Exploring art through a private collection

A museum in motion

Open to everyone and to every kind of art, from works that already form part of the canon of contemporary art to the newest emerging artists, the Bourse de Commerce — Pinault Collection hosts a large number of events and exhibitions within its walls. 
 

Drawing on the wealth and diversity of a collection of more than 10,000 works by some 350 artists, the Bourse de Commerce’s artistic and cultural programming features a regular rotation of temporary exhibitions in the museum galleries year-round, ranging from thematic exhibitions to solo shows and carte blanches. Like a central square crowned by an immense skylight, the Rotunda and the display cases that surround it host exhibitions designed specifically for these spaces within the heart of the museum. Below ground, the Studio – devoted to video and sound works, as well as the freest, most open-ended forms of art – offers viewers a moment of meditation, while the Auditorium hosts lectures, discussions, projections, concerts, and other events.

François Pinault’s exceptional collection of art from the 1960s to the present day offers viewers a highly impassioned and personal perspective onto the art of our time, one that allows us to grasp our contemporary era more fully.

The paintings, sculptures, videos, photographs, sound pieces, installations, and performances that comprise the Pinault Collection – and which are displayed in the temporary exhibitions – feature artists of all generations from countries around the world. They explore all areas of the creative process, bearing witness to the collector’s particular focus on emerging currents. 

Beyond its museums in Paris and in Venice, the Pinault Collection promotes the circulation of its works through special loans and a programming of events held “outside the walls” at partner institutions in France and elsewhere.

The spirit of the place

Opened to the public in 2021, the Bourse de Commerce was restored and transformed by the Japanese architect Tadao Ando (TAAA – Tadao Ando Architect & Associates), the studio NeM / Niney et Marca Architectes, and the studio of Pierre-Antoine Gatier. 

As in Venice at the Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana, two historical buildings that were transformed to present his collection, François Pinault chose to preserve, to transform, and to enable the public to rediscover this emblematic Parisian monument.

The Bourse de Commerce bears witness to five centuries of architectural and technical prowess. It combines Paris’ first freestanding column, built in the fifteenth century for Catherine de Medici’s hôtel with the vestiges of an eighteenth-century wheat market building whose impressive circular floor plan was covered in 1812 with a spectacular metal and glass dome. It was restructured in 1889 to become the “Bourse de Commerce”.

Now revitalized through Tadao Ando’s contemporary architectural intervention, this monument sets the stage for a dialogue between historical heritage and contemporary creation, between past and present, and between the collection and its visitors. The Bourse de Commerce — Pinault Collection is the most significant project carried out by Tadao Ando in France to date.

In complement to the many experiences offered in its galleries, the Bookshop at the Bourse de Commerce features a selection of publications related to the museum’s exhibitions. And lastly, the restaurant La Halle Aux Grains, with chefs Michel and Sébastien Bras at the helm, welcomes visitors on the third floor of the museum.