Pinault Bid for Venice Site Beats Guggenheim's Incomplete Pitch
By Farah Nayeri
April 5 (Bloomberg) -- French billionaire Francois Pinault emerged as
the sole candidate to turn a disused Venice customs building into a
contemporary-arts center by June 2009 after a rival bid by the Solomon
R. Guggenheim Foundation was thrown out for being incomplete.
In a statement issued after a press briefing, Venice City Hall, which is
granting the lease for the Punta della Dogana, said the Guggenheim bid
``lacked one of the essential elements - - the list of works destined
for the permanent collection -- and was therefore excluded from the
negotiating process.''
Talks will proceed with Palazzo Grassi, Pinault's 18th- century Venetian
exhibition venue, which met all the terms and listed 141 works that
would be part of the Dogana's permanent collection over the 30-year
period, the statement said.
Venice Mayor Massimo Cacciari said the aim of City Hall ``has always
been to set up a permanent contemporary-art center at Punta della
Dogana, meaning one with a permanent collection, like any other
museum,'' according to the release. The Guggenheim, by postponing the
choice of works for display, made it impossible for its bid to be
assessed, he said.
Located on a triangular strip across from Piazza San Marco, the
3,500-square-meter, 17th-century building is at Venice's heart. It
appears in paintings by Canaletto, Guardi and Turner.
cont'd....
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