Tycoon's art trove unveiled in Paris, home to billionaires' culture contest

Paris: The reopening of Paris museums this week finally gives billionaire tycoon Francois Pinault the chance to showcase his vast contemporary art collection in the French capital, with works ranging from stuffed pigeons to slowly melting chairs.

The museum's launch in a converted 19th-century commodities exchange, blocks away from the Louvre, was put on hold twice due to the coronavirus pandemic after having suffered earlier planning mishaps, with an initial project abandoned in 2005. Pinault, 84 - who made his fortune in timber trading before shifting into retail under the group now known as Kering, run by his son - joins rival French luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault in trying to stamp his legacy on Paris' art scene and landscape, with museums and renovation projects.