An
awe inspiring collection of priceless art has completed a rare
journey across the world. Artworks from the extraordinary personal
collection of Ambroise Vollard – the man who gave Picasso
and Cezanne their first one man shows – have recently been
on exhibition in Launceston, Tasmania.
The events Artistic Advisor Robyn Archer and Executive Producer
Elizabeth Walsh at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery spent
four years negotiating the loans. The logistics of moving such
a significant exhibition from the island of Réunion, off
the cost of Africa in the Indian Ocean, to the island of Tasmania
– off the coast of Australia in the Tasman Sea were immense.
The Festival organizers called on the expertise of Kim Powell
at International Art Services to manage all aspects of the exhibition
transport. She called on the ICEFAT network to help her meet her
client’s service requirements.
– When doing the research on who was the best to take on
the freighting of this exhibition one company kept on coming up
as outstanding in the field and capable of undertaking such a
complex task, said Elizabeth Walsh. It was such a relief to know
that the works where in good hands during the journey to Tasmania
and home again...
VIA
PARIS
First, the artworks had to be carefully packed and then travel
from the Musée Léon Dierx on the tiny French island
of Reunion where Vollard was born. The collection has been at
the Musée since they were donated by Vollard’s brother
Lucien in 1947. Andre Chenue SA constructed the cases in Paris
– shipped them to Réunion – and then sent their
expert packing technicians to Réunion to complete the packing
and crating project.
There are no direct flights between Reunion and Tasmania –
or even between Reunion and Australia – so the exhibition
had to travel first from Reunion to Paris where it was transferred
from one airport to another and supervised at all points by fellow
ICEFAT agent, Andre Chenue SA.
The services of another ICEFAT agent HeluTrans were called upon
in Singapore to supervise the transfer from one flight to another.
LAST
PART BY BOAT
Finally the exhibition arrived in Australia – at Melbourne
airport – where it was met by International Art Services
staff. The last part of the journey was by boat. The crates were
loaded on one of IAS’s climate control trucks which drove
on to the Spirit of Tasmania ferry for the overnight journey across
Bass Strait – finally arriving in Launceston after a short
3 hours road journey from Devonport to Launceston.
The Festival Executive Producer, Elizabeth Walsh, said they found
the idea that the journey had to be completed by boat “enormously
romantic” but to the staff of IAS it was all in a days work.
A curator from Musée Léon Dierx traveled with the
exhibition and oversaw the unpacking, installation and repacking.
AROUND
THE WORLD
|
| READY
TO VIEW: QUEEN VICTORIA MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY FRENCH
MASTERS PROJECT COORDINATOR PAUL BISHOP CHECKS THE
CONDITION OF THE NEWLY ARRIVED MASTERPIECES. |
Picture: PAUL SCAMBLER
|
Although the exhibition was potentially one of the most challenging
to ever be held at Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, the
Project Co-ordinator Paul Bishop says:
– From the museum’s point of view the coordination
by IAS was flawless. We loved the fact that our concerns for the
exhibition effectively began, and ended, at our cargo bay –
with all the remaining issues taken care of.
On the return journey the exhibition traveled via Kuala Lumpa
where International Art Services Malaysia supervised the transfer
from the flight from Melbourne and onto the flight to Paris.
The journey took 6 days each way. Although it is a relatively
short 7,600 km (4,750 miles) from Reunion to Launceston as the
crow flies the round trip covered 53,330 km (33,330 miles) which
is equivalent to traveling about one and a half times around the
world.
