Conspicuous or visionary, what purpose do art foundations pursue?
The inauguration of Maja Hoffmann’s Luma Foundation in Arles last June 26 has been as much of a debate as the renewal of the Bourse de Commerce of Paris by billionaire and art collector François Pinault, a few days earlier. Our analysis.
The crowd was dense in Arles end of June at the inauguration of American architect, Frank Gehry’s tower. Every gallerist, collector, curator, and artist of the cultural world was eager to be alongside Maja Hoffmann, 65, collector and Swiss patron. Her immense fortune was inherited from pharmaceutical laboratories Hoffmann-La Roche created by her great-grand-father in 1896. 200 million euros were necessary to see her dream come to life, along with years of significant construction works. The Arles-native at heart is related to Camargue by her father, a former great advocate of biodiversity in the region (he enabled Camargue with the Tour du Valat in 1954, a research center focused on humid regions of the Mediterranean). He also offered his love of art, as Luc Hoffmann was the main contributor to the Vincent van Gogh foundation in Arles.
Ever more visible architectural signatures
Then why create an eight-floor, 56-meter-high tower including 11,000 reflective steel panels in a location as horizontal as its surrounding planes? Need we remind what star architect Jean Nouvel claimed a few years back: “We are ending up with heterogenous buildings, sorts of scrap books, of similar mirrored faces on the whole planet”?
Pour continuer à lire cet article, abonnez-vous maintenant
CHF 10.- par mois / CHF 99.- par année
- Accès illimité à tous les contenus payants
- Des analyses approfondies sur l'industrie du luxe que vous ne trouverez nulle part ailleurs.
- Des études et rapports sur les principaux défis à venir ainsi que leur décryptage.
- Des articles académiques élaborés par des professeurs et des doctorants membres du Swiss Center for Luxury Research, ainsi qu’un certain nombre d’universités à l’étranger.
- Des événements réservés aux membres pour enrichir vos connaissances et votre réseau.
Partager l'article
Continuez votre lecture
Wines that give artists a voice
After Château la Coste and Commanderie de Peyrassol, the Art Center of Bonisson recently launched in Provence, surrounded by its eponymous vineyard. Since the Rothschilds in Mouton over 80 years ago, the connections between art and wine have been increasing. A reasoned marriage?
“Intertwining art and business is a way for us to stand out from our competitors”
The Valmont Foundation, a Swiss cosmetics brand, recently invested its headquarters in a venetian palace. An opportunity to explore with its founder, Didier Guillon, the often-hidden ties between art and business.
S'inscrire
Newsletter
Soyez prévenu·e des dernières publications et analyses.