Hess Family Estates opens art museum at Bodega Colomé

Swiss entrepreneur and art collector Donald M. Hess is to open a museum dedicated to artist James Turrel at Bodega Colomé in Argentina.

The James Turrel Museum will open its doors on 22 April, and will become the third of the Hess Art Collection, along with museums at the Hess Collection winery in Napa Valley and Glen Carlou in Paarl, South Africa.

It is the first museum in the world dedicated to American space and light artist James Turrel, whose work focuses on the optical phenomena of light.

Turrel was charged with designing the interior gallery spaces, which will house his light installations.

Set amidst Colomé’s 96,000-acre estate at a massive 2,300 metres above sea level, the museum will showcase works spanning five decades of Turrel’s career.

Hess, an art buyer since the 60s, has amassed one of the largest collections of contemporary art in the world. His back catalogue includes works by Francis Bacon, Gerhard Richter and Andy Goldsworthy.

A fourth museum is planned for the Hess-owned Peter Lehmann Wines winery in Australia’s Barossa Valley.

Along with Colomé, Hess Family Estates own four vineyards in Argentina including Altura Maxima in Salta, the highest vineyard in the world.

photo: Florian Holzherr 2008

Written by Lucy Shaw