“A folly,” “a crazy thing.” When he remembered the beginnings of the Fondation Cartier, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, Alain-Dominique Perrin, its creator, didn’t attempt any fake modesty. “What we did was unique,” said the current co-chairman of the strategy committee of the Richemont Group, owner of the Place Vendôme jeweler. At 82, the man with an enduringly well-groomed beard is still outspoken. He joined Cartier in 1969 and worked his way up, notably inventing the Must de Cartier watches that popularized the brand.
Under his aegis, the luxury label was the first to create a corporate foundation dedicated to contemporary art, 19 years before Louis Vuitton in Paris and nine years before Prada in Milan. It was the first to cross disciplines, exhibiting art as well as cars, design as well as trees. It was also the first company to use art as a powerful means of communication: Without spending a penny on advertising, the jeweler changed its outdated image thanks to the media impact of its exhibitions.
This unconventional concept emerged at a pivotal moment, in a decade of money and glitz that was redrawing the contours of art. Fashion shows resembled pure entertainment and private viewings turned into shows. Perrin remembered every second of the green laser show that electrified the night at the Fondation Cartier’s inauguration, on October 20, 1984, in Jouy-en-Josas – “a stage show that blew everything out of proportion,” he said. Jack Lang, then culture minister, said: “It was a joyful and sympathetic moment.” That evening, he swapped his usual Mandarin collar for a red tie.
César was part of it with a major exhibition of his Fers iron sculptures. That very morning, the sculptor from Marseille had grumbled when he discovered that he was sharing the limelight with two very young artists whom no one knew, the British-Canadian Lisa Milroy, 25, and the Briton Julian Opie, 26. Opie, whose stylized pop figures have since conquered the world, had never exhibited abroad before: “At the time, the norm was to be shown in an art center, a gallery, a museum or something very established, with few resources. To exhibit at a jeweler’s was unusual.”
Cultural policy, the state’s turf
The Fondation Cartier popped up on the art scene out of nowhere. At the time, contemporary art was a matter for insiders, schools of thought and dogmas. It was also a matter for the state, which was the sole driving force behind cultural policy. Foundations were rare in France and the administration, which took a dim view of any incursion by the private sector onto its turf, did everything in its power to limit their number and scope.
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