Philippe Méaille (; born 27 April 1973) is a French author and art collector, and the founder and president of the Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art. Currently, Méaille owns the world's largest collection of

Art & Language Art & Language is an English conceptual artists' collaboration that has undergone many changes since it was created around 1967. The group was founded by artists who shared a common desire to combine intellectual ideas and concerns with the cre ...

works.

Career

After graduating from the

Lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

Vauban in

Pontoise Pontoise () is a commune north of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise. Administration Pontoise is the official (capital) of the Val-d'Oise '' département'', although in reality the ' ...

, Méaille was admitted to

Paris Descartes University Paris Descartes University (), also known as Paris V, was a French public university located in Paris. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 1970. Paris Descartes completely merg ...

where he studied

Pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

. Méaille began his art collection when he arrived in Paris as a student. In 1994, Méaille began to build connections with

artists, including gallerist Eric Fabre. Méaille acquired a large number of works from the Swiss Rothschild Bank in 1996. These works had been purchased from the Swiss gallerist Bruno Bischofberger, in 1972.

When I was 20 or 21, I bought a work of Art & Language of 1965 called ''
Mirror Piece Mirror Piece is a 1965 contemporary art Installation art, installation by Michael Baldwin (artist), Michael Baldwin, a member of the United Kingdom, British conceptual art collective Art & Language. Description ''Mirror Piece'' is an installatio ...
'' and installed it in my apartment in Paris. After two or three days, I felt sad and stupid because I understood the limit imposed if these works were kept private. They would be like a discussion that was kept secret. Therefore I felt a responsibility to make this collection accessible to the widest possible public – ''The Private Museum of the Future'', Cristina Bechtler interview with Philippe Méaille, 2016.

Méaille, has since assembled the world's largest collection of Art & Language works. In 2000, Méaille installed his collection in the Château de la Bainerie, a former summer camp of the city of

Argenteuil Argenteuil () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Argenteuil is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise Departments of France, ...

. The collection of Art & Language works was spread throughout the 50,000 square foot area of the château. In 2006, Méaille organized a public exhibition with

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

school of Beaux-arts. In 2011, Méaille announced a long-term loan of 800 works of Art & Language to the MACBA. In 2014, Jill Silverman van Coenegrachts became the curator of Méaille's collection. In 2014, the MACBA organized a major retrospective of the group Art & Language, which was titled ''Art & Language uncompleted: The Philippe Méaille Collection.'' The retrospective contained works which were loaned by Méaille. In 2015, Méaille signed a 25-year lease for the

Château de Montsoreau The Château de Montsoreau is a Flamboyant Gothic castle in the Loire Valley, directly built in the Loire riverbed. It is located in the market town of Montsoreau, in the Maine-et-Loire ''Departments of France, département'' of France, close ...

, a castle located in the

Loire valley The Loire Valley (, ), spanning , is a valley located in the middle stretch of the Loire river in central France, in both the administrative regions Pays de la Loire and Centre-Val de Loire. The area of the Loire Valley comprises about . It is r ...

. That same year, Méaille founded the Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art, where approximately 80 works of his collection are permanently exhibited. In 2017, Méaille decided not to renew his lease with the MACBA, and instead decided to repatriate his entire collection to the Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art. Méaille stated that the main reason for this decision was the political instability in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Books

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meaille, Philippe 1973 births Living people 20th-century art collectors 21st-century art collectors French art collectors Directors of museums in France French art curators Museum founders Art & Language People from Enghien-les-Bains