VENICE.- Having hosted twenty-seven exhibitions since it opened in 2006, the Palazzo Grassi will, from 21 March 2027, become the home of a permanent exhibition of the Pinault Collection. A unique exhibition itinerary will bring together more than a hundred major works, some of which have, over time, become true references of contemporary art.
"I have always believed that artworks need time: time to be seen, seen again, and sometimes understood in a different light. Twenty years after the opening of Palazzo Grassi, I wanted to give some of them a lasting place. Not to freeze the Collection, but to allow the works to continue to challenge us and renew our way of looking at the world." — Franois Pinault
It was in Venice that Franois Pinault launched his cultural project in 2006. Together with Tadao Ando, one of the masters of contemporary architecture, he initiated a unique dialogue between historical heritage and the creative spirit of his time. The Palazzo Grassi was restored to its former glory, before, three years later, the Punta della Dogana was given a new lease of life through the Japanese architect’s radical and minimalist vision. This vision continued in Paris in 2021 with the transformation of the Bourse de Commerce, the third museum of the Pinault Collection.
Over the past two decades, the Pinault Collection has thus established itself as a major presence on the international art scene. Boasting a collection of over 10,000 works of modern and contemporary art, spanning all movements and media, it is regularly showcased across its three iconic venues, which have become spaces for discovery, education and sharing.
Today, the Collection reaches a new milestone. In a world saturated with images, where we are surrounded by countless visual stimuli, this exhibition offers an experience that is almost out of step with the times: a chance to slow down. To take the time to look, to linger, to allow oneself to be surprised. It reveals the spirit that drives the Pinault Collection and, implicitly, outlines a certain vision of the world.
For Franois Pinault, art is, above all, a window onto our humanity. It reveals our vulnerabilities and our passions, our doubts as well as our strengths, and the lightness as well as the gravity of our lives. It invites us to shift our perspective, to question our certainties and to view the world around us in a different light.
More than just a collection of exceptional works, this body of art reveals an identity: that of a living collection, open to the world and constantly evolving, enriched for over half a century by discoveries, encounters and deeply personal choices. A collection which, beyond the works it brings together, embodies a particular vision of patronage —one that is free, exacting and deeply focused on the creative output of its time.
