The French billionaire art collector François Pinault has announced plans to launch a permanent display of his holdings at the Palazzo Grassi gallery in Venice. In an interview in the newspaper Le Monde published on Thursday (15 October), Pinault confirmed that the new permanent exhibition will include 106 pieces by 54 artists drawn from his holdings.
The move means the prestigious temporary exhibition programme ends at the palazzo, which Pinault purchased in 2005 and opened in 2006. A show of works by the Kenyan-British artist Michael Armitage is showing at Palazzo Grassi until 10 January 2027. Temporary shows will continue at Pinault’s other Venetian venue, the Punta della Dogana.
The idea for the permanent display at Palazzo Grassi came about gradually, explains Pinault. “For 20 years, we opted for temporary exhibitions, major monographic projects, collaborative projects with artists, and dialogues between works in the collection and those from elsewhere. But in those 20 years, the collection itself has evolved considerably. It has grown, become more structured, and certain works have stood out for their power and their ability to transcend time.”
He adds: “A permanent display allows for the juxtaposition of works from different periods and generations, demonstrating how, beyond their individuality, certain questions persist. This is in no way intended to freeze the collection or offer a definitive interpretation.”
Pinault, the founder of the Kering and Artemis companies and owner of Christie's auction house, has amassed a contemporary art collection of over 10,000 works in the last 20 years. The interview in Le Monde throws light on his collecting tastes.
Minimalism and Arte Povera occupy a central place in his collection, he says. His interest in African-American art, meanwhile, has been driven by “encounters with extraordinary, almost shamanic figures like David Hammons for several decades now,” he says. “Highlighting this African-American scene invites us to stray from the well-trodden paths of Western art, to explore alternative routes.”
Studio visits are also a priority for him. “I enjoy observing the creative process, meeting artists in their studios, like the young [French artist] Louis Le Kim I recently met,” he says. “You have to behave delicately [in studios], not settle in for the afternoon.”