Commissioning Artworks
Commissioning works is an essential part of the Fondation Cartier´s activities. It is a constructive way of supporting artists by sponsoring the production of a work, a series of works or an entire exhibition.
During this process, the relationship that is established between the Fondation and the artist goes beyond mere patronage; it becomes a truly creative partnership, from the conception to the accomplishment of the work. It gives the artist the opportunity not only to create something new, but to explore other horizons: working on a different scale, realizing a dream, traveling... Thus, in 1999, the American artist Sarah Sze worked for a month in the exhibition spaces to create Everything that Rises Must Converge, a delicate, but monumental installation that is now part of the collection. In 2000, the American photographer William Eggleston captured the deserts of Utah, Arizona and California for the thematic exhibition the desert. The following year he did an impressive series of photographs of Kyoto for his own exhibition. In 2004 and 2006, Raymond Depardon went on an around-the-world tour; at the request of the Fondation, he made ten films, each dedicated to a different big city.
This policy of commissioning works was initiated in 1984 with a workshop and residence program in Jouy-en-Josas that hosted a string of artists as different as Absalon, Fabrice Hybert, Cai Guo-Qiang, Marc Couturier, Huang Yong Ping, Jean-Michel Othoniel, Tatsuo Miyajima and Chéri Samba.
Following the policy changes made in 1994, there has been an increase in the number and variety of works commissioned with each exhibition. After a decade, the Fondation Cartier has commissioned over 70 works or sets of works from artists as diverse as Tony Oursler, Alessandro Mendini, Wim Delvoye, Pierrick Sorin, Balthasar Burkhard, Lee Friedlander, Gary Hill, Beat Streuli...