Borrowing works from the Musée national Picasso-Paris

Who can borrow works?

The Musée national Picasso-Paris is a public administrative institution governed by French law (Decree No. 2010-669 of 18 June 2010), under the supervision of France’s Ministry of Culture and its museums department.
In accordance with French heritage legislation (Article D423-6 of the heritage code), works entrusted to the Musée national Picasso-Paris, “may be loaned for temporary cultural exhibitions organised in France or abroad by public bodies, or by private, non-profit arts organisations”.

The Musée national Picasso-Paris, is home to the world’s largest collection of works by Pablo Picasso and a significant part of his collection and personal archive. The collections consist of the artist’s paintings, sculptures, ceramics, prints, photographs and documents, as well as works by other major artists, several photographers and numerous writers.

The collection can be accessed online here.

Where should I send a loan request?

The request should be sent to the museum’s director by email prets@museepicassoparis.fr and by post to:

The Director
Musée national Picasso-Paris
20, rue de la Perle
75003 Paris France

When should I send the request?

Loan requests must be sent to the Musée national Picasso-Paris as early as possible, and at least fifteen months before the exhibition is due to open.

What information should be included in the request?

All loan requests must include:

• The full name and address and description of the venue where the exhibition will be held.
• The full name and contact information of the establishment’s director and the exhibition’s technical manager.
• The exhibition’s opening and closing dates, and information about its different stages if it is a touring exhibition.
• The exact name of the work(s) requested and corresponding inventory number(s).
• A detailed account of the exhibition, and a supporting statement outlining the purpose of the loan of the requested work(s). The facilities report from the requesting institution.

How is the request processed?

After the loan request has been received, the applicant will receive a confirmation of receipt. The request is then reviewed carefully and constructively, with a view to a favourable outcome.

After it has been reviewed, the request will be referred to the Musée Picasso’s special advisory council, sitting as a loans and consignments committee, which will ultimately decide on whether the loan will be granted.

If the decision is favourable, the request will be forwarded to the national commission for loans and consignments at the museums department of France’s ministry of culture, which will make the final decision.

How are loans managed?

Loans are managed by the museum’s directorate for collections, production and mediation. A technical adviser from the collections department and a manager from the production department will be nominated and they will be responsible for overseeing each loan request. They are the key contact people for the borrowing institutions.

Each loan must be covered by a contract governing all the terms of the loan, from the items’ preparation and packing to their return to the Musée Picasso. The contract sets out all the borrower’s obligations.

Who pays the costs incurred in connection with loans?

When the Musée Picasso makes works available for loan for an external exhibition, this entails work for its teams and generates costs. These costs are borne exclusively by the borrower. There are two main types of costs:

• Technical costs: the costs associated with making the loaned works available and which cover their preparation and packing, their condition report and photographic records, framing or mounting requirements and insurance, transport and security requirements. Each loan also requires courier transportation by providers selected by the Musée Picasso staff, or appropriate supervision as a minimum, also at the borrower’s sole expense.
• Administrative costs: to cover the administrative work involved in reviewing loan requests by officials at the Musée Picasso. These costs are applied in accordance with the rules set out in Decision No. 2016-165 of 20 December 2016 on administrative costs associated with the loan of works from the Musée national Picasso-Paris.

Finally, for any reproduction or depiction of the borrowed works, the borrower must request written consent from the Musée Picasso and, in addition, for works by Pablo Picasso, written consent from the Picasso Administration, obtain the visuals of the loaned works from the RMN-GP photo agency, and pay the costs of all associated rights. A Guide to image rights can be viewed on the dedicated page.