Monuments, 1998

Wood, rope, metal and emulsion sur film

Sculpture : 428 x 704 x 81 cm

Twelve photographs : 77 x 110 cm (smallest); 201 x 149 cm (largest)

Monuments combines two types of objects: a series of twelve photographs of various dimensions and a huge crate made of old boards, tied up in rope and planted squarely in the centre of the gallery. The crate is a replica of the one used for transporting Titian’s Assumption from the Academy in Venice to the successive hiding places where it was sheltered during World War 1. The crate suggests the presence of this famous painting. The photographs document how a number of works from Venetian collections were safeguarded (the Horses of San Marco, paintings from the Doge’s Palace, canvas from Tintoretto and statues from various churches)

Musée national des beaux-arts Collection