• Some 80 works, in fields ranging from photography to painting and sculpture, are on display until October 2 at the Bernard Magrez Institute.

  • This is the personal collection of the wealthy owner, who owns around forty wine chateaux around the world.

  • The businessman talks to us about his relationship with art, and also with gastronomy, returning to the experience of La Grande Maison, a restaurant he launched in 2014 with Joël Robuchon.

It is certainly one of the most important exhibitions of contemporary art ever organized in Bordeaux.

Businessman Bernard Magrez unveils his personal collection until October 2 at the Cultural Institute that bears his name, at Château Labottière in Bordeaux.

Some 80 works, collected over the past twenty years, are brought together in the spaces of the castle, with in particular productions by JR, Valérie Belin, Jean-Michel Othoniel, Bernard Buffet.

Nicknamed "The man of forty castles", the owner of several grands crus including Château Pape Clément, answered questions from

20 Minutes

on the occasion of the inauguration of this exhibition .

How did your history with art start?

It started more than twenty years ago, with the animalists of the 19th century.

I had seen extraordinary things in a Parisian gallery, horses, lions… Gradually, I became interested in contemporary art, and in 1993, six years before he died, I met Bernard Buffett.

The more I knew him, the more I found that what he was doing was beautiful, there was a heart approach with him...

What touches you in art?

I buy because I like it.

My collection is very eclectic.

A work has to surprise me, in the figurative it is often the face, I will look there for questioning, suffering... Which corresponds to the beginnings of my life, which were not very pleasant , since my father kicked me out at 13, before I did odd jobs, and I took over a very small business at 20.

But I had it.

Do you wonder about the value of your collection?

No.

People sometimes ask me how much I bought this, for me that's not the point... Even if it may happen that I like the work less over time, and at that moment I can ask myself what I could have bought something else that could have continued to please me.

The art market has reached stratospheric levels, are there works that you have given up buying because of this?

Yes, the works of Anselm Kiefer.

Its first prices start at 700,000, 800,000 euros, for the dimensions that I like.

There are things I dream of that I can't afford, yes.

And are there any works that you are particularly proud to own?

Yes, in particular one or two JonOne, who are in my office, whom I watch with deep emotion.

You are present in the world of wine, in the world of art, and you also made an attempt in gastronomy with

La Grande Maison

, which you launched in 2014 with Joël Robuchon, before his death.

Where are you today?

Robuchon was a very close friend, and he wanted to do something that no one in the world has done: get three stars all at once.

Me, I like competition, I said banco, especially with this great chef who fascinated me.

I was proud to be associated with him.

In the end we got two stars.

The establishment had closed at the time of Covid-19, and it is now reserved for luxury seminars.

I lost a lot of money in this project, so I'm stopping traditional catering for the moment.

You also said, after the fact, that ultimately there is no room for a three-star in Bordeaux...

Sure.

Explain to me why since 1934 there have been no three stars in Bordeaux?

It's quite simple, it's because we, the owners of castles, we receive our customers in our properties, it impresses more.

There is therefore an economic windfall that completely escapes us.

Do you regret this adventure?

Of course not.

In life, we all have ups and downs, the main thing is to never give up.

Exhibition to see from Saturday to Sunday (1 p.m. to 6 p.m.).

Full price: 9 euros, Reduced price: 7 euros (Free: -12 years old, job seeker, press card and every first Sunday of the month).

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