If the jeweler Cartier was a forerunner in this field, few companies in the CAC 40 today do not have their own foundation. But is this generosity always devoid of ulterior motives? An extract from “Complément d’Enquête” of February 23 on the “good works” of French billionaires.
By building a splendid showcase for modern and contemporary art on the outskirts of Paris, CEO Bernard Arnault had proclaimed his desire to “to give a gift to France”. With its Louis Vuitton Foundation, inaugurated with great fanfare in October 2014, the luxury giant LVMH has pulled off a coup (not without causing controversy). Today, rare are the companies of the CAC 40 which do not have their own foundation… “Complément d’Enquête” focuses on February 23 on the “good works” of French billionaires. What hides their passion for art and museums? Behind the declarations of philanthropic intent, what are their motivations?
Contemporary art to rejuvenate an image
To associate their name with the prestigious world of art would first be a way of restoring their image. “Contemporary art is used today by a large number of luxury brands, [pour] to combine their know-how and that of the artist, so it’s a vector of communication, that’s obvious”, says gallery owner and art critic Stéphane Corréard. Restore their image, and also modernize it? According to him, aA study carried out by Cartier’s communication department in the early 1990s would have shown that “Cartier’s brand image had rejuvenated considerably since he had ‘put himself’ in contemporary art”.
A communication strategy that sometimes mixes sponsorship and marketing. The mix of genres seems assumed when LVMH uses the Foundation to organize its fashion shows there. “It has not escaped anyone that the first event that took place in the Louis Vuitton Foundation was a Louis Vuitton fashion show, and not an exhibition”, recalls Stéphane Corréard. The group also shoots commercials there, for example the campaign for Louis Vuitton bags with actress Léa Seydoux.
Blockbuster exhibitions to boost turnover
Through its “blockbuster” exhibitions, as an employee of the Louis Vuitton Foundation calls them, testifying on condition of anonymity in “Complément d’Enquête”, it is also its own brand that the group would seek to highlight… and his turnover which he intends to boost, according to her. “We hope that then people will make the association and go to the stores”, she explains, describing a “obsession with numbers” (sale of entry tickets, catalogues, etc.). Nothing surprising in that, according to her, because Bernard Arnault “remain an industrialist, he is not a philanthropist” : “there are too many money stakes”.
According to a former executive of the foundation, who also speaks anonymously, these billionaire patrons “deviate, in fact, the patronage law, which was there to help artists, or art, or culture”. The Aillagon law of 2003 allows companies to deduct from their tax return 60% of their donations (within a certain limit). “And finally, this sum will be used, in part, to make a foundation that bears the name of a brand…” Asked by the “Complément d’Enquête” teams, LVMH refused any interview, but recalled in an email that the group paid an average of 2 billion euros per year in corporate taxes.
Extract of “Billionaires: good works pay off!”, a document to see in “Complementary investigation” on February 23, 2023.
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