Shaped by Dominique and Arthur de Villepin’s passion for art, Villepin is a new gallery model created by collectors for collectors. Founded in 2019 in Hong Kong, Villepin is specialized in selected important artists, estates and foundations, advocating their work through carefully curated exhibitions while bridging them with the leading collectors and institutions in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world. Beyond its gallery walls, Villepin also acts as curator for exhibitions in museums and institutions.
Each exhibition at Villepin is based on in-depth scholarship and offers a unique experience to immerse visitors in the life and art of each artist. Previous exhibitions have also produced special bilingual publications that include original essays and curatorial research. Artists presented by Villepin include Zao Wou-Ki, Myonghi Kang, Pierre Soulages, Georges Mathieu and Hans Hartung among others.
As curator and advisor to a close community of collectors, Villepin is focused on education and promoting scholarship of its artists through intimate salons and collaborations with leading institutions, foundations, universities and museums. Through their extensive experience in building close friendships with artists, the father-son partnership aims to share their expertise, encourage dialogue, and support collectors in building long-lasting relationships with artists, who are at the heart of Villepin’s initiatives.
Dominique de Villepin
Dominique de Villepin
Co-founder of Villepin, Dominique de Villepin is a writer, public speaker and former diplomat and politician, serving as France’s Prime Minister from 2005 to 2007. During his time as a diplomat, Dominique regularly met with artists from across the globe to better understand the world we live in and demonstrate the power of art to build bridges between cultures. In 2006, Dominique conceived the first Triennale in France, formerly known as ‘La Force de l’Art’, a cultural event organized every three years to create dialogue and shift perspectives through French contemporary art. Over the past 40 years, he has built a collection of some of the world’s most important artists focusing on those whose work links art and history, as well as cultures and geographies. The author of numerous books on subjects spanning history, politics, painting and poetry, Dominique serves as a board member to several museums in Europe and the Middle East, has been the recipient of numerous awards and is a regular speaker at forums and conferences around the world.
Arthur de Villepin
Arthur de Villepin
Arthur de Villepin is the chairman and co-founder of Villepin, as well as an entrepreneur and avid collector of art. The son of former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, Arthur grew up surrounded by artists. His mother is the celebrated sculptor Marie-Laure Viebel de Villepin and his sister, Marie de Villepin, has established a successful career as a painter. Throughout his childhood and extensive travels, Arthur was introduced to many leading artists, including Zao Wou-Ki, Anselm Kiefer, Myonghi Kang, Pierre Soulages and Miquel Barceló, all of whom trained him to see art through the eyes of artists rather than the market. This experience had a profound and lasting effect on Arthur, nurturing a passion for collecting based on close friendships with artists. The launch of Villepin is a natural evolution for Arthur, who has pursued art activities through parallel initiatives under the Art de Vivre Group. The gallery and the Art de Vivre Group headquarters are located in Hong Kong, where Arthur has been based for the past ten years. Together with his father, he has nurtured strong friendships with artists from the region, developing unparalleled expertise in the Asian art market.
He is currently on the Executive Committee of The Friends of Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Creative Industries committee for Art & Culture of the French Chamber of Commerce, and is also an Art Ambassador of the Hong Kong Tourism Board.
Located on Hollywood Road – the heart of Hong Kong’s art district – the new gallery is housed in a three-story building reminiscent of the quintessential French Maison and occupy nearly 2,500 square feet.
Paris, city of culture, is well known for its vibrant diversity when it comes to Art. Art is present everywhere through the Architecture, the monuments, the museums and the lifestyle. Inspired by this diversity, VILLEPIN intends to place the French ‘Art de Vivre’ and flair at the core of the experience, always putting authenticity upfront. As a matter of fact, our spaces reiterate the codes of an old Parisian house, where we suffuse the atmosphere with the spirit of French culture and refinement.
With VILLEPIN, we invite our peers to enter our world and to experience the art through our eyes, sharing a meaningful experience. We intend to bring together collectors, institutions and artists in one place, where we exhibit the art in a personal way.
Embracing Villepin's philosophy of bringing you closer to the artists and the world they were living in, we wish with this exhibition to make you travel back to Paris in the ’50s. For this reason, we have collaborated with the renowned Pierre Paulin designer, whose famous design pieces furnished the French presidential residence as part of the Mobilier National selection, during the same era.
