Rose-Marie Mousseaux unveils her plans for one of the Marais best-kept secrets

By Fiona Scott Lazareff

27 Feb. 2015

Courtesy Rose-Marie Mousseaux

Rose-Marie Mousseaux recently took the helm* of the charming Musée Cognacq Jay, a near undiscovered gem in the Marais which she reopened in December 2014 alongside Christian Lacroix. Mousseaux was not an obvious choice as director: not only was she one of the few candidates for the post without expertise in 18th-century art, but at just 34 years old, she is one of the youngest museum directors in Paris. Here she talks to Fiona Scott Lazareff about the museum and its various projects, past, present and future.

What is your role at the museum?

I am the director of a fabulous but little known institution in the heart of the Marais, that has been renovated by Christian Lacroix. I hold diverse responsibilities: on a daily basis I manage planning with my subordinates, sort out the museum’s finances, and most importantly, manage the art collection.

I maintain a strong interaction with our visitors, by ensuring that the exhibitions appeal to everybody, not just the culturally elite, and that they can also provide feedback on our website. We also use social networks to persuade people to pass by. But creating exhibitions remains the centerpiece of my profession.

Do you decide on the themes for the exhibitions personally?

We have an administrative process dedicated to this. We decide on a theme: a project with a list of proposed artworks. We then submit it to our board and the programming committee discusses it. And if it is accepted, then we can start to put it together.

What inspired you to involve Christian Lacroix in the museum?

To be honest, Christian Lacroix had been contacted by my predecessor about an exhibition on 18th century embroidered waistcoats from the Musée Galliera  (the Galliera Museum) an institution that focuses on fashion from the 18th century until today. He wasn’t really that interested by the project, and it was left on standby for close to eight months. 

I met Christian Lacroix when I first arrived here, and saw what he had achieved at the Musée Rattu (Reattu Museum)  in Arles. I knew he was also collaborating with a number of other museums, helping them with their lay-out and ambiance, like a "scene director". So I simply asked him if he could work with us in the same way as he had with the museum in Arles, and if we could work together to enhance our museums' atmosphere.

What are your ambitions for the museum?

My objective is that it will be recognised as a pleasant but legitimate museum. A lot of our visitors arrive inadvertently with no prior knowledge of our museum, because our establishment still lacks identity. Today the name "Cognacq-Jay" is not very well-known, but Ernest Cognacq and his wife, Marie-Louise Jay, were a couple of extremely influential entrepreneurs towards the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century. They founded the Samaritaine department store in Paris.

These people started with nothing. They were street vendors on the bridges on the River Seine, but earned their fortune with hard work. They then participated in extremely important philanthropic work, including this museum which carries their name, and charity work for the poor and underprivileged. The foundation is still active today, coming to the help of the less fortunate with a wide range of charitable actions, ranging from healthcare to cultural activities.

Does that mean your permanent collection is the Cognacq-Jay’s private collection?

It only represents a fraction of their private collection, the part of it that relates to the 18th century, but they also had Impressionist works, Chinese art… But they chose to expose these pieces from their collection because they believed they illustrated the best of French taste, which happened to be in the 18th century.

Can you tell us a bit about your career and what brought you to the Musée Cognacq Jay?

Formerly, I worked at the Musée Carnavalet. My studies had nothing to do with the 18th century as, originally I specialised in prehistoric art. I focused on southern Italy before the Roman invasion. Basically, my career was devoted to classical literature, history of art and archeology; nothing to do with the 18th century! What interested me the most was understanding past cultures.

When I passed the exams to become a curator I was assigned to the Carnavalet Museum, where I worked on the history of Paris. While studying the history of Paris, I progressively started showing interest in the sponsors and private art collectors which contributed to the Parisian museum scene.

How do you think you can improve people’s awareness of the museum?

Through separate actions we have started to undertake. Our work with Christian Lacroix was clearly part of our ambition to give the museum an identity. We are also working on word of mouth, which joins forces with our work on social networks and the internet. We have to recreate an identity for this museum and are planning on improving its visual identity by creating a new logo from the Cognacq-Jay monogram.

Which is your favourite exhibit in the museum?

It’s slightly paradoxical, because my favourite object was not originally crafted in Europe. It’s a beautiful painted statuette of a Felix, made from Chinese porcelain. It was painted in China using a Dutch technique. These kinds of crafts were explicitly produced for export. It’s my favourite piece, because not only is it a sublime object with meticulous detail and delightful colours, it is also proof of relations between Europe and the rest of the world in the 18th century, and their mutual influence that led to the production of such objects.

Our readers would love to learn some of your favourite addresses. Can you recommend a good nearby restaurant?

Naturally! This is a very lively neighbourhood, with plenty of locals as well as tourists.

There’s also a slightly more old-fashioned bistrot called Le Café des Musées (49 Rue de Turenne, 75003 Paris). The food is delicious because they only select local produce, and I highly recommend it. 

*Ms. Mousseaux was director of the Musée du Cognacq Jay from 2013 to 2018.