ART in motion taste. I am a lover of formal purity, of softness, and of equilibrium, and yet I sometimes acquired very hard and strong, even brutal works. An example is a Maya head with a large headdress or the stone sculpture of the Aztec goddess Chalchiuhtlicue. My role as director of the museum guided me in this respect. As you know, my collection was housed in Barcelona, where it had been publicly exhibited since 1997. That gave me a new responsibility: to offer the visitor the most complete panorama possible of these civilizations’ principal artistic manifestations, to make viewing the collection a striking experience, and to enable interaction with things that are out of the ordinary. Showing only pieces that corresponded to my choices as a collector would have been a mistake. I had to fill gaps, to be bold, and to take a chance on unique pieces. This approach brought pieces to Barcelona such as an absolutely one-of-a-kind Cupisnique (Peru) stirrup vessel surmounted by a figure with an inclined head. But the acquisition of which I am without a doubt proudest is the magnificent duckshaped 38 Tarasco (Mexico) vessel, which quickly became the museum’s icon. It is the only object of its kind in the world. Formerly in the Guy Joussemet Collection, it belonged to a collector by the name of Guy Doux, an Art Deco aficionado, at the time I acquired it. The price he was asking for it was so high that in all honesty, if I had been acting as a private collector, I would have preferred to invest the money in an African mask. But I have no regrets, and today I believe that if there is a priceless object in my collection, it the Tarasco duck. T. A.: You talked about your association with the Barcelona museum. How are you taking its dismantling? J. P. B.-M.: This is indeed an entire museum collection that is being put up for sale. I will not keep anything. In all honesty, I can say that I was the first to be surprised. From the day I signed the loan agreement with Barcelona, I was convinced that the collection would stay there. My relationship with the municipal authorities and the museum staff, directed by Anna Casas Gilberga, was and remains excellent. When Barcelona expressed the desire to acquire the pre- Columbian collection, I told myself it was time to refocus myself on my Geneva collection and to devote all of my efforts on enriching it with masterpieces. We were in discussions for nearly two years, but to my great regret, we were unable to come up with an agreement. As a collector, I view the dismemberment of this collection with serenity. I have enjoyed an intense relationship with these works. During all the years they were in Barcelona, I was very close to them. But one must be able to look forward. I am already thinking of all the things I will be able to buy as a result of this sale! This is my passion. The most beautiful object in a collection is always the one that will be bought tomorrow. T. A.: What impact do you think this sale will have on the art market? J. P. B.-M.: I was just talking about this today with a close friend. He predicted repercussions similar to those that the Goldet sale of 2001 had on the African art market. Hubert Goldet’s collection had many fine pieces in it and a significant number of works made very high prices for the time. The structure of the market was powerfully affected by the sale results. Personally, I believe that the analogy is correct, and I would go even further. There is no self-congratulation in what I say, but I truly believe that this is the first time a pre-Columbian art sale of this importance has ever been held. First of all, 330 works will be sold— that is a significant number. And what can I say about the level of quality? As I noted before, the fact that this FIG. 4: Fragment from a figurative censer. Maya, Mexico. AD 550–950 (TL: AD 100–800). Terracotta with traces of polychrome. H: 25.5 cm. Ex John Huston, 1950s. Musée Barbier-Mueller, inv. 502-6. Photo: Studio Ferrazzini Bouchet.
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