LLEI D'ART 10

Q: Up to what point do you consider that the decision taken by a museum like the Prado can influence the art markets? A: The Spanish antique art market is relatively small and happens within a rather unusual framework of public protection, and the Prado often benefits from this level of protection. For example, we would not have been able to acquire Pieter Bruegel’s The Wine of Saint Martin’s Day if it had been on the international market. That said, I think it is both correct and healthy that there is an active collectors’ market beyond the museums. We must not forget that the works held by the Prado come from a private collection created together with other important private collections that ended up coming here. Q: Is the visitor still the main objective of your efforts, given that in the end, the visiting public is the object of all exhibitions? How does the Prado deal with visitors and how do you think the museum’s relationship with this important resource can be bettered? A: First comes the artwork and then the visitor, just as in a library the book comes before the reader. That said, the Prado has taken great efforts over the years to be open to society as a whole, to show itself as a space for the public celebration of art, and I think we have managed that. A museum’s mission is not wholly complete without this contact with society. Q: Could the Prado sell its brand to the world in a similar fashion to the Louvre and its policy of cultural internationalisation? And if so, why? A: No. The Prado is, relatively speaking, too small a museum to be thinking of other branches. What we do believe in, however, is collaboration in investigative projects and exhibitions that we can share with other institutions. This year, at the same time as we held an exhibition on Spanish art in Houston, we have travelled around Spain –in collaboration with the La Caixa Foundation– with a great exhibition on 17th century Flemish landscapes. Q: How do you see the future of the museum’s moderniza- tion project that you defend? Why do you think is it so important that the Prado breaks away from such strict chronological rules? Aren’t there already other museums that house late 19th and 20th century art? A: It is essentially a case of stating a historical reality. Not so long ago, in 1971 the museum took charge of the 19th century collection of the old Museum of Modern Art. Relatively soon, the Prado will take in art from the 20th century. As such, it is a question of the historical projection of public collections. I personally think that we should be preparing the way for this instead of becoming obsessed with artificially separating our collections. Q: Apart from the private or public source of funding museums, is the American system of museum management very different from the European model? A: In the same way that American and European societies are different. We can learn a lot from the American model, but there are limits, simply because of the ownership of the works held in European public museums is just that: public. The government cannot separate itself from those institutions that guarantee the security, integrity and dissemination of the artistic and historic heritage that they look after. Q: How is contemporary art evolving, in your opinion? A: I think that it is moving in various directions which are on occasion contradictory. I don’t think that there is a defined international trend. The art market is, however, another mat- ter. In this case there is an interest in marking trends, but this has always been the case. Q: Do you think that those visitors who frequent museums of the caliber of the Prado or the Louvre also visits contem- porary art exhibitions of emerging artists? A: A true art lover takes an interest in everything, antique, modern and the strictly contemporary. Q: Do you think there are more differences or similarities between the management style of different institutions? And if so, based on what? A: All museums share the same basic mission, but each has its own character and identity and must adjust its workings to its own specific characteristics. Q: To what extent can the own particular tastes and fondnesses of a museum’s director influence the particular direction of their vision? A: It depends on the museum, its speciality and on its scale. I know of museums where the director is also the museum’s only employee. Just as in any organisation or ‘company’, leadership is important. In the Prado the function of the director is not so much to express their own tastes or preference as to help the best professionals to find a way to carry out their projects. Directing the Museo del Prado has very little to do with one’s own taste. Q: What kind of art do you have at home, Mr. Zugaza? Could you share some of your artistic delectations with our readers? A: I don’t collect art. I have some drawings by artists that have interested me, but you couldn’t call it a collection. Q: Finally, Mr. Zugaza, what advice would you give you to a young, talented to carry on feeding their desire to express themselves? A: It is difficult to give advice, especially with something that depends on the person’s own relationship to themselves and the world around them as is the case with artists. Quite sincerely, I wouldn’t know what to say. Luisa Noriega 11