Christie’s will open an exhibition of works on loan from the Pinault Collection, the private collection of French billionaire François Pinault—whose holding company Groupe Artémis owns the auction house—in the coming weeks at Christie’s Beverly Hills gallery.
The non-selling show, called Eye Contact: An Invitation to the Pinault Collection, is set to run from 22 January to 28 March, coinciding with the art world’s migration to Los Angeles for the annual Frieze fair starting on 20 February.
The exhibition will include 16 portraits by eight contemporary artists: Luc Tuymans, Marlene Dumas, Llyn Foulkes, Pope.L, Jim Shaw, Cindy Sherman, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and Thomas Houseago. The show will also include an outdoor sculpture installation on Christie’s Beverly Hills terrace by Houseago. More than half of the works address human figuration, according to Christie’s. The theme was chosen by the Pinault Collection’s curatorial team.
“For more than 25 years, Christie’s has been privileged to have as its owner a prominent collector with a deep passion for contemporary art and artists,” Christie’s chief executive Guillaume Cerutti said in a statement. “For the first time, Christie’s will have the honour of exhibiting a selection of works from his collection.”
Pinault’s collection of more than 10,000 works, ranging from the 1960s to the present day, is regularly put on display in its three permanent museums in Venice and Paris.
Last month, Christie’s announced a drop in annual sales for the second year running with its projected 2024 sales (some sales were yet to close in mid-December). Christie’s brought in $5.7bn across all sales of art and luxury goods, a decrease of 6% from the $6.1bn the previous year.
