The Jean Pigozzi Collection

Kudzanai Chiurai

Artist, poet, activist and cultural philosopher

Esther Mahlangu

Ndebele painting ambassador

Seydou Keïta

Portraits of Bamako

Chéri Samba

Painting daily life in Kinshasa

Abu Bakarr Mansaray

Inventor of futuristic war machines

Moké

“Painter reporter” of city life

Tatsuya Matsushita

Hiroki Tsukuda

Ryoko Aoki

Yuko Akasu

Keiichi Tanaami

The Jean Pigozzi Collection of Contemporary African Art

The Pigozzi collection - Contemporary African Art Collection (CAAC) – is today the largest private collection dedicated to contemporary African art. It was founded in 1989 by Italian business man Jean Pigozzi, and includes over 10 000 artworks featuring paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, installations and videos from artists living and working in sub-Saharan countries. The collection doesn’t have a permanent exhibition venue yet, but through its numerous exhibitions and loans to major museums around the world, as well as the catalogues and books that are published, it greatly contributed to reveal the spectacular creativity of sub-Saharan Africa to an ever-increasing public.

The Jean Pigozzi Collection of Contemporary Japanese Art

The JaPigozzi Collection is a unique collection focusing on the young Japanese art scene. The Collection was begun by Jean Pigozzi in 2008. It includes over 3000 artworks - in a variety of media and disciplines - by around 250 artists, thus presenting an extensive overview of an entire generation of Japanese artists born between the mid 1970s and early 1990s. The majority of these figures have completed the rigorous and traditional training offered by art academies in Japan.  Examples of some important artists included in the collection are Nobuyoshi Araki (b. 1940), Keiichi Tanaami (b. 1936), Akira Ikezoe (b. 1979), Kohei Nawa (b. 1975), Sohei Nishino (b. 1982), Mika Ninagawa (b. 1972), and Tomoko Sawada (b. 1977).  Many of the artists use detailed techniques, creating tension when it depicts imagery that is sometimes disturbing, fetishist or pseudo-naïve. However, these themes are alleviated by humour, playfulness and beauty. Many of the works have a strong and detailed sense of narrative. Story-telling becomes fractured by tools such as irregular perspective, abstract passages or multi-layered vignettes. Surrealism and Absurdism are central features in many of the works, introducing emotional or cerebral undertones. Indeed, the conceptual structure of the works leaves nothing to chance, despite the seemingly ambiguous first impressions.  Prior to his interest in Japanese art, Pigozzi founded in 1989 the Contemporary African Art Collection (CAAC), which is now the largest private collection of Contemporary African Art in the world.

See all of the artworks in one place

From African contemporary masters to Japanese rising stars