Artpress Editor Catherine Millet Criticizes Beaux-Arts Magazine's Editorial on Beaux-Arts de Paris Director Appointment

In an editorial for Artpress, Catherine Millet harshly criticizes Fabrice Bousteau, editor-in-chief of Beaux-Arts Magazine, for his October 2011 editorial regarding the appointment of a new director for the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris. Millet accuses Bousteau of ignorance and poor argumentation, particularly for claiming that selecting an artist as director would threaten aesthetic diversity. She lists numerous historical and contemporary examples of artists successfully leading art schools, including the Bauhaus under Walter Gropius, Hannes Meyer, and Mies van der Rohe; the New Bauhaus under László Moholy-Nagy; the Düsseldorf Academy under Tony Cragg, Markus Lüpertz, and Norbert Kricke; ECAL under Pierre Keller; the Nîmes school under Claude Viallat; the Bourges school under Paul Devautour; and Le Fresnoy under Alain Fleischer. Millet also notes Bousteau's attack on outgoing director Henry-Claude Cousseau for occupying a service apartment, which she deems irrelevant. The editorial is a response to Bousteau's support for candidate Nicolas Bourriaud. Millet expresses frustration with the opaque selection process and concludes that engaging in debate with such ignorance is futile.