François Pinault’s Long-Awaited Paris Museum Sets New Opening Date for January

The Bourse de Commerce.

©TADAO ANDO ARCHITECT & ASSOCIATES, NINEY AND MARCA ARCHITECTES, AGENCE PIERRE-ANTOINE GATIER/MARC DOMAGE

After delays owing to the coronavirus crisis, François Pinault’s Bourse de Commerce, a long-awaited private museum in Paris being constructed at a cost of $170 million, has set a new opening date. The Bourse is now expected to open on January 23, 2021.

In a statement, Pinault—a longtime designee on the ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list—said, “Not only will it add to the European landscape of institutions devoted to presenting contemporary art, but after the difficult year experienced by France and the world in 2020, it will contribute to the renaissance of the Parisian cultural sphere.”

The Bourse’s initial opening date had been set for this past summer, before it was delayed in March as the coronavirus ravaged France. In April came an announcement that the museum would open some time next year—and with today’s news, it looks to be right around the start.

Spanning more than 113,000 square feet, the Bourse de Commerce will be the biggest of the three museums operated by Pinault. It is set inside a former stock exchange, and it has been designed by Tadao Ando, who has also overseen the architecture for the Modern Art Museum Fort Worth in Texas and the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art in Japan.

Pinault, the owner of the Christie’s auction house, is considered one of the top art patrons in the world. He operates two of Venice’s most closely watched art spaces, the Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana, and he is known to buy and commission works by many of the world’s most expensive artists, from Jeff Koons to Damien Hirst. Pinault had also previously tried to open a Paris museum in a former Renault factory in 2000, only to abandon it in 2005 following bureaucratic issues.