PHILANTHROPY : Clemenceau Museum
A long history
Georges Clemenceau had resided since 1896 in a rented apartment at rue Benjamin Franklin when the building was put up for sale after the death of the owner. Thanks to the generosity of an American admirer who secretly purchased the building, Clemenceau was able to spend his final years in the apartment living in peace until his death in 1929. Following Clemenceau’s death, the American owner donated the building to a foundation established in 1931 to serve the public interest. Its enduring purpose is to “maintain the apartment open to visitors as it existed at the time of Clemenceau’s death”. Clemenceau’s three children agreed to leave most of the apartment furnishings in place including the furniture, paintings, photos and other objects.
The apartment has thus remained in an exceptional state since the death of its occupant in his bedroom on 24 November 1929. It was listed as an historic building in 1955 along with the attached garden of which Clemenceau had the sole use.
While the foundation has always applied revenues generated from the building to finance the museum operations, funding for more ambitious projects over the years has depended on philanthropy.
The entrance and study in Clemenceau’s apartment were restored to an original state in 2015 thanks to charitable subscriptions under the sponsorship of the Fondation du Patrimoine, grants from the Ministry of Culture (Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs) and direct philanthropy from Groupe ADP and Areva. Pierre Frey (fabrics) and Declerq (trimmings) generously contributed materials directly to the project.
The document gallery, opened in 1933 above Clemenceau’s apartment, was completely restored to coincide with the centenary of Clemenceau’s rise to power in 1917. The work was made possible by joint grants from the Ministry of the Armed Forces (Directorate of remembrance, heritage and archives), the Ministry of Culture, the Senate, the National Assembly and city of Paris and direct philanthropy from Naval Group, the Caisse des Dépôts, COVEA and Groupe ADP.
The foundation now hopes to complete the apartment restoration to the highest standard in the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and library gallery along with all the associated furnishings (furniture, objects, photos, patinated plasters, etc).
Your contribution can enable the cleaning by a sculpture restorer of one of the plaster bas-reliefs that decorate the dining room: Jeune chasseur et son chien (€660). Or the cleaning and restoration of Clemenceau’s dressing gown; the disassembly, cleaning and reassembly of the extraordinary bed with dragon headboard by Gabriel Viardot (€450); the dismounting and reframing of 61 photos with anti-reflective glass and acid-free mount board (€120 on average).
Your help,
whether as an individual or through a business,
and whatever the amount,
would be greatly appreciated!
