Antoine de Galbert

Antoine de Galbert
Born (1955-10-20) October 20, 1955 (age 71)
Grenoble
OccupationsCollector and Patron of the Arts
Parent(s)Maurice de Galbert (father), Charles Defforey (adoptive father)
Websitefondationantoinedegalbert.org

Antoine de Galbert-Defforey, born October 20, 1955 in Grenoble, is a French collector of contemporary art and patron of the arts.

He is primarily known for being the creator of the Antoine de Galbert Foundation, a not-for-profit public utility foundation in France, whose mission is to promote different forms of modern and contemporary art through temporary exhibitions, and through his exhibition hall, La Maison Rouge.

On October 28, 2018, the establishment closed its doors for good, but the Antoine de Galbert Foundation continues to support the arts.

Biography

Great-grandson of an industrialist from the Isère department of France and orphaned at three years old, Antoine de Galbert-Defforey was adopted by his step-father, Charles Defforey. In addition to taking the Defforey name, Antoine inherited Charles Defforey's fortune.

A graduate of the Institut d'études politiques de Grenoble (Grenoble Institute of Political Studies) in 1979 and heir to the Carrefour group, he became the financial controller of supermarkets in 1980 before opening an art gallery in Grenoble in 1987. Over time he formed a collection, and after this gallery closed, he dreamed of organizing a not-for-profit foundation – the Antoine de Galbert Foundation – in order to maintain his engagement with contemporary art. In 2001, he acquired a derelict industrial area of 2,500 square metres (0.62 acres) on the Boulevard de la Bastille in Paris and filed for public utility status. In 2004, he opened La Maison Rouge, the foundation's exhibition hall, with the mission of promoting different forms of modern and contemporary art through temporary exhibits.

Anxious about the financial explosion of contemporary art ("The art world is a huge melting pot where passionate and honest people rub shoulders with dangerous hucksters"), he does not consider himself an investor-collector and asserts that the human side of his foundation is almost more important than what is exhibited there.

In April 2018, he announced that he was donating his collection of 500 ethnic headdresses from hunters, warriors, shamans, and witch doctors to the Musée des Confluences in Lyon

On October 28, 2018, Antoine de Galbert announced the final closure of La Maison Rouge after having proved in 2017 that an eventual end of the adventure was inevitable, while the public utility foundation continues to support the arts by assisting, promoting and defending creation in the field of modern and contemporary art. The foundation's mission is to support art history education and the training of future artists. It also acquires works for the purposes of enriching the collections of certain museums. It funds grants for research, residencies or portfolio projects.

Exhibitions of the collection

Other roles

Awards

Decorations

  • Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters). He was promoted to the rank of officer by decree on 13 February 2015.
  • Knight of the Ordre national du Mérite (National Order of Merit). He was knighted on 15 May 2009 in recognition of his 29 years of professional activity and military service.
  • Officer of the Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour).
  • Gold medal from the city of Grenoble

References

  1. ↑ "fondation – antoine de galbert" (in French). Retrieved 2019-12-03.
  2. 1 2 La Maison rouge, official site.
  3. ↑ "Chateaudelucey.com". Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  4. ↑ Sabine Gignoux, « Antoine de Galbert, collectionneur en liberté », La-croix.com, 21 June 2010 (12 March 2017).
  5. 1 2 Philippe Dagen, « La Maison rouge baissera le rideau en 2018 », Le Monde, 1.
  6. ↑ Philippe Piguet, « Antoine de Galbert : « Ma collection est un vrai bordel ! », Lejournaldesarts.fr, 6 October 2011 (Retrieved 12 mars 2017).
  7. ↑ Élisabeth Couturier, « Antoine de Galbert voit rouge », Parismatch.com, 20 July 2014 (Retrieved 7 December 2017).
  8. ↑ "Antoine de Galbert offre sa collection de coiffes au musée des Confluences". Connaissancedesarts.com (in French).
  9. ↑ 500 coiffes ethniques bientôt à Lyon Archived 2018-05-13 at the Wayback Machine, www.expointhecity.com, 16 April 2018 (Retrieved 13 May 2018)
  10. ↑ Élodie de Dreux-Brézé, « Antoine de Galbert ferme les portes de La Maison rouge en 2018 », Connaissancedesarts.com, 12 January 2017 (Retrieved 12 March 2017).
  11. ↑ "fondation – antoine de galbert" (in French). Retrieved 2021-07-01.
  12. ↑ "Une Histoire d'images". www.museedegrenoble.fr (in French). Retrieved 2025-11-10.
  13. ↑ «Une histoire d'images», la photo-synthèse d'Antoine de Galbert à Grenoble, Gilles Renault, Libération, 7 January 2024.
  14. ↑ "De Paris à Lisbonne, 5 rendez-vous artistiques à ne pas manquer pour la saison France-Portugal". Numéro Magazine (in French). Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  15. ↑ "Un été avec le CMN : « Grand bazar » au château d'Oiron". Connaissance des Arts (in French). 2021-07-01. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
  16. ↑ CG2. "Burning House. Selection from the Antoine de Galbert's collection". Muzeum Sztuki w Łodzi. Retrieved 2021-07-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ↑ "Photobiennale-2020 Moscou : Certain Disorder. Œuvres de la collection Antoine de Galbert". L'Œil de la Photographie Magazine (in French). 2020-09-18. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
  18. ↑ "Nomination dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres janvier 2015". Ministère de la Culture (in French). 2015-04-07. Retrieved 2025-11-10.
  19. ↑ Décret du 15 mai 2009 portant promotion et nomination
  20. ↑ https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000044806286