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Paris to get contemporary art museum

PARIS, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- French billionaire Francois Pinault confirmed Monday that he will build a museum of contemporary art on the Ile Seguin, in the Seine River in Paris.

The report was confirmed through Philippe Vergne, who disclosed he was recently hired by the luxury goods magnate to be director of the new museum, scheduled to open late in 2007. Vergne, a senior curator at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, said he would remain at his post in Minnesota through April 2005.

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"We have three years in front of us to build in every sense of the word, to invent a structure to promote art and culture in the 21st century," Vergne said in a statement that disclosed that the Japanese architect Tadao Ando has been retained to design the museum.

It is a project of the Francois Pinault Foundation for Contemporary Art, a creation of the entrepreneur who bought Christie's auction house, one of the largest international art auction firms, in 1998.

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