Emmanuel Perrotin, the French art dealer with galleries in Paris, Hong Kong, New York, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and LA, is donating 23 artworks to the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Xavier Rey, the modern and contemporary art museum’s director, and several of its curators selected the works. They are by a total of 17 artists on Perrotin gallery’s books, including Takashi Murakami, Emma Webster, Jean-Marie Appriou, Genesis Belanger, Bharti Kher, and Klara Kristalova.
The Pompidou said in a statement that the works offer “a wide panorama of contemporary art from the past 20 years.”
According to Le Monde, the artists have given up their share of the sale – and the gallery owner his commission – to see their works enrich the Pompidou’s collection.
The value of the donation exceeds the museum’s annual acquisition budget of almost $2 million, which is particularly low for a museum of the Pompidou’s status. As a result, it tends to grow its collection through donations.
“The selection includes artists who were already present in the museum’s collection; artists whose work has been shown in group exhibitions or solo shows; and artists entering the collection for the first time,” the museum added.
They will go on show on October 14 on the fourth level of the Pompidou. Perrotin told Artnet News that he is “very happy that this project, which has meant so much to me for years, is coming to fruition.”
“I’d like to thank my artists for their generosity. Through our ongoing relationship, we have collaborated to bring their work into this outstanding museum collection,” he said.
Perrotin Gallery and the Pompidou are publishing a joint catalog to celebrate the collection.
“This major donation could not have happened without the strength of conviction and commitment of Emmanuel Perrotin, his teams, and all the artists concerned,” Rey and the Pompidou’s president, Laurent Le Bon, wrote in a preface to the catalog. “This major donation could not have happened without the strength of conviction and commitment of Emmanuel Perrotin, his teams, and all the artists concerned. We extend them our warmest thanks, as we do to all those at the Centre Pompidou who worked on this wonderful undertaking.”