CO U RTE S Y O F T H E M E T RO P L I TA N M U S E U M O F A RT
THE CUBIST CASE OF LEONARD LAUDER B Y L I LY H O A G L A N D
CUBISM IS NOT everyone’s flattened-and-multi-angled cup of tea. Some of Pablo Picasso’s works have sold because the patron liked the signature in the corner rather than the style of the painting. But thanks to Leonard Lauder, Cubism is gaining converts. “What intrigued me was that these were artists who were always inventing,” explains Lauder. In 1981, he began by acquiring Picasso’s “Still Life with Candlestick,” and added Fernand Léger, Georges Braques, and Juan Gris throughout the years. As his reputation as a serious aficionado grew, the naturally social Lauder became part of a rarified circle of Cubism devotees, including the art historian Douglas Cooper. Cooper had been collecting Cubist art since 1932 and had cultivated close—if tumultuous— friendships with many of the movement’s stars. When Cooper passed away, the question of what to do with his art fell to his lover, Billy McCarty-Cooper (Douglas had adopted Billy for inheritance reasons). “When Douglas died, Billy didn’t want to see the collection scattered to the winds. I found that remarkable.” Upon going to see the pieces in an art warehouse in Geneva, where “the crates were spilling masterpieces,” Lauder was determined to try to save the whole of it at any cost. “I borrowed a tremendous amount of money,” he emphasizes. “Never regretted that for a moment.” The collection became an unparalleled gathering APRIL 2015 107