Emmanuel Perrotin, the Parisian gallery owner who conquered the world

Portrait by Sofia Sanchez & Mauro Mongiello, 

direction by Jean Michel Clerc, 

interview by Thibaut Wychowanok.

Published on 31 October 2022. Updated on 14 April 2026.

Find the entire feature story in Numéro Homme 44, available on shop.numero.com and on iPad.

The news won’t break the Internet, but it will entertain more than one. Emmanuel Perrotin is launching a new series of tutorials, these fun and educational videos that are flourishing on social media. Will he share the recipe for a Takashi Murakami cake? Quite the contrary, the French gallery owner, 57, appears on his presidential seat behind his desk reminding us of his gallery’s values, working methods or, more prosaically, of a few rules of living together.

Don’t look for them on TikTok, as these videos are only accessible to his employees through the company’s app. After a career spanning over three decades, the man who founded his gallery at 21 and manages 160 employees now has only one obsession… Keeping the show alive everywhere and at all times. Indeed, the Perrotin network now expands on four continents and in seven cities, from Paris to Seoul, Dubai, and New York. Behind the stereotype of the party boy stands Emmanuel Perrotin, an entrepreneur and geek since his debut at the age of 18, with an intense sense of innovation and disruption.

Emmanuel Perrotin’s skillfully staged antics, as the excellent speaker he is, are memorable. In 1995, based on an idea from the artist Maurizio Cattelan, whom he represents, he put on a phallic pink rabbit costume to welcome the collectors. Twenty-five years later, he rode on the wave of success triggered by the famous banana designed by that same artist. The fruit was simply taped to the wall. His gallery sold it for $120,000 during Miami Art Basel.

“We had to become the center of attention, so that people would come to us. It was a necessity.” — Emmanuel Perrotin

Between those two events, Perrotin had acquired the title of a “night owl”. The latter entered the star system by associating with Pharrell Williams, among others. Truth be told, his parties are always a success. Where some might see a natural character trait, the man is in fact drawing his strategy. “When I first opened my gallery, I wasn’t coming from the right family and I didn’t have any network,” he shares. “We had to become the center of attention, so that people would come to us. It was a necessity. By popularizing the gallery, I also allowed my artists to benefit from the Perrotin brand, which has now become a communication medium.”

Popular, just like the Perrotin Store mixing merchandising and bling-bling artworks in central Las Vegas. Or like its superstar artists Kaws and JR, who are moving mountains while making the snobbiest sphere of the art world hold their breath. “Some would argue that having a variety of tastes is inconsistent. I would rather call it open-mindedness. Like in music, I love many different things.” As a matter of fact, his lineup feels like a mixtape. It includes conceptual artists, such as the duo Elmgreen & Dragset and French artist Sophie Calle, giants like Takashi Murakami, promising new artists like Jean-Marie Appriou or Genesis Belanger, historical Korean geniuses with Park Seo-Bo and the manga imagery of Mr.

“Since I first started, I have been fearing the shadow of big galleries. They have the power to take an artist from you at any time.” — Emmanuel Perrotin

“The gallery has been a tool to make contemporary art more accessible. I’m not one of those people who satisfy themselves by being the kings of the inner ring road,” the French gallery owner explains. Indeed, he became a pioneer after he opened his gallery in Hong Kong in 2012 and in South Korea in 2016. He then settled in Dubai in November 2022.

“Since I first started, I have been fearing the shadow of big galleries. They have the power to take an artist from you at any time. They can sometimes even pay them up to 50 million dollars,” Emmanuel Perrotin continues. Unexpected and iconoclastic being his trademark, his projects are flourishing. A scented candle made with the essence of the gallery to an art residency in Cap Ferret, a speakeasy in his New York space and the entry of New York collective MSCHF (“Mischief”) in the gallery…

After some research about the members of the collective, one can encounter the authors of a satanic pair of Nike sneakers… Or of a dog collar that translates barking into insults. “They might become the authors of the next banana,” Emmanuel Perrotin declares, thrilled. To be part of the Brooklyn crew, he was challenged to steal an object from their studio. The gallery owner left with a skateboard hidden in his coat – a prototype that he returned to them. Emmanuel Perrotin is still the victim of a few deeply-rooted stereotypes, but never that of being dishonest.