The Musée d’Orsay, known for its vast collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces, faced a challenge in 2021. The museum was struggling to attract visitors due to the uncertainties and lockdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the belief that the French people’s passion for culture would draw them back to the museum, attendance remained low.
In October 2021, the museum appointed a new president, Christophe Leribault, who made it a priority to open the Musée d’Orsay to a wider audience. He wanted to reach out to people who had never been to the museum before, or who may never have considered visiting. To achieve this, Leribault formed an internal team to explore the potential of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and blockchain technology. NFTs were creating buzz in the art world, and Leribault saw an opportunity to leverage this technology to attract new and younger audiences to the museum.
Nearly two years later, the museum has announced a year-long partnership with the Tezos Foundation. This partnership aims to bring blockchain-backed artworks and on-chain digital artists into conversation with the Musée d’Orsay’s collections and exhibitions. The collaboration will kick off with the upcoming exhibition, “Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise: The Final Months,” opening on October 3. Visitors and online collectors will have the opportunity to purchase two digital souvenirs associated with the exhibition—an augmented reality work depicting van Gogh’s final palette and an original digital artwork inspired by the artist, created by the French blockchain culture project called KERU. These pieces will be minted on the Tezos blockchain and will offer gamified elements, allowing holders to potentially win prizes such as lifetime passes to the museum and invitations to opening galas. A limited number of 2,300 NFTs of each variety will be available for €20 (about $21) each.
In addition to these digital souvenirs, the Musée d’Orsay and the Tezos Foundation plan to collaborate on a series of conferences and educational programs over the next year. These initiatives aim to introduce the museum’s audience to emerging technologies, including blockchain. Furthermore, starting in early 2024, the museum intends to invite digital artists who work on the blockchain to create NFT collections inspired by artworks in the Musée d’Orsay’s permanent collection. This program mirrors a similar initiative currently being run at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).
Valerie Whitacre, Head of Art at TriliTech, a London-based adoption hub for Tezos that assisted in establishing the Musée d’Orsay’s blockchain-related initiatives, sees the museum’s new programs as aligning perfectly with its deep connection to the Impressionist movement. The museum has a history of collecting artists who were not necessarily accepted by traditionalists, and embracing crypto art and engaging audiences in new ways resonates with this spirit.
Although the Musée d’Orsay has managed to recover its pre-pandemic tourism levels and is currently the 10th-most visited museum in the world, its staff sees the exploration of new technologies as a silver lining. The pandemic has prompted the museum to venture into unfamiliar territory, adapting to the times and engaging with new generations. They recognize the importance of evolving and avoiding becoming a museum stuck in the past.
Guillaume Roux, the Orsay’s director of development, sums up this sentiment by stating, “If we do not launch initiatives to talk differently, to represent ourselves differently, we will end up an old museum of a very old century—very, very fast.” The Musée d’Orsay’s partnership with the Tezos Foundation and its embrace of blockchain technology demonstrate its commitment to staying relevant and connecting with audiences in innovative ways.
