French billionaire François Pinault—owner of Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen—opens a contemporary art museum near Louvre Museum
A fixture within the French art scene, François Pinault is making headlines with his new private museum in Paris, Bourse de Commerce—Pinault Collection, set to open in June 2020.
With a net worth estimated at US$35 billion, the 85-year-old museum owner is the world’s 22nd richest man, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The French collector, whose family’s holding company Artemis S.A owns British auction house Christie’s, is also the founder of international luxury group Kering, which owns brands including Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, Bottega Veneta, Brioni and Pomellato.
Currently owns two other museums in Venice—the Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana, the Paris museum will be Pinault’s third museum, expected to showcase artworks from his over 40 years of collection by artists such as Cindy Sherman, Albert Oehlen, Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst and Louise Bourgeois. As we await more details about the $170 Million museum, here’s everything we know.
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The location
Pinault’s private museum will be housed in the 130-year-old Bourse de Commerce, Paris’ former stock exchange, which will reopen as contemporary art museum near the Louvre and the Pompidou Centre.
Collaborative efforts with neighbouring art spaces are well under way, Pinault told New York Times earlier this year, that he wants his museum to “complement” Paris’ existing institutions.
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The cost
Owned by the city of Paris, the 19th-century, glass-domed architecture is granted to Pinault with a 50-year lease that costs more than US$16 million.
The operation cost of the 30,000-square-foot museum will be funded by Pinault, who promises the city a percentage of the museum’s turnover in the first two years of its opening.
The design
The Bourse de Commerce is being transformed by Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando, who also designed Pinault’s museums in Venice.
The restoration will turn the former stock exchange into seven exhibition galleries on the first floor, a black-box space for experimental visual and sound works as well as a 300-seat auditorium.
Find our more at boursedecommerce.en
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Other museums owned by billionaires
Louis Vuitton Foundation by Bernard Arnault
Located inside Bois de Boulogne park in Paris, the art museum displays LVMH group’s art collection and provides a platform for diverse cultural programmes.
The George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art by George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson
Founded by the father of Star Wars and Indiana Jones, the museum is under construction in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park, featuring new public green space, state-of-the-art cinematic theatres, a research library, spaces for onsite education, restaurants, retail, and event spaces.
Fondazione Prada by Miuccia Prada and her husband Patrizio Bertelli
A cultural complex dedicated to art, cinema and philosophy, Fondazione Prada in Milan boasts 118,000 square feet of exhibition space, four-storey building covered in 24-carat gold leaf.
K11 MUSEA by Adrien Cheng
Founded by Tatler Lister Adrian Cheng, K11 MUSEA is the latest cultural-retail destination where creativity meets experiential retail at Tsim Sha Tsui's Victoria Dockside.
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