10th anniversary
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Judith Benhamou Reports, not only did I have our website logo redesigned and brought back to life by the highly talented graphic designer Yorgo Tloupas, founder of Yorgo&Co.
Glenn Lowry In Conversation with Judith
I also organized “In Conversation with Judith” inviting five major figures from the contemporary art world to speak publicly with me: Hans Ulrich Obrist (artistic director, Serpentine Gallery), Maja Hoffmann( founder, Luma Arles), Glenn Lowry, Rirkrit Tiravanija(artist) and Lina Ghotmeh( architect).
All the interviews took place in L’appartement Piaget, in the heart of Paris. Glenn Lowry is the first to appear here. There have only been six directors of MoMA since the museum opened in New York in 1929. Glenn Lowry held this position for 30 years, until September 2025. Paris is now his adopted city, where he is currently spending six months. In June 2025 he gave a talk at the Centre Pompidou. Between 17 November and 1 December 2025, he will hold the Louvre Chair, delivering a series of five lectures titled “I want a museum. I need a museum. I imagine a museum.” Yet what he shared with us here is far more personal. How does one cope with the pressure of such an institution? How does one find hundreds of millions of dollars twice over to expand its walls? Where does his extraordinary determination come from?
Ski champion and more
To understand this remarkable character, you need to look back to his childhood: a father who wanted him to become a ski champion, and a French mother who left for the United States during the Second World War, sending him every summer on holidays to Aix-les-Bains. Which leads him to say today: “I never felt completely American.” He declares his full support for the President of the Louvre after the theft of the crown jewels, stressing how vulnerable museums truly are.He shares his vision in perfect French, along with his groundbreaking ideas for the museum of tomorrow, such as the notion that masterpieces can overshadow the presence of the most contemporary works: “The weight of this history prevents the possibilities of the future.”
In the room, Suzanne Pagé, Artistic Director of the Fondation Louis Vuitton, and Philippe Vergne, Director of the Serralves Foundation in Porto, also reacted to his thoughts.
The video is almost an hour long. Enjoy the conversation!
