The Pinacothèque de Paris (French:[pinakɔtɛkdəpaʁi]) was an art gallery in Paris, France, with exhibition space for temporary exhibitions of artworks.[1] It was owned and run by Modigliani enthusiast Marc Restellini.[2] It closed on 15 February 2016 after going into receivership in November 2015.[3]
Background
The art gallery opened on 15 June 2007 at 28, Place de la Madeleine in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was previously at 30, Rue de Paradis in the 10th arrondissement, where an exhibition of works by Picasso was held in Autumn 2003. The gallery is funded from private sources and organizes exhibitions. There is no permanent collection of artworks.
The museum was described as "amateur" because the exhibited works were not displayed following official systems of classification.[4]
The architect of the building was Lawrence Guinamard-Casati. It was owned by Credit Agricole and includes about 2,000 square metres (22,000 sq ft) on three levels: a basement, a ground floor, and first floor.[5]
The museum closed in February 2016, citing drops in visits, mostly since the November 2015 Paris attacks, the same month the museum filed for bankruptcy. Restellini also complained that private museums face the unfair competition of the numerous public-funded museums. The museum closed in the middle of the Karl Lagerfeld, a Visual Journey exhibition.[6] Its Singapore branch (managed through Art Heritage Singapore) also closed down, in April of the same year.[7] After it closed down, it was revealed that Marc Restellini may have used the Pinacothèque with the art dealer Yves Bouvier to sell the exhibited works. The Pinacothèque was a subsidiary of companies in Belgium and the Netherlands, so its owners remained anonymous. Starting in 2015, the museum stopped paying its providers. The museum closed with $10 million in due payments. The French authorities opened an investigation for fiscal fraud and embezzlement.[8] The US real estate investor Hines Interests Limited Partnership bought the museum's building on Place de la Madeleine in July 2017.[9]
Exhibitions
2003
Picasso Intime (November 7, 2003 – March 28, 2004)
In 2013, the Singapore government announced the opening of Singapore Pinacothèque de Paris, a dependence of the museum that would bring Old Masters and Modern art exhibitions to the city. The new museum was planned to be located in a “pop-up” space, during renovations to its eventual home, the historic Fort Canning building in the arts district.[19] The museum opened in May 2015 and closed in April the next year, citing "weaker than expected visitorship and other business and financial challenges".[20][21]