The top 20: who are the world's most influential collectors?

The top 20: who are the world's most influential collectors?
Apollo , July-August, 2008 by Martin Bailey
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The collectors who really matter to the history of art are not necessarily the very richest or even the most acquisitive. They are those who by their example set standards for others, encourage interest in the art they collect and share their treasures with the public. In short, the collectors of greatest importance are those who wield the greatest influence. Martin Bailey presents APOLLO'S list of the 20 most influential collectors today.
What makes a collector influential? Obviously, the really big spenders have a major impact on the market, but the aim of our quest is to delve deeper--to focus on those who have a longer-term impact on the wider world. Influence, in this sense, comes when a collector feels the need to share their enthusiasm with fellow art-lovers. Few, if any, of our Top 20 collectors have consciously sought influence, but it has followed from a combination of connoisseurship and generosity.
All the names on our list (which is presented in alphabetical order) have exhibited their collections. Most have lent works to museum shows and some have arranged exhibitions of them. Most of the collections have also been published (at least in part), often as exhibition catalogues. It is striking that 13 of our collectors have set up (and funded) their own public galleries, for changing displays. There may be an element of vanity involved in sharing a collection, but we all act with a range of motivations.
Choosing half of the names was simple, since their influence was indisputable. After that, it became more difficult to weigh the candidates, so inevitably there is an element of subjectivity in the list. We also aimed for a reasonable balance both of nationalities and collecting fields. It should be stressed that we have focused on mainstream art, since within a narrow speciality it is obviously much easier for an individual to exert a powerful influence. Our list emphasises the growing interest in contemporary art: half the names are collectors in this area. This reflects great public interest, particularly among the younger generation, so it is a field that offers considerable opportunities for collectors to reach out to a wide audience.
Inevitably, all our collectors are wealthy, and indeed seven of them figure in this year's Forbes list of billionaires: Broad, Khalili, Lauder, Pinault, Pinchuk, Thomson and Wurth. Many of the 20 have been generous donors to public galleries; this in itself undoubtedly brings influence, particularly in America, where philanthropy is more widely acknowledged (very major museum donors are normally offered a seat on the board).
As to nationality, seven of our 20 are from north America (six from the United States and one from Canada), a result of the numerous important collectors there; Americans also tend to be more open about sharing their art. Nine are from western Europe, including three from Switzerland, which has an unusually high number of collectors for its population. Four are from newly-emerging art markets: Mexico, Ukraine, Qatar and India.
These new markets are already having a major impact on collecting at the very upper level. For instance, until recently no one would have suggested that the Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich was an important collector, let alone an influential one. Yet, as The Art Newspaper reported in May, that month he was the anonymous buyer of Freud's Benefits Supervisor Sleeping ($33.6m) and Bacon's 1976 Triptych ($86.3m). The purchases were the result of encouragement by Abramovich's girlfriend, Daria Zhukova, who is setting up the Center for Contemporary Culture in Moscow. Is this a one-off trophy purchase or the launch of a new mega-collection and major public gallery? Only time will tell.
THE TOP 20
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JEAN PAUL BARBIER-MUELLER--Tribal Art Nationality: Swiss Age: 77 Source of wealth: Property
Josef Mueller began a collection of tribal art in the 1930s and, after his death in 1977, it was developed by his son-in-law Jean Paul Barbier. That year, Jean Paul and his wife, Monique, opened the Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva, to present a changing selection of works in focused exhibitions (Fig. 2). They now have 7,000 objects, making it the world's greatest private collection of tribal art, which is particularly strong on Africa and Oceania. In 1997 the couple opened a second museum in Barcelona, for Pre-Columbian works.
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ERNST BEYELER--20th-century painting and sculpture Nationality: Swiss Age: 86 Source of wealth: Art dealer
Initially Ernst Beyeler and his wife, Hildy, kept works they particularly liked that had failed to sell in their gallery, but they soon bought especially for their personal collection. The couple eventually decided to set up a public gallery at Riehen, on the northern outskirts of Basel, and the elegant Renzo Piano-designed building opened in 1997. The emphasis of the collection is on the first half of the 20th century, although it does have more recent works. There are 220 pieces by the great masters of modern art, with Picasso and Klee particularly well represented. The Beyeler Foundation has nearly 400,000 visitors a year, more than any other gallery in German-speaking Switzerland. One third of the space is for temporary exhibitions (currently Leger--see APOLLO'S June issue), with the remainder for the foundation's collection. Despite his age, Beyeler continues to run his commercial gallery in Basel.
ELI BROAD--Post-war and contemporary Nationality: American Age: 75 Source of wealth: Property and insurance
Eli Broad and his wife, Edythe, began to collect modern and contemporary art in the 1970s, and have amassed one of America's greatest private collections. They have nearly 2,000 pieces, of which 400 (mainly 1960s and 1970s works) are personally owned for their Brentwood home, on the outskirts of Los Angeles. The remainder (mainly contemporary) belongs to the Santa Monica-based Broad Art Foundation, which serves as a 'lending library' to museums across America. Purchases continue at the rate of over 100 works a year. Broad has donated $50m to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for a new extension, the Renzo Piano-designed Broad Contemporary Art Museum, which opened in February (see APOLLO's April issue). He gave a further $10m for acquisitions. It was widely assumed that most of the foundation's art would be presented to LACMA, but in January it was announced that it would remain with the Foundation (Fig. 3).
Broad was also the founding chairman of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. He has given $26m to help build a Zaha Hadid-designed art museum at Michigan State University; building work is due to start this autumn, for completion in 2010.
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AGNES GUND--Post-war, mainly American Nationality: American Age: 69 Source of wealth: Banking inheritance
Agnes Gund began collecting contemporary art in the late 1960s, with a focus on American artists. In 50 years she has acquired over 1,000 works. What marks her out is her generosity: she has been a major lender and donor to US galleries. Based in New York, she served as president of the Museum of Modern Art from 1991 to 2002 and led the fundraising drive for its $858m extension, which opened in 2004. Her husband, the lawyer Daniel Shapiro, collects Chinese antiquities.
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NASSER DAVID KHALILI--Islamic and Japanese Meiji Nationality: British Age: 62 Source of wealth: Property
Although a number of major Islamic collectors have emerged in the Gulf in recent years, Nasser Khalili (born in Iran and of Jewish descent) has been at the forefront of this field since the 1970s. What makes him particularly important is that his works of art have been meticulously catalogued (in 27 volumes) and widely exhibited (in 18 shows, most recently in Abu Dhabi). He also has an important collection of 19th-century Japanese Meiji art, together with Swedish textiles, Spanish damascene metalwork and European enamels (the last to be unveiled in December 2009 in a show at the Hermitage in St Petersburg). Altogether, the Khalili collection comprises 25,000 pieces (see APOLLO'S March issue). There has been speculation about the source of his wealth, but since the 1990s most of it has come from Favermead, a UK property company that invests in shopping centres. Khalili has long been considering setting up a museum, possibly in London, but nothing has yet been arranged.
RONALD LAUDER--Early-20th-century Austrian and German Art Nationality: American Age: 64 Source of wealth: Cosmetics inheritance and media
Ronald Lauder, a former US ambassador to Austria (1986-87), is particularly interested in early-20th-century Austrian and German art. This led him to establish the Neue Galerie in New York in 2001, a museum based on his collection (ownership of some works have been transferred, while others remain with him personally). In 2006 he made headlines when he purchased Klimt's newly-restituted Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I for $135m, a record price for a work of art (Fig. 1). Lauder also has Old Masters in his personal collection. He is honorary chairman of New York's Museum of Modern Art.
A leading member of the international Jewish community, Lauder has campaigned for the restitution of art appropriated by the Nazis. His elder brother, Leonard, collects modern art, particularly Cubism.
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PRINCE HANS-ADAM II--16th-to 19th-century painting, sculpture and furniture Nationality: Liechtenstein Age: 63
Source of wealth: Inheritance and banking
Hans-Adam II, the head of state of Liechtenstein, has inherited the princely collection. His family sold off many of its finest works of art after World War II, right up until 1970, but since then its finances have revived, thanks to the success of its Vaduz-based bank, LGT. Over the past 10 years the prince has become a major art buyer. Astonishingly, he now probably spends more on acquisitions than any of Europe's leading national museums. In 2004 he opened the Liechtenstein Museum in his baroque summer palace in Vienna, with renovations costing 25m [euro] (most of the other works in his collection remain in his private castle in Vaduz). His most expensive purchase has been the Badminton Cabinet, bought at Christie's in 2004 for 19m [pounds sterling], a record price for a piece of furniture (Fig. 4). Two years later he bought a group of old masters belonging to Lord Northbrook for around 10m [pounds sterling]. The Prince is planning to expand his holdings of neoclassical paintings and Roman baroque sculpture.
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EUGENIO LOPEZ ALONSO--Latin American and international contemporary Nationality: Mexican Age: 40 Source of wealth: Food processing
Eugenio Lopez inherited the Jumex fruit juice business. Although relatively young, he has amassed one of the largest private collections of modern Latin American art. In 2001 he opened the Fundacion/Coleccion Jumex in a warehouse in his Jumex factory complex, on the outskirts of Mexico City.
Lopez now has plans for a more accessible art gallery in town, which is expected to be built near the projected Soumaya Museum, set up by Mexico's other leading collector, Carlos Slim Helu. Lopez's collection comprises 1,500 works, half Latin American and half international. He also resides in Los Angeles, and is a trustee of the city's Museum of Contemporary Art.
GEORGE ORTIZ--Antiquities Nationality: Swiss Age: unknown Source of wealth: Inheritance
George Ortiz was born in Paris, of Bolivian descent. He now lives in Geneva. Ortiz started collecting Greek antiquities in the 1950s, but his interests soon expanded to cover ancient art and ethnography from around the world. The highlights were exhibited in 1993-96, in Russia, at the Royal Academy in London and at the Altes Museum in Berlin. Ortiz is a controversial figure, because of his vocal opposition to UNESCO'S call to restrict the collecting of unprovenanced antiquities that may have only recently left their countries of origin, arguing that this would cause the antiquities trade to be driven 'underground', but others see it as an encouragement to looters.
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FRANCOIS PINAULT--Contemporary Art Nationality: French Age: 71 Source of wealth: Luxury goods
Starting by collecting early modernism, Francois Pinault quickly moved into post-war American painting and finally into contemporary art. In 1998 he purchased a controlling share in Christie's, which puts him in the centre of the art world; he also owns the Paris-based luxury goods company PPR (its portfolio includes Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Stella McCartney). Pinault has long wanted to display his collection, now comprising 2,500 works. After scrapping plans for a museum in a former Renault factory on Ile Seguin, in the Seine in western Paris, he took over Palazzo Grassi in Venice, which reopened in 2006. Even more ambitiously, the Francois Pinault Foundation is transforming Venice's Punta della Dogana (customs building) into a contemporary art centre, which is due to open in June 2009 for the Biennale. Pinault's rival among French collectors is Bernard Arnault, who also owns luxury-goods companies (he also ran the auctioneers Philips de Pury from 1999 to 2003); his Louis Vuiton company has a small gallery (the Espace above their Champs-Elysees shop) and a major contemporary art centre is being planned for Paris.
VIKTOR PINCHUK--Contemporary Art Nationality: Ukrainian Age: 47 Source of wealth: Steel
Viktor Pinchuk's collecting began in the early 1990s with Russian impressionism. He subsequently developed the idea of opening a public display, and turned towards contemporary art, feeling that this would be more popular. In September 2006 the Victor Pinchuk Foundation opened the Pinchuk Art Centre in Kiev, which is one of the largest public galleries for contemporary art in eastern Europe. Owning 300 works, it comprises both Ukrainian and international art. In January Peter Doroshenko became its artistic director (he is an American of Ukrainian background and formerly director of the Baltic in Gateshead, northern England). Among Pinchuk's recent purchases is Koons's Hanging Heart, for which he paid $24m.
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LEKHA & ANUPAM PODDAR--Indian Art Nationality: Indian Age: unknown; 34 Source of wealth: Paper industry and hotels
Lekha Poddar, from Delhi, began collecting in the late 1970s and her son Anupam in 2000. Together they recently set up the Devi Art Foundation. They now have 7,000 works of Indian art, ranging from tribal to contemporary (with some from neighbouring countries). The Poddars are opening India's first non-commercial contemporary art gallery in the Delhi suburb of Gurgaon on 30 August. The inaugural show, 'Still/ Moving Image', is of photography and video.
DON & MERA RUBELL--Contemporary Art Nationality: American Age: 66; unknown Source of wealth: Inheritance and hotels
Based in Miami Beach, the Rubells began to collect in the 1960s, and after receiving an inheritance in 1989 were able to expand their ambitions, both to build the collection and open it to the public. Their daughter and son, Jennifer and Jason (and Jason's wife, Michelle), are closely involved, which explains why it is known as the Rubell Family Collection. In 1996 their Contemporary Arts Foundation opened a public space in a former Drug Enforcement Agency warehouse in Wynwood, north Miami, to show a changing selection of works in 27 rooms. The collection now comprises over 5,000 pieces. The Rubells particularly enjoy discovering up-and-coming artists.
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CHARLES SAATCHI--Contemporary Art Nationality: British Age: 65 Source of wealth: Advertising
Charles Saatchi is probably Europe's most powerful collector of contemporary art. With his first wife, Doris Lockhart, he began with American abstraction in the 1970s. In 1985 he opened his first public gallery, in Boundary Road, north London. By the end of the decade he had turned to British artists, later commissioning Hirst's 'Shark' and buying Emin's 'Bed' and the Chapman Brothers' Hell Having become the leading patron of the Young British Artists (YBAS), he shot to fame with his controversial 'Sensation' exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1997, which then toured to the Brooklyn Museum of Art. In 2003 his gallery moved from Boundary Road to County Hall, where it remained for two years. His third space is due to open in September in the King's Road, Chelsea, in a converted army barracks (the inaugural show is expected to be on Chinese art; Fig. 4).
Saatchi not only buys, but also sells, so his collection is constantly evolving. He owns around 3,000 works, worth well over 100m [pounds sterling]. Although wanting the public to enjoy his art, he remains a rather private figure and has not announced long-term plans for the collection.
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SAUD AL-THANI--Eclectic, but particularly Islamic and natural history Nationality: Qatari Age 41 Source of wealth: Family wealth
Sheikh Saud al-Thani is a cousin of the Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. As chairman of the country's National Council for Culture, Arts and Heritage, he was responsible for buying for a group of new museums that are being set up in the capital, Doha. However, it has often been unclear whether his purchases were for the national museums or his personal collection. The scope of his purchases is enormous, ranging from antiquities to 20th-century furniture. Money is no problem, and his acquisitions have included Audubon's Birds of America ($8.8m), the Jenkins Venus (7.9m [pounds sterling]), a Mantuan bronze renaissance roundel (8m[pounds sterling]) and the Clive of India flask (3m [pounds sterling]). However, in 2005 The Art Newspaper revealed that he had been arrested over financial issues, although no legal action followed and the matter seems to have been dropped. Qatar's Museum of Islamic Art, which houses some of Saud's purchases, will open in Doha on 22 November (Fig. 8). Saud al-Thani's current personal role in collecting is unclear, but other members of the family are voracious buyers: they purchased two major works at Sotheby's in 2007: Rothko's White Center ($73m) and Hirst's Lullaby Spring (10m [pounds sterling]).
EUGENE THAW Drawings Nationality: American Age: 81 Source of wealth: Art dealer
Eugene Thaw spent most of his working life in New York, as a dealer specialising in Old Masters and Impressionists. Thaw himself collected drawings and oil sketches, many of which have been offered to the Morgan Library in New York (Fig. 7). The fifth in a series of exhibitions of his promised gifts opens at the Morgan next January (its highlights will include portraits by Ingres and Monet). In the 1980s he retired to Santa Fe, where he began to collect North American Indian art, much of which has been given to the Fenimore Art Museum, in Cooperstown, New York State.
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DAVID THOMSON--19th-century English to contemporary art Nationality: Canadian Age: 51 Source of wealth: Media
David Thomson, the 3rd Lord Thomson, is the son of the media owner Kenneth Thomson, who died in 2006. Kenneth Thomson was a very major donor to the Art Gallery of Ontario, to which he gave 2,000 works in 2002 (including Rubens's Massacre of the Innocents, for which he paid 50m [pounds sterling]), together with a $70m donation. The Art Gallery of Ontario reopens after a major redisplay on 14 November. Toronto-based David Thomson collects Constable, Ruskin, Futurism and contemporary art. He is also developing a collection of native North American art: his family bought a $1.8m Tsimshian mask at Sotheby's in October 2006, with a view to putting it on display in British Columbia. His sister, the actress Taylor Thomson, is also a collector.
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GUY ULLENS--Chinese contemporary art Nationality: Belgian Age: 73 Source of wealth: Food processing
Baron Guy Ullens is of Belgian origin, but resident in Switzerland. He began to collect classical Chinese painting while on business trips to China, but in the 1980s, together with his wife, Myriam, he branched out into Chinese contemporary art-famously selling his paintings by Turner to finance his purchases. Today he owns one of the world's finest collections, with 2,000 works (see APOLLO'S May issue).
In November 2007 Ullens opened a permanent space in a restored military factory in Beijing, the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art. It has changing displays, with works from the Ullens collection and outside loans (including international art). In March Jerome Sans became the gallery's artistic director.
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JAYNE WRIGHTSMAN--18th-century French Nationality: American Age: unknown. Source of wealth: Oil
Jayne Wrightsman began collecting impressionism in the early 1950s with her husband, Charles, who was in the oil industry (he died in 1986). However, shortly after, Jayne developed a love for French decorative art and painting of the 18th century. Based in New York, the couple made a series of donations to the Metropolitan Museum in 1969-77, and this led to the creation of seven galleries of French art in period rooms (these were renovated with her support in 2007). Wrightsman is known equally as a socialite and a connoisseur.
REINHOLD WURTH--20th-century art Nationality: German Age: 73 Source of wealth: Screw business Reinhold WOrth took over his father Adolfs small screw company in Kunzelsau (southern Germany), transforming it into a huge wholesale business. He began to collect art in the 1960s, focusing on the 20th century, and now has 11,000 works, ranging from late impressionism to contemporary (Fig. 9). There is a strong emphasis on sculpture. Wurth runs an art museum at Kunzelsau (together with a museum of screws) and a kunsthalle exhibition centre in the nearby town of Schwabish Hall.
Martin Bailey is a correspondent of The Art Newspaper.
Martin Bailey "The top 20: who are the world's most influential collectors?". Apollo. FindArticles.com. 23 Apr, 2009. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PAL/is_556_168/ai_n27932321/