Art Of The Day Weekly

France sells Descartes

AMSTERDAM – Following the famous palace of Clam-Gallas in Vienna (sold in 2015 with a call for bids to Qatar, who will turn it into its embassy), France continues to give away its European patrimony. The French Institute to be the most recent victim of the budget restrictions is the Maison Descartes, set up in a former orphanage at Vijzelgracht, and scheduled to close on 30 June 2016. Some could believe in the “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” principle, following the closing by the Netherlands of the renowned Institut néerlandais (Dutch Institute) in Paris three years ago. But actually it is a contagious disease: after Vienna and Amsterdam, as well as Venice and Porto, it seems to be Milano’s turn to be threatened. Are these budget restrictions worth the price? Compared to the sums of money involved in football, they could almost make us smile –if we didn’t already cry -: €80 million in 2015 for the transfer of Anthony Martial to Manchester United, €20 million for the shortened contract of Laurent Blanc at the PSG. What would Descartes think of this?