Francois Pinault

Inside Luxury King Francois Pinault's Private Palazzo Museums

Filed under: Art, Wealth, Architecture & Design

Francois Pinault is a man justifiably envied by many. With a fortune of $8.7 billion the high-school dropout-turned luxury goods titan is the majority shareholder of PPR, whose brands include Gucci, Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta. He also owns famed auction house Christie's and the renowned Chateau Latour winery. His amazing contemporary art collection, worth an estimated $1.4 billion, encompasses 2,000-plus works by over 80 artists including Jeff Koons, Richard Prince, Takashi Murakami and Damien Hirst. Much of it is now housed as his two incredible private museums in Venice, the Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana. Both historic buildings were transformed by Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando and are the subject of a smashing new book from Skira Rizzoli.

Tadao Ando: Venice - The Pinault Collection at the Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana shows how Ando's designs seamlessly blend history and innovation while adhering to the strict laws governing the preservation of historic buildings in Venice. At the Palazzo Grassi, prominently located on the Grand Canal, Ando's quiet but expert renovation of the eighteenth-century rooms makes a perfect backdrop for Jeff Koons' eye-popping balloon sculptures. At the Punta della Dogana (shown on the cover above), the Venetian Republic's original customs warehouse, the large-scale space was subtly subdivided into refined rooms for installation art. The "dialogue – that is collision and friction – between the new and the old," Ando states, "is the driving force in creating a city's future."

Tags: architect, architecture, art, art collection, Balenciaga, billionaire, Bottega Veneta, Chateau Latour, contemporary art, Damien Hirst, France, Francois Pinault, Gucci, Italy, Jeff Koons, luxury goods, museum, PPR, Richard Prince, Tadao Ando, Takashi Murakami, Venice, Yves Saint Laurent

Flawed Collectors in ARTnews Top 10

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

roman abramovich Despite the large flushing sound that's accompanied the art market this year, there are still 10 collectors worth noting. In fact, ARTnews was even able to cobble together a top 200 list this year (if they went to 300, I figure I'd wind up on the list, too, given the state of the art market right now). The names in the top 10 still represent the art collecting elite, they just happen to be in much worse shape than they were at this time last year.

Roman Abramovich, Russian billionaire and art addict, takes the #1 spot. It would be easy to zero in on any one of several purchases last year and call it "defining," but the man spent a few hundred million on art. The most expensive pickup was a Francis Bacon triptych which set him back almost $90 million.

Top 10 Art Collectors (according to ARTnews):

Roman Abramovich
Debra and Leon Black
Edythe L. and Eli Broad
Steven Cohen
Marie-Josee and Henry Kravis
Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder
Francois Pinault
Mitchell Rales
Carlos Slim Helu
Sheikh Saud bin Mohammed bin Ali al-Thani

Okay, so you take a quick look at this list and realize that Abramovich, who requested a bailout from the Russian government, isn't the only flawed personality it contains. Steven A. Cohen, the Connecticut-based hedge fund manager, owns a dead rotting shark. While Damien Hirst's ego is built to last, his creations are more like personal computers ... planned obsolescence. Kravis, who sits atop esteemed and powerful private equity firm KKR, was not left unscathed by the current financial crisis. The precipitous drop in oil prices over the past year must have left the sheikh in a rough spot, and Slim thought he could make money by investing in a newspaper (that's just ~~fucking~~ stupid ... almost as stupid as paying $90 million for a 1970s Bacon, frankly).

Maybe we'll see some changes over the next year. I wouldn't mind writing about an unknown visionary busting into the winners circle at this time next summer. Now, all we have to do is find one.

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Tags: art, art collecting, art collection, art collector, art market, ArtCollecting, ArtCollection, ArtCollector, ArtMarket, artwork, billionaire, billionaires, carlos slim, carlos slim helu, CarlosSlim, CarlosSlimHelu, damien hirst, DamienHirst, eli broad, EliBroad, francois pinault, FrancoisPinault, henry kravis, HenryKravis, kkr, kohlberg kravis roberts, KohlbergKravisRoberts, leon black, LeonBlack, roman abramovich, RomanAbramovich, russian billionaire, russian billionaires, RussianBillionaire, RussianBillionaires, steven cohen, StevenCohen

Ch�teau Latour, Yours for $200 Million

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Fabled Bordeaux brand Château Latour, widely regarded as one of the finest wines from the Medoc region, is being offered for sale by top-drawer investment bank Lazard Freres, the London Times reports. French business tycoon and president of the luxury-goods group PPR, François Pinault, is seeking $200 million - $280 million for it, the paper reports.

Pinault, whose holdings include Christie's (also rumored to be for sale), Gucci and Puma, piad about $150 million for Latour in 1993. Bernard Magrez, owner of the rival Pape Clément winery, is said to be a strong contender, perhaps with backing from his and friend fellow wine aficionado Gérard Depardieu.

The Château Latour estate consists of 190 acres of Bordeaux vineyards, but only grapes from the 115 acres that surround the actual chateau at the heart of the estate are used to make the Grand Vin de Château Latour (right). A case of the 1961 vintage fetched an impressive $170,000 at auction by Christie's in Hong Kong last month.

Gallery: ChÃ¢teau Latour

Tags: Bordeaux, Chateau Latour, ChateauLatour, Christies, France, Francois Pinault, FrancoisPinault, Gerard Depardieu, GerardDepardieu, Gucci, Medoc, PPR

Christie's To Be Sold?

by Laura Malesich (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions

The New Year may mean new beginnings for many of us but the iconic auction house, Christie's, could have a new owner! Francois Pinault is rumored to be considering selling his auction house which he bought in May 1998 for $1.2 billion. While all auctions across Bonhams, Sotheby's and Christie's haven't experienced a great year, Christie's has already cut a couple of departments, shrunk others, let a few employees go and plan more reorganization for the company in January. The worldwide financial crisis has certainly dampened the demand for art and certainly it is expected that many luxury-based companies will be experiencing unpleasant shifts in their businesses. Hopefully, the New Year will ring in a better economy and with that healthier auctions...at least for Christie's sake.

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Tags: bonhams, christies, christies auction house, christies international, ChristiesAuctionHouse, ChristiesInternational, francois pinault, FrancoisPinault, sothebys