Things are getting harder for Pinault in Venice!
Published by Unknown on Tuesday, November 07, 2006 at 11/07/2006 12:50:00 PM.
Yesterday Le Monde reported that Francois Pinault, the head of PPR, the firm that controls Gucci, YSL and Printemp amongst others might have a fight on his hands. Ever since he took over the Palazzo Grassi in Venice to house his art collection it was rumored that his next step was to take over the Dogana da Mar (the old customs building) which sits at the entrance of the grand canal and at the tip of Dorsoduro where the Salute Church is.
Well, now it seems that the Guggenheim, which has always had enormous influence on the contemporary art world in Venice due to its museum that lies in Peggy Guggenheim's former palace on the Grand Canal and to the fact that they own the American pavilion of the Biennale, is putting in a bid of its own. The Guggenheim has at the last minute re-introduced a proposal to take over the Dogana da Mar but this time using Zaha Hadid as its principal architect. In 1999 they had introduced a proposal with the architect Vittorio Gregotti at a press conference in Rome with the Italian Cultural Minister but nothing came of it. Judgement is going to be given in a few weeks but this is looking to be a battle of power not only between two major art foundations, Pinault and the Guggenheim but also between two major architects, Zaha Hadid and Tadao Ando, Pinault's architect. Who will prevail? I give my vote for the Guggenheim but with the reputation that Thomas Krens has in Venice who knows...
Pinault's Palazzo Grassi in Venice, Italy
