Fondation Cartier Reopens in Paris with a Bold New Chapter for Contemporary Art

In the most highly anticipated opening of the season, the Fondation Cartier for Contemporary Art will unveil its new Parisian address – and it’s not just any Parisian address.

The art space is now nestled in the Haussmann-style former Grands Magasins du Louvre department store on the corner of the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre. Ever since its creation in 1984, the Fondation Cartier has placed architecture at the heart of its programming. Its first building, designed by Jean Nouvel and inaugurated in 1994 on Boulevard Raspail in Paris, broke with all museum conventions with its apparent immateriality in glass and steel. Thirty years later, the Fondation Cartier has again invited Jean Nouvel to design the interior of its new home right in the centre of Paris.

After years of construction, the new Fondation Cartier space offers more than 8,000m² with five mobile platforms enabling reconfigurable, double-height spaces, a restaurant, a bookshop and an auditorium. The inaugural ‘Exposition Générale’ will present nearly 600 works by more than 100 artists drawn from the Fondation’s collection, retracing 40 years of contemporary art. Pushing the boundaries of architectural design, this project perfectly embodies the mission of the Fondation Cartier to promote contemporary creation in all its forms.

Opening October 25

www.fondationcartier.com

From France Today Magazine

Lead photo credit : Le bâtiment Fondation Cartier Jean Nouvel. Photo © Luc Boegly