Controversial Versailles

Versailles is a suburb of Paris most known for housing Louis XIV's outrageously expensive 17th century palace; hence, the word "Versailles" is virtually synonymous with the Palace of Versailles itself. To give you an idea of the granduer of the chateau, here is a re-enactment of a conversation I had while walking up to the gates of Versailles last Friday:

me: "I can't get a good photo of the gold on the gate!"

friend: "If it was real gold it would probably reflect the light better"

me: "...what?"

friend: "well because real gold would be shinier. or something."

other friend: "dude. That *IS* real gold."

first friend: "what are you talking about?"

me: "That's all real gold. All the yellow-y metal you see on everything? Real gold."

first friend: "what the &+%*!!!"


Anyway, Versailles is this gorgeous and over-the-top palace built by one of the more powerful French kings in history. Recently, the committee that runs Versailles nowadays acquired a new director. This new director decided to collaborate with a well-known Japanese artist, Murakami, to exhibit some modern Japanese art in Versailles. Voila:

This decision is highly controversial. Common responses to the exhibit include "modern art shouldn't belong in an older palace"; "the Japanese art was not well-integrated"; "Versailles is beautiful as it is and should not be tainted"; "the art drew too much attention away from the palace itself". All of which are valid arguments.

However, a better understanding of Versailles is necessary to fully understand the choice and placement of Murakami's art. Versailles was built outside of Paris because Louis XIV had vivid memories of growing up during a time when civil unrest made the city incredibly dangerous. As a boy, he survived an attempted kidnapping and/or possible murder; something like that stays with you the rest of your life. Additionally, Louis XIV felt it was necessary for him to fully assert that he was strong, wealthy, and fully in charge of his power. He is famously quoted as saying, "L"etat, c'est moi" (I am the state) and he called himself "The Sun King".

When it came to Versailles, Louis XIV pulled out all the stops in making sure his French nobles and any foreign visitors to the palace knew that he was a force to be reckoned with. When one first arrives at the palace, one enters a series of chambers that ultimately lead to the throne room. Each room has a theme based on a Roman god or goddess and each is sumptuously decorated with enormous paintings on the walls and ceillings, carvings in the stone walls and ceillings, and gilded everything. The choice to invoke Roman gods is interesting; Louis XIV was neither Roman nor Greek, but gods such as Apollo or Mars have long been associated with power in Western culture, so the Sun King used these associations to impress anyone who came knocking. After the procession of Roman-themed rooms, one has to traverse the impressive Hall of Mirrors to get to the throne. When the palace was built at the end of the 17th century, mirrors were incredibly expensive. Thus, a massive room full of mirrors was both visually pleasing and an ostentatious display of wealth. Louis's giant silver throne resting on a Persian rug probably seemed like an afterthought.

So what other momentous events took place in Versailles? A little more than a hundred years after Versailles was built, the French people rose up against the monarchy and were victorious. One famous morning, French citizens bribed the palace guards, broke into Versailles, and chased the queen Marie Antoinette and her children out of the beautiful rooms. The queen was imprisioned and then beheaded a few days after her husband. As France became a Republic in 1789, the royal palace of Versailles was only ever used for a little more than a century.

In *my* opinion, the placement of modern art in the palace does nothing to subtract from the glamour of Versailles. This palace was built as a (beautiful) prison for French nobles so that Louis XIV could keep an eye on them, it was so expensive that it beggared the nation, and it ultimately bore witness to one of the bloodiest revolutions in history. Versailles was controversial when it was built, was controversial and highly detested by the people of France while it was used for it's original purpose, and remains controversial today.

I earlier alluded to the fact that the placement of Murakami's art within the palace is important. I will elaborate. For instance, in the room devoted to Venus, Murakami displays sculptures revolving around the theme of love, he has floral statues placed in view of the gardens of Versailles, and as herald to the hall of mirrors, he displays a risque female waitress gesturing in welcome. In effect, this figure sends the same message as the hall of mirrors itself: I'm important, I'm powerful, and you are hardly worthy to stand in my prescence.

Finally, in one of the (relatively) less important rooms of Versailles, Murakami displays a bizarre shrine to modern consumerism:

The pepsi can, baby powder, ketchup, etc. are encrusted with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and other precious stones. I personally see a mutual critique of the artificiality of what we consider to be valuable today and a critique of what was seen as valuable when Versailles was built. Yes, the hall of mirrors was impressive, but it was paid for by the work of thousands of French peasants and ironically WEAKENED the very monarch it was supposed to support! Versailles strengthened the perception of royal power, but physically dimished the ECONOMIC power of the king and by the time of the revolution, infuriated the French people to the point at which they cut off the heads of the king and queen.

Of course, the exhibit is not easy to interpret; as a friend posted on my facebook wall, using big words that I don't fully understand:

" but, what exactly would be the (political? artistic? critical?) value of parodying the aesthetic superfluity of the ancien regime in 2010? Is Murakami's satire directed toward the French monarchy's ostentation, as you've suggested, or is this ostentation, "blatantly" juxtaposed as it is with the forms and signifiers of global capitalism (pepsi cans, anime depictions of busty western blondes), employed as a means of reflecting upon the excesses of the contemporary era? That is, does this exhibition ask us to consider - and perhaps, to critique - the eighteenth century, or the twenty-first? also, cool photos! - J.O."

As a final comment on Versailes, I must admit that the gardens have ALWAYS reminded me of the cartoon plants one might see in a child's book or at Disneyland. Frankly, Murakami's statues don't look any less natural than this:

I must now finish some homework before I go picnic on the Place des Invalides. It is COLD today, for the first time since we arrived. Also, the Frech metro workers are on strike, so the metro runs less frequently today and trains are packed. Just a part of life for Parisians!

Finally, I welcome comments on this post- whether you have been able to visit Versailles or not, the subject is fascinating and complicated and all opinions are valid.