It was one of the most anticipated openings of the year, postponed on numerous occasions and which has finally opened its doors. The Pinault collection has opted for a choice setting in the heart of Paris, in the splendid Palais de la Bourse de Commerce. The ambition was high, to create a Palazzo Grassi in Paris. Because as unthinkable as it may seem, if François Pinault holds one of the most beautiful art collections in the world, France has until now been unable to benefit from it. So obviously, all the superlatives are in order, starting with the nearly 150 million euros of the project, more than 6,800 m² of exhibition spaces, 3 years of work to transform this old hall au grain, 5 floors to accommodate a collection of 10,000 works... A new Pantheon of Arts has just been created in Paris, between the Louvre and the Center Pompidou.

But doing contemporary with 19th century neo-classical was an extremely risky bet. And many were skeptical about the promise of an immense cylinder of raw concrete almost 30 meters in diameter and 9 meters high, planted in the heart of this historic 18th and 19th century building. And yet… it works! In what looks like haute couture architecture, Tadao Ando has succeeded in giving a contemporary face to this listed monument. Look up on the passageway to observe the 1400 m2 of a magnificently restored monumental circular fresco from the 19th century, which unfolds over 140 meters in length the story of the commercial exchanges of the time like an immense historical comic strip. A space monitored by the worrying pigeons of Maurizio Cattelan, a famous provocateur who seems to keep a very interested eye on what is happening here. A fresco overhung by one of the most beautiful domes in Paris - the first large-span iron and cast iron dome from the beginning of the 19th century - which welcomes us into an unrivaled artistic round, bathed in light, bringing together the great names of the contemporary art: Martial Raysse with his panoramic beach in electrifying colors depicting a carnival that goes out of control, Cindy Sherman or Richard Prince whose controversial photos take place here in the name of the freedom of images take up Instagram posts from strangers to sell them fortunes in the name of the popularization of images, the sculptures of Tatiana Trouvé dotted here and there to bring us back to reality or David Hammons, famous for his American flag in African colors, revelation of this openness, little known even to the general public if he is one of the most popular contemporary artists currently - we recall that François Pinault is also the boss of the famous Christie's auction house - and who challenges us with this disturbing reconstruction of a Californian prison cell, installed in the Salle des Pas Perdus of the Bourse de Commerce. Names that speak, a little, to lovers of contemporary art. But which certainly resonate less than a Jeff Koons or a Murakami. A sharp choice, taken by the billionaire, who aims here to create a place of discovery more than a place for demonstration of star artists... We will see if the promise lasts. The promise is precisely that of making the unpredictable obvious. The conductor of this magic is none other than the former minister of culture, Jean-Jacques Aillagon, here named general director. And from the entrance, the aesthetic shock is there, with this illusionist installation by the Swiss artist Urs Fischer at the heart of which sits a Rapture of the Sabine Women by Giambologna more than 4 meters high revisited in a wax marble version... an immense candle which will burn every day before the eyes of visitors until its total disappearance. Around this emblematic piece gravitate equally ephemeral seats, office armchairs, airplane seats or garden chairs which question our relationship to time and consumption, an allegory of “the vanity of things”. A silhouette stands up, also ready to liquefy on the spot, it is that of the artist Rudolf Stingel whose immense works are a replica a few rooms away. Around this imposing rotunda, a Meuniers staircase distributes the different spaces in an intoxicating dance. It feels like a shady alley, lined with strange windows inhabited by Lavier's unusual ready-mades, distributed among the 24 large windows of the Bourse de Commerce which once hosted the innovations of the Universal Exhibition of 1889. In the basement Finally, there is a spectacular sound installation by Pierre Huyghe which plunges us into darkness, in a masterful play of smoke and lights vibrating to the musical tunes of Erik Satie. An astonishing discovery, not very consensual and which focuses on the unexpected, at a time when the unpredictable reigns supreme.

We had the chance to visit the Bourse de Commerce in preview, here is a little preview just for your eyes:

A prestigious setting was needed to welcome the Pinault collection in Paris. After the Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana in Venice, it is the Bourse de Commerce which will open its doors to exhibit some of these ten thousand works. Seven galleries, an auditorium, the rotunda flooded by the light springing from the monumental glass roofs, to which are added a lounge, a machine room and a restaurant that we already imagine panoramic: this is the colossal architectural project which will have required more than three years of work. It was Tadao Ando who was entrusted with the restoration of what was the Paris wheat market from 1763 to 1873, before taking over his financial and administrative functions until 2016, the date of the purchase of the building by François Pinault to invest the places of this new artistic vocation. Coincidence? The monument was in fact hailed from its construction as an architectural masterpiece, which observers of the time did not hesitate to compare to the dome of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. Would it also be a coincidence if the Japanese architect emphasizes that the immense cylinder of reinforced concrete which rises at the heart of the structure “connects the earth and the sky, [et] thus transcends the Stock Exchange and the anchor In the city center. » ? This is because the monument brought glory to Paris from the moment it was built. Its plans effectively bear witness to the contribution of each era. The centuries-old additions are the laudatory legacy of what made our heritage glorious, from the column of the old Hôtel de Soissons, erected for Catherine de Medici in the 16th century to the glass roof installed in 1838 and the 1,400 m2 of painted canvases which have adorned the dome since 1889. The challenge of reconciling tradition and modernity, if daring, at least supports the promise of becoming a mecca for contemporary creation. As for what will be presented, the mystery remains and we will have to wait until its inauguration. However, we are told of an exhibition which will certainly pay homage to the main lines of the collection: which, from American minimalism, the French avant-garde of the 1960s or arte povera Italian, will inaugurate the contemporary art museum?

“In homage to the memory of the city, engraved in the walls of the Bourse de Commerce, I created a new space which fits inside the existing one to revitalize the entire volume which will be dedicated to contemporary art. Architecture as a link between the past, present and future. » Tadao Ando

Did you know?

The decoration painted in 1889 which adorns the dome deals with French trade and its expansion throughout the world. Its political goal is explicit: to establish the economic power of the State, while Paris is preparing to host the Universal Exhibition the same year and the two monuments presented by France are none other than the Eiffel Tower and the Stock Exchange. Trade.

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