Arthur de Villepin started collecting art when he was 22 years old. His first acquisition was a red-and-black rendering of the Parisian Basilica, Sans Titre (Sacré-Coeur) (1948), painted by Zao Wou-ki just after the artist had moved to the French capital from China at the age of 28. The work captured Villepin with its composition and its history, reflecting an artist adjusting to a different culture.