What if a building could blur the lines between inside and outside? That was Jean Nouvel’s vision for the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain. Here we are at this unique museum in Paris. It is not just a space for art but an artwork itself.
The Fondation Cartier was established in 1984. Cartier SA created it as a center for contemporary art. Alain Dominique Perrin was president of Cartier. The goal was to highlight established artists. It would also give young artists a chance to debut. The Fondation Cartier aimed to raise public awareness about contemporary art.
For its first decade, the Fondation Cartier was located in Jouy-en-Josas. This is a southwestern suburb of Paris. In 1994, it moved to this new building on Boulevard Raspail. Jean Nouvel designed this glass-and-steel structure.
Nouvel wanted to unite the building with its Parisian surroundings. He used a glass curtain wall around the garden. Glass is used extensively in the building itself. This creates a visual ambiguity. Trees and garden greenery appear to penetrate the glass surfaces. It blurs the distinction between interior and exterior. On the ground level, there are sliding 8-meter-high glass panels. These can open the lobby to the outdoor courtyard. Nouvel described it as an architecture based on lightness and glass. It plays on blurring the tangible limits of the building. It renders the reading of a solid volume superfluous.
The Fondation Cartier has a collection of over 1500 works. These were created by more than 350 artists. The collection includes paintings and sculptures. It also features videos and sound installations. You can find design, architecture, and photographs. Monumental works include The Monument to Language by James Lee Byars. Other works include Caterpillar by Wim Delvoye and Backyard by Liza Lou. You can also find La Volière by Jean-Pierre Raynaud and Everything that Rises Must Converge by Sarah Sze. French artists like Vincent Beaurin and Gérard Garouste are represented. Foreign artists from Ireland, Germany, Brazil, and South Africa are also included.
The museum hosts exhibits of contemporary and international artists. It has showcased painting, drawing, and video. Sculpture, performance art, and photography installations have been displayed. The Fondation Cartier opens daily except Monday. Nearby Métro stations are Raspail and Denfert-Rochereau.
The Fondation Cartier has supported artists who have become widely acclaimed. It gave Sarah Sze a residency in 1999. It also held the first exhibitions in France for Malian photographers Seydou Keïta and Malick Sidibé.
In 2018, the Fondation Cartier was hosted by the Power Station of Art in Shanghai. Nearly 300 works were presented for the first time to the Chinese public. This exhibition was a journey around the world. It explored geographies and imaginaries.
The Fondation Cartier continues to discover contemporary creation. It invites artists to dialogue with the collection. The Fondation Cartier is more than a museum. It is a space where art transcends boundaries. It encourages dialogue between art and science. It is a place where the tangible and intangible meet.