute, this legacy rep­re­sents far more than an expan­sion of its col­lec­tions: it forms the corner­stone of a new museum pro­ject. From the moment I was appointed President of the Institute, I relaunched the com­plete ren­o­va­tion of its museum so that it may fully reclaim its orig­inal voca­tion: to tell the story of the Arab worlds through the con­ti­nuity of their his­tory, from the great civil­i­sa­tions that shaped them to the most con­tem­po­rary forms of artistic cre­ation.

The future museum will create a per­ma­nent dia­logue between her­itage and con­tem­po­rary cre­ation. The mas­ter­pieces of the Claude and France Lemand Donation will occupy their rightful place, not merely as an exten­sion of the his­tor­ical nar­ra­tive, but as the living expres­sion of civil­i­sa­tions that have never ceased to create, inno­vate and enrich the world. This col­lec­tion will finally be pre­sented in the set­ting it deserves: a thor­oughly renewed muse­um—­more open, more acces­sible, more immer­sive - and fully com­men­su­rate with its sci­en­tific, artistic and cul­tural ambi­tions.

Because a museum is also a place of trans­mis­sion, this trans­for­ma­tion will pay par­tic­ular atten­tion to all audi­ences, espe­cially younger gen­er­a­tions. To under­stand the Arab worlds is also to dis­cover the rich­ness of their imag­i­na­tions, the diver­sity of their artistic expres­sions, and their essen­tial con­tri­bu­tion to uni­versal cre­ativity. The Arab World Institute intends to carry this ambi­tion well beyond its own walls through part­ner­ships, loans, trav­el­ling exhi­bi­tions, and an ever-stronger pres­ence throughout France and inter­na­tion­ally.

Yet a great museum cannot simply pre­serve the past; it must also sup­port the cre­ation of its own time. It is in this spirit that the Arab World Institute will launch its Contemporary Art Prize this autumn. The prize will help reveal new tal­ents, sup­port emerging artists, and pro­gres­sively enrich the col­lec­tions, ensuring that the museum remains a living insti­tu­tion in con­stant dia­logue with the artistic scenes of the Arab world and its dias­poras.

Thanks to the Lemand Donation and this ambi­tious ren­o­va­tion pro­ject, our museum is des­tined to become one of the leading inter­na­tional ref­er­ences for modern and con­tem­po­rary art from the Arab worlds. The Moderne Art Fair offers a bril­liant first illus­tra­tion of this future today.

By entrusting to the Arab World Institute far more than a col­lec­tion of art­works—a vision, a com­mit­ment and an act of con­fi­dence—­Claude and France Lemand have opened a new horizon. It is now our respon­si­bility to bring this legacy to life, to enrich it, and to pass it on, so that artists from the Arab worlds may per­ma­nently occupy the place that is right­fully theirs within the uni­versal nar­ra­tive of art his­tory.

Translated from French by Philippe Castro