Tycoon’s Art Trove Unveiled In Paris, Home To Billionaires’ Culture Contest

The reopening of Paris museums this week finally gives billionaire tycoon Francois Pinault the chance to showcase his vast contemporary art collection in the French capital, with works ranging from stuffed pigeons to slowly melting chairs.

The museum’s launch in a converted 19th-century commodities exchange, blocks away from the Louvre, was put on hold twice due to the pandemic after having suffered earlier planning mishaps, with an initial project abandoned in 2005.

Pinault, 84 – who made his fortune in timber trading before shifting into retail under the group now known as Kering (PRTP.PA), run by his son – joins rival French luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault in trying to stamp his legacy on Paris’ art scene and landscape, with museums and renovation projects.

But the Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection, opening on May 22, will also give visitors a glimpse of the businessman’s vast trove of art purchases since the 1980s, including pieces by photographer Cindy Sherman and painter Peter Doig.

The 200 works on display for the opening, many straight out of storage, feature artists who have never had restrospectives in France, such as Kerry James Marshall, known for his paintings of Black figures and explorations of African-American history.

An ephemeral work by Swiss-born artist Urs Fischer will take centre stage at the launch, with wax sculptures installed in the central space, including of chairs and a marble-like statue, set to slowly melt over six months as they are set alight.

Overhead, stuffed pigeons peer down into the gallery, in an art installation called “Others” by Maurizio Cattelan designed to give visitors a startling sense of being observed.

The project follows Pinault’s attempt to build a new museum in western Paris on the site of a former Renault car factory, which became bogged down in wrangling with local authorities. The billionaire has since opened two museums in Venice, Italy.