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ICEFAT
Newsletter #2 — 2006 |
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500
Works From Russia to France |
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Russian
art made a radical shift in the middle of the 19th century –
Russian artists developed a style of their own and it was exactly
this shift in style that the exhibition in Musee d’Orsay
in Paris aimed to share with the viewing public.
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| VICTOR VASNETSOV.
ALENUSCHKA. |
The Reunion des Musees Nationaux (RMN) got permission from over 30
lenders from Moscow, St Petersburg and Switzerland to assemble an
exhibition of close to 500 works from the period. The loans ranged
from paintings and sculptures through to decorative and graphic arts
and photographs.
Transporting this exhibition was a real challenge for ICEFAT agent
Crown Fine Art, not only because the art works are all priceless and
unique in their own way and because an exhibition of this size requires
many resources on the part of the art logistics agent but also because
Russia has some particular challenges when it comes to export and
import regulations.
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IDENTICAL
LOADING
– The challenges of an operation
of this size are made even more interesting by the fact that this
particular transport involved
import from and export to Russia, commented Sylvie Fournier, Manager
of Crown Fine Arts in Paris.
– Indeed, Russian rules
and regulations require several conditions to be met on behalf of
the transporter, not the least challenging of which is the fact that
the packing and loading lists per truck need to be identical at the
time of export and the time of import. You cannot rearrange the load
on the truck at all.
No less than a total of 141 crates were required for the artworks.
The transit from Russian to Paris involved four trucks (two of which
had additional trailers) and took four days and an armed escort had
to be provided through Russia until the trucks reached the Finnish
border.
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224
PIECES
Not only did the organization of the transport itself require much
skill and attention to detail, but the installation upon arrival was
most interesting as well.
One piece in particular, a ceramic fireplace, required the attention
of a specialist. It was packed into 20 different crates and is composed
of 224 pieces of ceramic, all of which needed to be assembled
upon arrival at the museum.
The exhibition opened on September 19 2005 and high-profile guests
at the opening included the wives of the presidents of France and
the Russian Federation. More than 100,000 visitors attended the exhibition
at Musee d’Orsay.
Shortly after the exhibition opening the team at Crown Fine Arts began
preparations for the safe return to all Lenders. Two full weeks of
packing by an eight-member team was required to make sure everything
was repacked in their original crates. These crates were then loaded
in exactly the same pattern and on to exactly the same trucks as they
arrived on – and the return journey began.
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Sylvie Fournier, Crown Fine Art,
France |
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