Having already conquered Rome - Gagosian opened a gallery there at the end of 2009 - it was only a matter of time before Larry Gagosian landed in Paris.
Located in an elegant hotel particulier just off the Champs Elysées, the new gallery was jointly designed by Paris-based architect Jean-Francois Bodin, and London-based Caruso St. John (the architect behind the Rome and London galleries). Two of the four extensive floors are dedicated to public exhibitions.
The gallery, which opens on 20 October, debuts with a collection of new paintings by a Gagosian-favourite Cy Twombly, alongside an intriguing exhibition of Jean Prouvé's prefabricated architectural works.
The latter takes pride of place on the gallery's second floor and zeroes in on the French master's heroic role in developing mass produced modular systems in the late 1940s. Among the displays will be films, plans, maquettes and plans of Prouvé's evocative structures and solutions for post-war modernist social problems including his work on Maison Métropole and Ferembal House.
And proving once again that the art world turns on a pinhead, curating the show is French design dealer Patrick Seguin who recently commissioned Jean Nouvel to adapt and rehabilitate Prouvé's seminal Ferembal House (W*136).