All the expertise in the specialist storage of artworks that clients find at Clé Reserva Contemporânea had an unusual beginning – in 1760, in France, with the trousseau of Queen Marie Antoinette.
The chamberlain André Chenue was in the exclusive service of the queen and was responsible for looking after her lingerie. Later, he was also charged with making crates for the transport and storage of all the monarchs' clothing.
The company was then based in Rue Croix-des-Petits-Champs, in the surroundings of the building that was still to become the Louvre Museum.
With the end of the French monarchy at the turn of the 18th century, Chenue specialised in the packing and transport of artworks; in the 20th century, it provided services mainly to museums and private collectors.
Rescues at the Louvre and Notre-Dame
Today a partner of Clé Reserva Contemporânea in Brazil, Chenue has taken part in landmark moments in the history of art: in 1914 and 1939, in the context of the two world wars, it helped to evacuate works from the Louvre and transport them to safe places, where they were protected from both bombing and looting.
In April 2019, the company played a fundamental role in another great tragedy for cultural heritage: after the fire that destroyed the cathedral of Notre-Dame, Chenue was called in by the Ministry of Culture of France to rescue artworks that remained in the cathedral, whose vaults, weakened by the fire, were at risk of collapsing.
The company had only 36 hours to remove 18 large paintings measuring 4×5 metres – an operation that involved 32 specialists and several transport vehicles. To receive the canvases, a 200 square metre space was specially prepared at the Saint-Denis warehouse: the environmental conditions of the space were adjusted to resemble those of the cathedral, ensuring the best possible preservation of the artworks. All the work was carried out free of charge by Chenue.
With more than 260 years of history, the company is a benchmark in fine art logistics all over the world – an expertise made available to Brazilian institutions and collectors through Clé Reserva Contemporânea, the only company in the country to offer artwork storage in a climate-controlled environment, fire prevention and 24-hour access control.
Just as Chenue does in Europe, Clé Reserva provides services to the country's most important museums, keeping safely in storage part of the collections that are not on display.
