Fondation Louis Vuitton

gehry bio coverDuring a March 2015 trip to Paris, I visited the city’s newest art museum, the Fondation Louis Vuitton (pictured below), which had opened the preceding November. The museum is located in the Bois de Boulogne, and is housed in a dramatic building designed by the famed American architect, Frank Gehry. The glass, wood and stone structure is built in the shape of sailboat sails inflated by the wind.

The building itself is a challenge for the art inside. The building is so massive and its style so flamboyant that the art inside is almost overwhelmed. The overall effect is that the art feels almost insignificant and ephemeral. At the time of my visit, this effect seemed discordant to me. On further reflection, however, I have decided that this effect is a tribute to the building’s power – the building itself is a work of art, one arguably more fully realized that the art objects it contains.
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