Paris La Défense acquires the artwork Le Monstre by Raymond Moretti
Paris La Défense has just acquired Raymond Moretti's work of art, installed since 1973 in a volume beneath the La Défense slab. This is an opportunity for the establishment to restore and showcase the work.
On June 2, 20 years to the day after the artist's death, Paris La Défense and Mrs Moretti signed a transfer of ownership agreement for Raymond Moretti's work Le Monstre. This transfer of ownership will enable the public institution to restore and promote the work, located in a volume under the business district's slab that requires safety work.
Le Monstre, the work of a lifetime
Born in Nice in the 60s in the Victorine studios, Le Monstre is a monumental, protean work, combining Plexiglas, wood, metal, glass and paint.
On arriving in Paris, it was installed for several years in the Halles Baltard before the Forum des Halles project emerged and the site was demolished. A sufficiently large new home had to be found, as the work gradually grew in size: 30 meters long, 15 meters wide and 8 meters high!
In 1973, thanks to the support of Jacques Duhamel, Minister of Cultural Affairs, Le Monstre found its place at La Défense. EPAD, the district's public institution, and the artist signed an agreement allowing Raymond Moretti to occupy a 1,000 m2 space beneath the business district's slab. Here, he also set up his studio and stored his works, including the most imposing of them all, the famous Monstre. Gradually growing in size, the work became inseparable from the site, to the point of projecting its shadows onto its walls. It was writer Joseph Kessel, a friend of Raymond Moretti, who, stunned by “this magnificent Monster”, christened the work.
Extra art for extra soul
Le Monstre is one of the works in Paris La Défense's permanent collection of contemporary art. Paris La Défense boasts more than 60 works of art specially designed for the area, as well as works from temporary and permanent collections. Some are by prestigious artists - César, Miró, Moretti, Calder - others lesser-known. Murals, statues and ponds in the neighbourhoods represent the great currents of contemporary art, from abstraction to surrealism, kinetic art and conceptual art. Transcending the diversity of currents and forms, a single preoccupation is asserting itself: to improve the living environment of the business district's various publics by giving it an extra touch of art as well as an extra touch of soul. All forms of cultural expression have always had an important place at Paris La Défense. The works installed are symbols of the district's uniqueness and a genuine tool for enhancing the area, helping to renew its image.
Much more than just an economic hub, Paris La Défense has established itself as a true living district, and a cultural and tourist destination in its own right!
See works from the permanent collection
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