When private collections become public, AXA-Art, Intesa Sanpaolo, Auberive Abbey

Wednesday, January 24th: 03:15-16:45 p.m., Arcole room

When private collections become public

Sooner or later, whether collections are individual or whether they belong to a company, the question of their visibility, of sharing them with the public, is going to arise. How, when and why does someone choose to offer their collection to be viewed by others? Obviously, there isn’t going to be one single answer, as we can see from the evidence provided by the three partners in this round-table discussion. Whilst AXA Art prefers to maintain a certain degree of confidentiality, Jean-Claude Volot, CEO of Dedienne Aérospace, opted for throwing open the doors and creating an art centre in the Auberive Abbey (Haute Marne). A foreign perspective is provided by the Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo, which offers some of its vast collection to public view as  part of the Gallerie d’Italia project.

AXA ART Corporate collection

The AXA ART collection was begun in 1983 and now includes 3,200 works by 1,200 modern and contemporary European and American artists, working in a variety of styles and schools. It is also unique in bringing together internationally-recognised painters and sculptors as well as younger artists.

Originally published through the calendar of the former art insurance company Nordstern Versicherung AG, the works acquired each year were then reproduced in a catalogue that went out with the company’s annual accounts. Subsequently a book, entitled AXA ART Corporate Collecting Today, was published in 2001.

The works are kept at the headquarters of AXA ART Versicherung AG in Cologne and are displayed in the management offices, meeting rooms, corridors and reception areas. The collection, acquired without any museum strategy, can be regarded as specific in terms of the idea of being “in direct contact with art” and offering to both employees and occasional visitors a chance to share the company’s passion for art.

Intesa Sanpaolo’s Progetto Cultura

Ever since the Renaissance, Italian banks have been making an important contribution to the country’s cultural growth. Intesa Sanpaolo has distinguished itself through its strong commitment to this idea and has expressed it through its Progetto Cultura, a three-year plan for the bank’s activities to promote art and culture in Italy.

One of the main aims of Progetto Cultura is the conservation and promotion of historical and artistic assets that it owns. Palaces, art collections and documents originating from over 250 banking institutions throughout the whole of Italy that make up the Intesa Sanpaolo Group constitute an historical and artistic portfolio of vast proportions: over 20,000 works, including 10,000 of special artistic value. The collection is protected, promoted and, most importantly, shared with the public. It was in order to achieve this that the Galleries d’Italia, the bank’s three museums in Milan, Naples and Vicenzo, were founded. Situated in the centre of each of the three cities, these are historical buildings of great beauty, formerly centres of banking activity, now transformed into centres of culture, where the Group’s most important art collections are on permanent exhibition.

Progetto Cultura is also active in safeguarding and promoting the country’s heritage through its programme entitled Restituzioni, carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture. Since 1989, 18 projects have been successfully completed, resulting in saving over 1,000 works that were in urgent need of restoration. Finally, in order to support talent and creativity, to encourage innovation and to offer young people training opportunities, the bank has set up a plan known as Officina delle idee (Office for Ideas), set up in partnership with Italian universities and research institutes.

All these initiatives provided by Intesa Sanpaolo’s Progetto Cultura bear witness to their confidence in culture as a strategic direction for the country’s development to take, seeing it as a means of achieving progress and social inclusion, a major factor in the attempt to achieve sustainable economic growth.

Auberive Abbey Collection

Auberive Abbey Collection has been initiated in the early 80’s by Jean Claude and Dominique VOLOT. It is a reference of the marginal arts of the late 20th century (expressionism, street art, art brut, popular, outsider, politics).
Rich of more than 4000 pieces, it is a testimony through the art of the contemporary human condition. This collection needed a treasure chest to be presented far from all modes and markets. It was the magnificent Abbey of Auberive founded in 1135 by Cistercian monks who came to this end.
Auberive is located 60 km north of Dijon in a rural and forest environment. This place, classified MH, after a major restoration, welcomes a large public for exhibitions, tourism, concerts, popular events, seminars, weddings, etc ..
The idea that art lives in everyday life is a principle for the VOLOT family.