What was the budget for the Jeff Koons exhibition?
The production costs for the exhibition totaled 1.9 million euros, 800,000 of which went solely to the Split Rocker which is in the gardens and is a reference to Le Nôtre. The budget was made possible by using the funds which the establishment normally spends on Versailles Off, about 300,000 euros, to which we added about 1,600,000 euros of outside contributions. But these 300,000 euros could have been used for something else. Had the money come from public subsidies, that would have been a problem, although… But the château of Versailles does not receive a subsidy from the State for running it so it only uses its own income for these activities. Yes, nonetheless the money might have gone to restoring certain things. Restorations and acquisitions are our first priority. This year alone, I have already devoted 18 million euros of patronage money for this purpose. The fundamental interests of the establishment are in no way neglected despite this. If we were to deprive the conservation
