E
ntrepreneur and disciple of beauty Édouard
Carmignac is admired for many things, not least
for being the man who made the colour pink cool
for aspiring and established polo players alike. Ever the
perfect Frenchman, Carmignac is charismatic, charming,
and always confident in rose, and his organisation,
Talandracas, has been one of the driving forces behind
high-goal polo for decades.
But beyond the polo field, he has been building
an intriguing cultural project: an exquisite art collection
spanning centuries.
Carmignac, now 71, became interested in collecting
artwork from the moment he got his own apartment at
the age of 18. His first purchase was a lithograph by
Ernst, and over the decades he has acquired pieces by
artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jean-
Michel Basquiat, Gerhard Richter, Jeff Koons, Cindy
Sherman and Willem de Kooning.
Until this summer, his collection could be admired
only by those working at his company offices. However,
it has always been Carmignac’s wish to share his treasures
with the wider world, and Fondation Carmignac was
founded in 2000 to do just that. After a few false starts,
the Carmignac Collection came to life in June, on
the verdant island of Porquerolles, just off the southern
coast of France.
Around 300 artworks belonging to the Foundation
are now housed in 2,000 sq m of bright exhibition
space in a Provençal villa bound between rugged cliffs
and translucent beaches in the heart of the island’s
nature reserve.
Building constraints forced the galleries to exist
below ground, but natural light, filtered through an
aquatic ceiling, illuminates every corner. What’s more,
visits are limited to 50 people per half-hour, making
the experience even more leisurely.
MAT THIIEU SALVAING; FONDATION CAMIGNAC;
RUSCHA: © EDWARD J RUSCHA IV
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ARTISTIC RETREAT
Beyond the polo field, businessman Édouard Carmignac has been quietly
building a unique collection of artwork. Carolina Beresford discovers the
Carmignac Foundation space on the island of Porquerolles
