A Hotel in Its Own Right
Se non è vero, è ben trovato—even if it is not true, it is a good story. Legend has it that when the artist Picasso arrived in the South of France, he stayed in a hotel in Mougins. And, as was his habit, he used the walls of his room for sketches and studies; in short, he covered the wall with his art.
When Monsieur Picasso finally found a house that suited him, he left the hotel, and the owner asked him to restore the room to the condition in which he had found it. In other words, Picasso hired a house painter to cover over his work. This happened nearly fifty years ago.
In the meantime, Pablo Picasso became world-famous, and his work has become a priceless commodity. I never knew the hotel owner, but I have been told that he was devastated, deeply sorry that he had failed to recognize the talent of his guest.
The Hotel Windsor is different. Its owner invited artists to intervene, to contribute their ideas and give the hotel a modern and personal character. Monsieur Bernard Redolfi-Strizzot is convinced—and I believe he is right—that a hotel can and should be part of a city’s cultural heritage.
He is convinced that we must make an effort on behalf of the art of our own time. He is convinced that we must live with art in order to connect with it more deeply and better perceive the message it brings us. Indeed, a single annual visit to a museum is not enough. And if art is the soul of a society, then it must be cultivated and made accessible to everyone.
Yes, art bears witness to our history; art is the mirror of our civilization. Without that mirror, without art, we would have no trace of our cultures.
It is true that the museum is a substitute. The cultures of the past had no need for museums. Their museum was the entire city: its architecture, its landscape, its furnishings, its decorations, and its art.
Gottfried Honegger.
