Though it was announced in March that ARTnews Top 200 Collector François Pinault’s hotly anticipated private museum in Paris would push its grand opening to September due to the coronavirus crisis, it now seems visitors will now have to wait a bit longer. According to a report by the French newspaper Le Figaro, the institution, located in a former stock exchange called the Bourse de Commerce, has delayed its opening until spring 2021.
Social distancing and quarantine measures associated with the pandemic have slowed the process of unveiling the museum, which was designed by Tadao Ando and which has cost around $170 million to construct. The collector has taken out a 50-year lease on the Bourse de Commerce. In a statement, the institution said that work on the site “will resume as soon as possible in compliance with health and protection measures for employees.”
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As of April 16, France had over 165,000 cases of coronavirus, and over 17,000 people in the country had died from the virus.
The Bourse de Commerce, which is situated in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, isn’t the only institution founded by Pinault to be impacted by the coronavirus. His private museums in Venice—the Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana—were forced to close temporarily as a result of the pandemic.
Pinault, whose collection includes works by Damien Hirst, Takashi Murakami, and other marquee names, is the founder of Kering, which owns brands like Gucci, Bottega Veneta, and Yves Saint Laurent. He also made his fortune as a majority stakeholder in the Christie’s auction house.
Source: artnews.com