An International Perspective
Since it was founded in 1984, the Fondation Cartier has taken a keen interest in the international art scene, as evidenced by the many foreign artists represented in its collection. Thanks to the international network it has built up over the last twenty years and the ties it has established with some of the world´s most eminent institutions, its collection is able to travel widely.
After premiering in Paris, many exhibitions set off for an itinerant career, taking up temporary residence in some of the most prestigious contemporary art venues in the world.
The Seydou Keita exhibition was shown four times in Europe and three times in the United States, and Issey Miyake´s exhibition went to both New York and Tokyo. Francesca Woodman´s photos have been on show six times in Europe; Pierrick Sorin´s works took off for Barcelona and Bilbao, while those of Takashi Murakami and William Eggleston went to London. Yanomami, Spirit of the Forest was seen in Rio de Janeiro, and Jean-Michel Othoniel´s exhibition travelled to Miami. More recently, Ron Mueck´s works were shown in Glasgow, New York and Ontario, Raymond Depardon´s in Berlin in February 2007, and Gary Hill´s in Cologne and London. David Lynch´s exhibition The Air is on Fire has been released at the Milano Triennale (2007).
In 1990, the Fondation Cartier launched the idea of sponsoring works which might later be offered or lent to other cities, countries, or institutions; Le Pot Doré by Jean-Pierre Raynaud is a perfect example. Commissioned in 1988, it travelled to Berlin and Beijing before being donated to the Centre Pompidou in 1997.
The exhibition Too French was organized in 1991 with the aim of promoting the work of well-established and budding French artists in Tokyo and Hong Kong. That same year, César´s monumental sculpture The Flying Frenchman was donated to the city of Hong Kong. In perfect harmony with the site for which it was created, this sculpture was the Fondation Cartier´s first commissioned work to be donated in this way.
Un regard à l'international