French billionaire and collector François Pinault told Le Monde that he intends to put 106 works from his personal art collection on permanent display at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, one of three venues where Pinault stages programs of temporary exhibitions. The permanent show is set to open March 2027.
“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,” he told Le Monde. “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.”
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Pinault’s contemporary-art collection includes some ten thousand works acquired over the past two decades, with emphasis given to Minimalism and Arte Povera, as well as work by African American artists, inspired by “encounters” with figures such as David Hammons. For the Palazzo Grassi exhibition, he has selected work by fifty-four artists to offer the public a more complete picture of his sizeable collection.
“A permanent display,” Pinault said, “allows for the juxtaposition of works from different periods and generations, demonstrating how, beyond their individuality, certain questions persist.” He added, “It is in no way a matter of freezing the collection or offering a definitive reading of it. Our view of art continues to evolve.”
The founder of the Kering and Artemis companies and owner of Christie’s auction house, Pinault purchased the palazzo in 2005 and opened it as an exhibition venue in 2006. His other Venetian venue, the Punta della Dogana, will continue to host temporary shows. Pinault’s third venue, the Bourse de Commerce in Paris, offers rotating exhibitions and cultural programming.