BASQUE-ING IN IT: Exalting the Basque roots of Balenciaga founder Cristóbal Balenciaga, the Paris-based house and its creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli have created a new art series under the handle “Artean,” which roughly means “between” in ancient Basque language.
It will kick off with an exhibition during Salone del Mobile, or Milan Design Week, spotlighting Eduardo Chillida, a late Basque sculptor whose imposing, abstract works were admired by the legendary Spanish couturier.
“I have always believed that art is, above all, a generator of emotion — a vehicle for culture, certainly, but more importantly, a source of energy, thought and curiosity,” said Piccioli, who initiated the project in order to create a “space that brings together art and the house’s Basque heritage.”
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Seven works dating from the ’50s through to the ’90s — which reflect an approach to artistic creation similar to Cristóbal’s, and one direct homage — will go on display in Balenciaga’s Via Montenapoleone flagship, putting them in dialogue with the store’s architecture and the spring 2026 collections.
“I am certain that anyone who visits the exhibition will immediately sense how powerful and enduring this creative conversation remains,” Piccioli said. “I am both happy and proud to share a piece of this history.”
The new art series is designed to bridge Balenciaga’s roots in the Basque region with modern design, according to the house.
The first Artean exhibition is to run from April 21 to 27, with a special guest at the opening cocktail: Mikel Chillida, Eduardo Chillida’s grandson and director of Chillida Leku, an open-air museum near Hernani, Spain, that is dedicated to his legacy.
Chillida Leku mounted an exhibition in 2024 titled “Chillida/Balenciaga — Plying Form.” It explored “the common places of the sculptor of air and the couturier of space,” according to the museum’s website.
