SPEED Château de Compiègne, Musée National de la Voiture From 10 December to 28 March 2022

After the success of Concept Car Pure Beauty in 2019 - 2020, the Musée National de la Voiture du Château de Compiègne and the Rmn   Grand Palais wanted to continue their exploration of the history of locomotion with the exhibition Speed. The curator of this new project was Rodolphe Rapetti, Director of Museums and National Estates of the Châteaux de Compiègne and Blérancourt, Marie-Anne Privat and Richard Keller, curators at the Château de Compiègne, Musée National de la Voiture.

Held in the rooms of the château and situating the vehicles on display among the fabulous royal and imperial décor, the Speed exhibition invited audiences to explore humans attraction to speed, from the origins of the history of land transport to the modern day. From the Roman chariot held in the museum s collections to the latest record-breaking vehicles, through some fifty horse-drawn vehicles and automobiles, cycles and around one hundred prints, drawings,

paintings, sculptures and film clips, it offered an overview of the inspiration that a diverse range of creators have found in the desire for speed. This exhibition, which was unusual in more ways than one, constituted a historical fresco, from Antiquity to the vehicles of the 1960s, attesting to the changing notions of speed throughout the centuries. Among the pieces exhibited was the remarkable model of the Venturi VBB-3, measuring 11 metres long and on loan for the first time, as well as the so-called Joséphine s Carriage, recently acquired by the museum and restored for the occasion, as well as horse-drawn vehicles held in the collections of the Château that had previously remained inaccessible, as well as the graphic works of Rob Roy, which were donated in 2020.

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