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How a Protected Mediterranean Island Became One of France’s Most Compelling Art Destinations

Charles Carmignac shares how his father, the billionaire collector Édouard Carmignac, fell in love with Porquerolles and what it takes to build a serious arts institution in a pristine national park.

The South of France has been a destination for artists since the golden age of the early avant-garde, but the region has seen, since the pandemic, a proliferation of new foundations and art initiatives that have turned it into a favorite summer destination for art lovers. Among these relatively new organizations, Fondation Carmignac is one of the most charming, set on the magical island of Porquerolles, a protected, largely untouched Mediterranean ecosystem in the middle of the sea. Housed in a beautifully restored farmhouse, the foundation offers 2,000 square meters of exhibition galleries surrounded by 15 hectares of outdoor space inhabited by contemporary sculpture. Open from May through November, the foundation offers visitors an immersive experience of the ambitious, mostly installative and large-scale works by top international artists in Édouard Carmignac’s collection, which now comprises over 300 pieces.

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The foundation began as a deeply personal project rooted in a chance encounter, according to his son, Charles Carmignac. Édouard Carmignac first encountered the island and the property in the early 1990s, when he was invited to a wedding at the then-owner’s farm. “He said to the owner, the father of the bride, ‘If one day you happen to sell the place, my dream would be to share my collection there.’ When the owner died in 2013, his daughter remembered my father’s proposal,” Charles said.

"SEA, POP & SUN" Artists: Various Venue: Villa Carmignac Address: Porquerolles Island Through: November 1, 2026

Charles became involved in Fondation Carmignac a few years later. At the time, he was still touring with a band. “When you grow up with a father who is obsessed with art, you often reject it. For me, it pushed me toward music,” he shared. “But he was smart in how he integrated me into the project. He invited me to art fairs two or three years before I joined; he let me in progressively.” In fact, he only really familiarized himself with the Porquerolles property as construction was beginning. “I spent some special nights there, almost like spiritual experiences, and that made me connect to my father. I got closer to him and closer to the project. Then we naturally started working together.” Their family structure, he added, is like an ecosystem: one sibling works in finance, another in wine and another in blueberries while he is in art.

Fondation Carmignac officially launched in 2000, but only opened the Porquerolles outpost in 2018. Because the island has been part of Port-Cros National Park since 1985, the building could not simply be remade any which way into a collector’s vanity museum. Ultimately, the museum was built underground and integrated in a sustainable way into the landscape. “It is a national park and a preserved forest surrounded by the sea. There........

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