Art lovers flock to landmark Paris museum ahead of long closure

Tourists and French visitors alike filled Paris's landmark Pompidou museum on the weekend to catch a last glimpse of its prestigious art collection ahead of a five-year closure for a major renovation.

"Five years - it's long!" exclaimed one guide, Elisa Hervelin, as people around her took photos of many of the museum's permanent works, among them paintings by Salvador Dali and Henri Matisse and sculptures by Marcel Duchamp.

The 2,000-piece collection, on display on the fourth and fifth floors on the 48-year-old multicultural center, are to start being taken away from today.

The artworks are to be given temporary homes in museums across France and in other countries while the lengthy overhaul of the building - famously designed with its pipes and ventilation shafts colorfully adorning its facade - is carried out.

The full closure of the Pompidou Centre - which also comprises a vast library and a music research unit - will occur on September 22 this year.

The 262 million euro (HK$2.2 billion) renovations include removing asbestos from the structure.

With free entrance for its last weekend, visitors made the most of a last swing through the galleries, taking in the art as well as workshops, performances and DJ sets put on for the occasion.

Some were regulars to the museum, while others were seeing its collection in person for the first time.

Alyssa, an 11-year-old French girl taking it all in with her 62-year-old grandfather, said she wanted to "see for real" the abstract paintings of Dutch artist Piet Mondrian, which she had been shown in her school's art class.

Paula Goulart, a 25-year-old Brazilian, admitted she was there mainly for the spectacular view of the Paris skyline from the center's upper storeys.

Her Portuguese friend Luisa Fraga, though, was a frequent visitor to the museum who "wanted to enjoy as much as possible the artworks before they are no longer here."

A Chinese visitor, Zou Yujie, had made the Pompidou Center a key stop on a trip through Europe.

"I love Matisse. It was the first painter I studied at school," she said.

With 3.2 million visitors last year, the Pompidou Centre is one of the most popular museums in Paris, ranking behind the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay in terms of attendance.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE