Rodin Museum Paris expands abroad, to open new site in Tenerife

Will Santa Cruz become the ‘sculpture capital’ of Spain?

Last week, on 13 January, the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands) received a special delegation of representatives from the Paris Rodin Museum who went there to acquaint themselves with the conditions for opening a branch of the institution locally.

The mayor of Santa Cruz, José Manuel Bermúdez, who seems to be one of the main driving forces behind the project, welcomed the delegates and showed them the area of the city where the future building hosting the museum of the famous artist Auguste Rodin would be erected.

Tenerife wants to also become known as a cultural destination

The French delegation visit counts as a continuation and a response to a visit, which the mayor made to the French capital in October of 2021, where he went to present his idea. The Tenerife branch of the Rodin Museum will be located in the restored Viera y Clavijo Cultural Park, and he stated that there is an agreement for that with the Government of the Canary Islands for 10 million euros.

The visit to Paris concluded with the signing of an agreement, however, it is yet to be defined what the exact relationship model between the Paris and Santa Cruz museums will be, or even when the new museum will see light.

What is clear, however, is that the mayor’s grand vision and ambition have found warm reception with the French representatives.

Amelie Simier, the director of the Paris Rodin Museum commented that "given the area planned for the museum in the city, it makes all the sense in the world that the Rodin Museum has its place here because it fits perfectly with the spirit of the artist, which finds in Santa Cruz the ideal place to maintain the continuity of this wonderful project.”

The Santa Cruz mayor explained that the new world-class museum could host some hundred works by the renowned sculptor, some as part of a permanent collection and others visiting on loans.

"This would make us the sculpture capital of entire Spain and one of the most important in the world since we would combine having sculptures in the street, and the museum of the father of modern sculpture,” declared Mr Bermúdez, adding that it is only natural “since it is the work of an artist who is an icon of this discipline at an international and local level”.