MANIA & BERNHARD HAHNLOSER Location: Bern, Switzerland Source of wealth: Inheritance, government Collecting area: Contemporary art; Post-Impressionism; Surrealism http://www.artnews.com/top200/mania-and-bernhard-hahnloser/
La SAMAH a le plaisir de vous convier à la découverte de l'exposition Van Gogh, Bonnard, Vallotton...La Collection Arthur et Hedy Hahnloser. Constituée entre 1907 et 1932 à Winterthur par Arthur Hahnloser (1870-1936) et sa femme Hedy Hahnloser-Bühler (1873-1952), cette collection privée est l'une des plus remarquables de Suisse. Cet événement, qui réunit une centaine de tableaux, présente des œuvres représentatives de la fin du XIXeet du début du XXesiècle, dont la sélection reflète parfaitement l’identité et les choix personnels du couple de collectionneurs. La présentation rend hommage aux plus grands artistes de cette période: Vincent Van Gogh, Pierre Bonnard, Félix Vallotton, Ferdinand Hodler, Giovanni Giacometti, Odilon Redon, Paul Cézanne, Edouard Manet ou Auguste Renoir. La visite se déroulera sous la conduite exceptionnelle de Bernhard et Mania Hahnloser. Ils seront nos invités lors du déjeuner qui suivra. http://www.samah.ch/activites/inscription/excursion-rencontre-d-un-couple-de-collectionneurs/ami-donateur/
MARGRIT & PAUL HAHNLOSER Location: Zurich Employment: Inheritance, surgeon Art Collection: Post-Impressionism; contemporary art http://www.artfortune.com/collectors-10/
Margrit Hahnloser est docteur en études anglaises et histoire de l'art de l'Université de Berne, conservatrice de musée et présidente de l'Association suisse des collectionneurs d'art. http://www.babelio.com/auteur/Margrit-Hahnloser/141512
CHRISTINE & ANDREW HALL
Location: Westport, Connecticut Employment: Commodities trading Art Collection: Contemporary art, especially German http://www.artfortune.com/collectors-10/
The Hall Art Foundation was founded in 2007 and makes available postwar and contemporary art works from its own collection and that of Andrew and Christine Hall for the enjoyment and education of the public. The Hall Art Foundation operates an exhibition space on a former dairy farm in Vermont. The site consists of a converted 19th-century stone farmhouse and three barns located in the village of Reading. Exhibitions are held there seasonally, from May through November, and are open to the public by appointment, free-of-charge. The Hall Art Foundation also has an exhibition partnership with the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, in North Adams, Massachusetts, the largest contemporary art museum in North America. In September of 2013, the Foundation opened a long-term installation of sculpture and paintings by Anselm Kiefer in a specifically repurposed, 10,000 square-foot building on the MASS MoCA campus. In 2014, the Foundation landscaped the area surrounding this building in order to present long-term installations of outdoor sculpture. In 2013, the Hall Art Foundation entered into a partnership with the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology in Oxford, England to present a series of exhibitions of contemporary and postwar art curated by Sir Norman Rosenthal. These semi-annual exhibitions are held in the Ashmolean’s central gallery on the lower ground floor, and are open to students and the general public free-of-charge. The Hall Art Foundation collaborates with other public institutions around the world to organize exhibitions and facilitate loans from its own collection and that of the Halls. As part of its educational activities, it has published, co-published and/or provided substantial financial support for the publication of about a dozen books relating to the exhibitions it has organized and co-organized. Together, the Hall and Hall Art Foundation collections comprise some 5,000 works by several hundred artists including Richard Artschwager, Georg Baselitz, Joseph Beuys, Olafur Eliasson, Eric Fischl, Joerg Immendorff, Anselm Kiefer, Malcolm Morley, A. R. Penck, Julian Schnabel, Ed Ruscha, Andy Warhol and Franz West. http://www.hallartfoundation.org/about/mission
Christine and Andrew Hall founded the Hall Art Foundation in 2007 with the stated goal of making postwar and contemporary artworks from their own collection accessible to the public. The foundation operates a space on a former dairy farm in Vermont and additionally has ongoing exhibition partnerships with the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, in North Adams, Massachusetts, and the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology in Oxford, England. Their collection consists of over 5,000 works, among them pieces by Richard Artschwager, Georg Baselitz, Joseph Beuys, Olafur Eliasson, Eric Fischl, A. R. Penck, Julian Schnabel, Ed Ruscha, Andy Warhol, and Franz West. http://www.artnews.com/top200/christine-and-andrew-hall/
Andrew Hall is an oil trader who’s made about $100 million in a single year. Now he has another pursuit: selling handmade lavender soap and grass-fed Angus beef sourced from his farm in Reading, Vt. Hall, 62, chief executive officer of Phibro, now the commodity-trading unit of Occidental Petroleum, has bought more than 2,400 acres in Reading, according to local real estate records. He has torn down at least a half-dozen homes in the central Vermont town (pop. 666) and last year opened an appointment-only art museum in buildings that once housed a dairy farm. “Look at the rest of the world—it’s going to hell in a wheelbarrow, and he’s trying to keep a little section of Vermont the way it was,” says John Mitchell, a neighbor and former town auditor. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-03-14/oil-trading-god-andrew-hall-makes-a-home-in-vermont
EMMA HALL Emma Hall comes by her love of art honestly—her parents are mega-collectors Andy and Christine Hall, whose appointment-only Vermont art museum, the Hall Art Foundation, features work by Anselm Kiefer, Georg Baselitz, and Joseph Beuys. Hall got her start in the art world working at Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Haunch of Venison and now manages special projects and communications at the family museum. She’s also passionate about painting. “I like to feel the artist’s presence in the work. I like to feel color and emotion in art,” she told Artinfo in 2012. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/young-collectors-to-watch-2016-415178
Interview With Expert Emma Hall On Last Night's Brazen Art Theft As you probably know, there was a major heist in Paris last night. Someone in a hood, wearing a face covering and who has the balls to steal over $500 million in art from a museum, did and five major works of art were stolen. So we asked Emma Hall, the head of external affairs at a major contemporary gallery, to take a stab at who did it. She can't guess exactly who took the art (probably a very wealthy pack rat), but can the works ever be sold? (No) How do you steal art? (It involves knives) Educate yourself below. Emma's thoughts: In regards to the theft: F*** that sucks. How exactly do you steal art? In many galleries smaller works are secured (screwed) onto the wall so someone can't just take it off the wall and slip it under their coat. I have heard of that happening in galleries. So it's unbelievable: These guys (usually) slice the canvases out of the frames. Then how long does a thief have to wait before he can sell? They can never sell. It's amazing that there is such a fetish to own works of art that you can NEVER show. This is "collecting" taken to the Nth degree. Not even in 100 years? No, this is in the public record. One can't sell stolen goods, that's illegal. I guess if in 100 years, the Museum of Modern Art in Paris no longer exists... Well wait, in 100 years, are these paintings even going to be around? I can't imagine what sort of damage paintings sustain being rumpled up and whisked out of a broken window. I mean we handle these things with such care, white cottons gloves and such, so for some thief to literally cut the painting out of the frame roll it up under his arm and jet off is horrifying... All the little cracks and flaking; the damage the work undergoes is sad. They will be in pretty bad shape considering what they have undergone. What will happen to them? I'm sure they will stay in the family or be sold on the black market of stolen art but these pieces will never surface at auction or any sort of legitimate venue. You've got to say something about who did it. That's definitely not the sort of business I'm in, that's for sure. Come on, take a stab. I am sure some super wealthy guy who has a fetish for collecting amazing things paid for the theft. You have to pay a lot of money to get someone to risk going to jail to steal over € 500 million worth of art. We hope to bring Emma back whenever something big happens in the art world. http://www.businessinsider.fr/us/emma-hall-art-theft-2010-5/
DIANE & BRUCE HALLE
Location: Arizona; Colorado Employment: Tires (discount tire company) Art Collection: Latin American art; contemporary sculpture http://www.artfortune.com/collectors-10/
Bruce Halle is a businessman who founded the Discount Tire empire, the world’s largest independent tire and wheel retailer. As of 2014, he was the 248th richest person in the world. Together with his wife, Diane, he created the Diane and Bruce Halle Collection, a private collection of 20th- and 21st-century Latin American art located in Scottsdale, Arizona. Why Latin American art? “When I became serious about actually collecting, I wanted to have a region that was my own, one that I could explore by myself,” Diane explained to the Houston Chronicle in 2007. http://www.artnews.com/top200/diane-and-bruce-halle/
Constructing a Poetic Universe presents inventive works by some of the most significant Latin American artists of the 20th century as well as artists showing promise for the 21st century. The exhibition features nearly 60 works from 1945 to 2005 that incorporate unusual media such as cow bladder, ficus root, vinyl mattresses, and sea sponges. Among the major artists represented are Gego, Felix González-Torres, Guillermo Kuitca, Ana Mendieta, Mira Schendel, and Tunga. The Halle Collection, comprising approximately 300 objects, is considered one of the finest American-owned private collections dedicated to modern and contemporary Latin American art. The Halles’ definition of Latin American artists includes those born in Latin America and now working in the United States and Europe, as well as artists born in the United States and Europe now working in Latin America. The majority of the works in the collection are paintings and sculptures, but also well represented are installation, drawing, photography, video, and film. This exhibition mirrors the strengths of the Halle Collection, featuring primarily paintings and sculptures, with several works in other media. http://latinart.mfah.org/collections-exhibitions/exhibitions/constructing-poetic-universe-diane-and-bruce-halle/
Overview: The philanthropic vehicle of billionaire Bruce Halle, the founder of Discount Tire, and his wife Diane, the Diane & Bruce Halle Foundation does most of its grantmaking in Arizona, with particular interests in fighting homelessness, providing justice, and supporting human services. Funding areas: Human Services, Education, Health, Arts IP take: The Halle Foundation website states that it prefers to invest its "time and talent to collaborate with its network of resources to solve issues rather than support agencies." While the foundation doesn't accept unsolicited proposals, a project summary can be submitted to Halle via email. Profile: Arizona's richest individual, Bruce Halle, and his wife Diane, are currently worth $6 billion. Halle is the man behind Discount Tire, the world's largest independent tire and wheel retailer. Halle attended Eastern Michigan University and launched his first Discount Tire more than half a century ago in Ann Arbor. Today, Discount Tire has more than 850 locations in 25 states. The Halles live in Paradise Valley, Arizona, and founded the Diane and Bruce Halle Foundation in 2002. Discount Tire engages in charity as well. The Diane and Bruce Halle Foundation, meanwhile, describes its mission as creating and implementing "collaborative philanthropy, while working with its grant partners to multiply the impact of each investment it makes." Halle lists seven focus areas: Social Justice, homelessness, hunger, human services, education, health & medicine, and arts & culture. http://www.insidephilanthropy.com/southwest-grantmakers/diane-bruce-halle-foundation-arizona-grants.html
LIN HAN Position : Co-founder of M WOODS, Beijing Location : Beijing Favorite work in their collection : Guido van der Werve, Nummer veertien, home (2012) Most recent purchase : A stone sculpture from the Chinese Northern Qi Dynasty, brought back from Europe Collecting power-couple Lin and Lei cofounded Beijing’s private contemporary art museum M WOODS with Huang in 2014. “We arrived at collecting in different ways,” explains Lin, who studied animation design before founding an events company for luxury brands in mainland China in 2009. While Lin made his first purchase in 2013, “Wanwan has been around art and artists her whole life,” he says of Lei, who began her first of many gallery jobs at age 17 while earning her undergraduate art history degree at Beijing’s Central Academy of Fine Art. She also modeled for Chinese painter Liu Ye during this time. “I had less exposure in my younger years but I started collecting when I realized I had so much to learn from artists,” adds Lin. “I think that art offers new energy—it is like the sun, or a light that enables people to see each other. This is why we collect and why we want to share the collection.” Lin’s first purchase was a mask painting by contemporary Chinese artist Zeng Fanzhi. But recently, the couple have begun exploring cross-period commonalities. “We have been looking to the past a lot, but only because we see this as a tool to better understand the future,” says Lei. With this ethos, the pair have plans to open a second Beijing space outside of the 798 hub, specifically geared toward showing emerging artists. https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-12-collectors-shaping-the-chinese-art-world
Lin Han is 28 years old Beijing-based art collector, who does not have formal art education. In 2013, he bought at auction a 1997 Mask Series painting by Zeng Fanzhi for US$1 million. His parents, investors who formerly worked in the Chinese army, don’t collect art, but they pay for 20% to 30% of his art purchases, which totaled $4 million last year, and helped Lin, an entrepreneur, fund his private museum in Beijing. Lin’s collections include works from established artists such as Algeria-born French artist Kader Attia and English artist Tracey Emin, as well as emerging artists such as Brazil’s Lucas Arruda and British painter Jack McConville. He also has quite interesting Instagram profile, where you can see him posing with celebrities and other famous people. http://www.widewalls.ch/young-art-collectors-china/lin-han/
Q: What are the sources of finance to support your art collection and exhibitions? My firm is making a profit to support the museum. My parents have also set up a special family fund to be used exclusively for art investment and they’ve entrusted me to be the fund manager. Obviously more sources of financing or sponsorship are needed for the operating costs, seminars and exhibitions at the museum. It’s very expensive to run a museum in the 798 Art Zone, aboutUS$1 million a year to cover the basic expenditure to operate. We are now decorating the room next to the museum to be an arts and crafts store, which is expected to generate revenue to support the non-profit museum. http://www.scmp.com/news/china/money-wealth/article/1804205/below-surface-lin-han-and-art-collecting
27, studied animation design at Northumbria University in the United Kingdom. His first art purchase was a Zeng Fanzhi painting in 2013, which was the cover of Sotheby's 40th anniversary day auction. Since then, he has opened the first private art museum in Beijing's 798 Art District, the M Woods Museum, featuring more than 200 works. Lin is based in Beijing. I started collecting when I realized how important art is to us. The first piece of art that caught my eye was a painting by Zeng Fanzhi. It was on the cover of Sotheby’s 40th anniversary day sale, and is also the very first piece of my collection. I do not want any boundaries or rules in my collection. I collect works by very established artists such as Tracey Emin or Raoul De Keyser, but also works by artists who haven’t made a name yet, such as Sarah Peoples, Gao Ludi or Charles Harlan. One piece particularly important to me is “Open Your Eyes” by Kader Attia, which was shown at Documenta last year. I view it as one of the most important piece of my collection because the work inspired me from many ways. It enlarged the scope of my mind and changed my perspective of thinking. More importantly, it convinced me that art truly could be in any medias. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandreerrera/2014/11/11/chinas-new-power-collectors-part-1/#3903784d72b4
HILARY HATCH-RUBENSTEIN New York A psychoanalyst by trade and a chairman of the Junior Associates at MoMA, Hatch-Rubenstein has an appetite for art influenced by her parents’ longtime involvement with the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Her first individual purchase, at the age of 15, was an Andy Warhol print of Greta Garbo. Since then her collection has grown to include artists such as Yayoi Kusama, Jim Lambie, Nick Relph and Oliver Payne, Franz West, Tomma Abts, and Mark Leckey. http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/816177/the-50-most-exciting-art-collectors-under-50-part-2
Hilary Hatch-Rubenstein, a Manhattan psychoanalyst and collector who flies in for Frieze every year, tells the story of a lavish invitationonly show given by the Greek collector Dakis Joannou. To mark the opening of his new private museum in Athens, he flew several hundred guests in on a chartered plane from Basel, pampered them and showed them round. "On the bus coming back from seeing the collection, one of the guests said, rather aggressively, 'So what was all that about?'" Hatch-Rubenstein tells me. "And a guy screams from the back of the bus: 'It means he has it, and you don't!' "There is an element of that. There's a lot of competition, a lot of acquisitiveness, a lot of greed, but also an enormous amount of admiration for artists - a vicarious living through artists' self-expression." In a Soho hotel this week, looking alert for someone who had only had four hours' sleep on an overnight flight from New York, Hatch- Rubenstein was remembering her first acquisition and looking forward to Frieze. The first piece she bought was 20 years ago, when she was 15: an Andy Warhol print of Greta Garbo. It used up her entire summer holiday allowance - $1,000. "My brothers thought I was completely insane ... For $2,000, I could have had a Mari- lyn Monroe. For some reason, the Garbo was more intriguing. The Marilyn would have been worth more now, but the Garbo is still on my wall, and I don't think the Marilyn would be." As a psychologist, Hatch-Rubenstein has given more thought than most to why people collect. "There's a lot of enjoyment," she says. "Sometimes I come home after a long day, flop down in a chair, look at the wall and become lost in thought staring at a piece I've had for years. One of the books I read about collecting says that it's like collecting friends or people. There's an actual relationship to a work of art ... there's some kind of aliveness, or a dialogue." Like most collectors, Hatch-Rubenstein is shy of talking about the value of her collection. She does say that the most she has ever paid for a single work was $60-70,000. She owns pieces by Yayoi Kusama, Jim Lambie, Nick Relph and Oliver Payne, Franz West and Tomma Abst. At last year's Frieze, she bought Marc Leckey's video, Made in 'Eaven. "Sometimes you come to the fair and know there's something you're looking for. You've communicated with a dealer, they've sent you an image, and you say, 'At two o'clock, I'll go to your booth,' and they say, 'OK, but I'm only going to hold it for the first 10 minutes.' Sometimes, you don't go in looking for anything. This year, I'm really open to seeing something new." https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2005/oct/21/art.friezeartfair20052
BARBARA & AXEL HAUBROK The collection of Barbara und Axel Haubrok in Berlin is one of the leading collections of contemporary art in Germany. Like no other, it focuses consistently on international contemporary Concept Art and thus on multimedia art, in particular on video, photography and installations. (...) In the first few years, Barbara and Axel Haubrok concentrated on collecting abstract Minimalist paintings. Via works by Gu nter Fo rg, which also included photography and sculpture, the path led them at the beginning of the new millennium to Concept art, which now forms the focal point of the collection. Today the Haubrok Collection embraces more than 750 works, among others by Martin Boyce, Carol Bove , Martin Creed, Wade Guyton, Georg Herold, Jonathan Monk, Peter Piller, Stephen Prina, Wolfgang Tillmans. Christopher Williams, Haegue Yang and Heimo Zobernig. http://www.deichtorhallen.de/index.php?id=264&L=1
"I learn from art" – Arterritory's Una Meistere speaks to Berlin based collector Axel Haubrok about the difference between museums and private spaces, what makes a good collection and and why he thinks galleries should continue to play a vital role in the collecting business. The taxi driver who takes me to the Lichtenberg district in eastern Berlin, the current home of German art collector Axel Haubrok’s art space, says that this is only the second time he’s come to this part of the city. Along the way he shows me a gigantic market square – that’s the Chinese market, where you can find absolutely anything possible. Based on the people coming out of the market carrying huge plastic bags full of purchases, it seems that he’s telling the truth. Lichtenberg is an industrial territory that people don’t normally visit unless they have a reason to. When the taxi stops at the address I’ve given him, the only thing pointing to the existence of Haubrok’s art space here is a very large white advertisement stand with the word FAHRBEREITSCHAFT. Beyond the gate is a typical industrial landscape, with various repair shops lined up one next to the other. Nothing here points to the presence of art, except maybe the installation – layers of electric light bulbs – that one can see through one of the open doors. So, this is the right address after all. At the moment, the next exhibition is still only in the process of being set up, and Haubrok’s assistant takes me into a small room that’s empty except for a plywood table and two chairs taped up with brightly coloured duct tape and some Franz West posters on the wall. The table and chairs are West’s as well, although a screw on one of the chairs is loose and the assistant recommends I not sit on that chair. But Haubrok himself sits down on it a moment later...with no negative consequences. Haubrok acquired the former East German depot and garage complex in 2012. With 18,000 square metres of space, he has rented some of the former garages to artists to use as studios, while others are still being used by their original inhabitants – auto mechanics, painters and so on. He says that it’s precisely this eclectic mix that he likes best about the place. Except for a small cosmetic spruce-up, the exterior of the buildings has remained almost unchanged, stuck in their East German past. Ceramic tiles, concrete floors, slightly buckling linoleum, flaking paint on window frames, pocket-sized rooms. Only the walls have a fresh layer of paint here and there, in order to better exhibit artwork. Everything else serves as a self-sufficient backdrop to an ever new and extraordinary dialogue with its worldly resident – art. A little over a year ago, when I interviewed another German art collector, Egidio Marzona (who has been called the 20th century’s art archivist), he called Haubrok one of the three true collectors of our era. He believes there are very few such collectors left in this age, when the market has triumphed above all else. Harald Falckenberg in Hamburg and Bernardo Paz in Brazil are the other two true collectors, according to Marzona. Like Marzona’s own collection, Haubrok’s collection also focuses on conceptual art. Although, when Haubrok and his wife, Barbara, began collecting art back in 1988, it was paintings they sought. They only turned to conceptual art around the turn of the millennium, when they acquired several pieces by Günther Förg. Today, the Haubrok Collection contains over one thousand pieces of art, including works by Jonathan Monk, Christopher Williams, Heimo Zobernig, Martin Boyce and Martin Creed. In 2008 they established the Haubrok Foundation and gave the core of their collection (about fourteen works of art) to the Nationalgalerie in Berlin on permanent loan. Among these works are Martin Creed’s The Lights Off (2001), Olafur Eliasson’s Highlighter (1999), Tino Sehgal’s This is Propaganda (2003) and Elmgreen & Dragset’s Queer Bar (1996). Works from the Haubrok collection can also be regularly seen at various group exhibitions, and they were also featured at the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg in 2012-2013 as a part of the No Desaster project created in collaboration with Falckenberg. https://independent-collectors.com/interviews/axel-haubrok
ELIZABETH & RICHARD HEDREEN Location: Seattle. Employment: Real estate. Art Collection: Modern and contemporary art http://www.artfortune.com/collectors-10/
When hotel developer Richard Hedreen was audited at work in 1984, the Department of Revenue auditor noticed the offices were full of art. "He asked me if I'd paid use tax on my art purchases, and I said 'no,' " Hedreen said. "He told me not to worry about it, that the Revenue Department didn't collect use tax from private art collectors." He should have gotten that in writing. Fast-forward nearly 20 years. In 2003, much to his surprise, the state's revenue agency presented him with a bill for $25 million, including penalties and interest, for the previous four years' worth of art purchases. "That was way out of line," said Hedreen. When he called the agent (Linda Fryant), she admitted to him that she sent the letter just to get his attention, he said. "Is that fair?" he asked. "She just picked a figure out of the air." He declined to say what he actually owed or what he ended up paying. Hedreen's experience predated the Artech investigation that the Department of Revenue launched in 2004, which examined the company's art purchases within the region. When more than 50 art collectors got tax summonses the following year, Hedreen advised those who asked him to pay, but he questions the legality of the investigation. His accountant, Dave Eskenazy, agrees with him. "Suppose you're staying at a hotel and you rent a dirty movie," said Eskenazy. "The state audits the hotel and decides to take a look at its clients, specifically, who rented the dirty movies. I think that's a fair parallel, and I think it's wrong. The state can audit Artech as a business, but can it go after its clients?" The Department of Revenue says it can. Agency spokesman Mike Gowrylow doesn't think the "dirty movie" comparison holds up. "Renting X-rated movies isn't illegal, but not paying your taxes is," he said. Eskenazy says the department went after Hedreen because he's prominent. Some less prominent art collectors are relieved to hear it. One who wanted to remain anonymous said she felt safe from the DOR. "I've never used Artech," she said. "I buy from galleries in this country, so I can't trigger a customs inspection. Galleries ship directly to me. If I were a good person, I'd pay the tax, but I'm not so I'm not going to." Seattle art collector Lyn Grinstein, wife of Gerald Grinstein, chairman of Delta Air Lines, has a different view. "I have no problem with this tax," she said. "I think it's smart. They're trying to collect the most money for the state with the least effort. Art collectors are a good source. I didn't know about the use tax, but when I found out, we had our lawyer contact (the DOR). We paid what they said we owed, and I think they waived penalties and interest. There isn't a major art collector in the city who can't afford to pay. I can't understand what the complaining is about." Herman Sarkowsky said he heard from the DOR about a year ago regarding an art purchase, but he'd bought the artwork in question in the state and paid sales tax at the gallery. "We weren't harassed," he said. "They just asked. We answered, and they went away." He says he knew about the DOR investigation and assumes his name turned up through Artech but isn't bothered by it in the least. "We have an accountant who keeps us out of jail," he said. Susan Brotman, wife of Costco founder Jeff Brotman and president of the board of the Seattle Art Museum, said she heard from the DOR about an art purchase through a customs check. "We took care of it, but I think it's an obscure tax and needs to be enforced equally. I don't think it's right to pick out a category of taxpayer, like art collectors, and pursue them. If it's the law, everybody should pay it." Another major collector who wished to remain anonymous said complaining was productive. After getting billed from the DOR, he said he managed to argue the agency down to no penalties and interest and a reduced principal. "I paid 50 cents on the dollar by getting into their face," he said. "I wouldn't have paid that because I don't think it's fair, but I don't need the aggravation." Barney Ebsworth, who moved to Seattle from St. Louis several years ago, is not a fan of the use tax either. An exhibition organized by the National Gallery featuring his collection came to the Seattle Art Museum in the late 1990s. "It's a bad idea and discouraging to art collectors," he said. "You have a young museum (The Seattle Art Museum) here. I realize this might sound like an elitist view, but if local art collectors feel penalized by the state, it will affect the museum and it won't be able to realize its great potential. Most art collectors are passionate and will continue to collect, but if they had homes in other states, they might not bring the art here, and that would be a shame." Grinstein said the result of the Artech investigation and an earlier story about it in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is that "everybody (in the art collecting community) knows about the use tax now. There's 100 percent awareness. I'll bet millions of dollars are coming in voluntarily, and that's a good thing." http://www.seattlepi.com/ae/article/Art-collectors-divided-over-tax-issue-1173945.php
ALEXANDER HELLER The son of New York–based dealer Leila Heller, Alexander obviously learned quite a bit from his upbringing in the art world. “I first attended Art Basel at the age of 4,” Heller recalls. Now, his eclectic collection of roughly 70 pieces is divided, he says, between Western and Middle Eastern work, including that of Farhad Moshiri, Shiva Ahmadi, Afruz Amighi, Damien Hirst, George Condo, and Marilyn Minter. “The period of art which I most admire is the 1950s and ’60s movement in America, particularly Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, and Robert Rauschenberg,” he says. “Leo Castelli is a hero of mine, and one day I hope to have a collection full of works by the artists whom he represented and promoted.” http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/816177/the-50-most-exciting-art-collectors-under-50-part-2
A young art dealer makes his stamp on the international art market while building a collection of contemporary luminaries. “When I was probably seven or eight years old, I remember seeing a big cow painting at Christie’s, and I fell madly in love with it,” New York-based gallerist and curator Alexander Heller tells Paddle8. “I just was very much attracted to the imagery, and thought it was very out there. Why would a cow be yellow when it’s supposed to be black and white? And why is it against a purple background?” The cow in question was, of course, part of Andy Warhol’s famous bovine series. Now, at 24, Heller has his own Warhol cow, this one yellow against a deep blue. That a piece of iconic pop art had such a magnetic pull on Heller as a child is unsurprising. The son of Leila Heller, an Iranian ex-pat who founded the Leila Heller Gallery in New York in 1982, Alexander Heller was destined to have a discerning eye, whether he realized it or not. “The whole process of learning about art was very much one of osmosis—being around art, going to exhibitions, going to art fairs, going to auctions when I was young,” he explains. “These sorts of experiences created a knowledge base that I didn’t really know I had until I tapped into more defined interests in art. Then I understood that I knew a lot more than I thought I did.” Growing up, Heller’s mother kept a robust collection that served as a primer on contemporary art, and Heller remembers being surrounded by pieces by Warhol, Keith Haring, and Damien Hirst. But there was a more urgent political bent to the other artists whose work made up the backdrop of Heller’s childhood, young artists from the Middle East whose work Heller says “was injected with passion and a real message.” Heller has been building a collection essentially since birth. In lieu of Tonka Trucks or the like, he received a work of art every year on his birthday, and upon entering his teenage years, he discovered the thrill of acquiring and selling works on his own. “When I was 16, I had 16 works of art that were mine. When you’re 16 years old and you don’t really have anything that’s yours in the world, that was a big deal,” he recalls. “I remember I sold two pieces right when I realized this, and I bought about five more works of art. Then I sold something else, and then I bought another few works of art.” A fire had been lit. From there, Heller says he began collecting “voraciously,” bidding at auctions, researching artists, going to every gallery show. Though he’d been attending Art Basel ever since he was a child, when he turned 18 he decided to hit all of the smaller satellite fairs for the first time. “I picked up 10 works of art, all young stuff that I really liked, and that’s when I was like, ‘Okay, this is a very real thing.’” (...) At his home in Greenwich Village, Heller likes to think of his collection as an evolving organism. “I treat my collection much more as what I've owned over the course of time, not what I own at the moment. I think a lot of dealers can relate to that,” he explains. Still, at the moment Heller owns, he estimates, about 90 works, which he says fall into three categories. “The first is things that I just find cool, a lot of Richard Prince imagery—cars, cowboys, very macho sort of stuff. Photography is also another big focus of mine, especially black and white and fashion photography. I own a bunch of works by Albert Watson, Marilyn Minter, and these sorts of artists,” Heller says. “The final category is the artists we represent [at the Dubai gallery], which is what I’m collecting mostly now because my blood, sweat, and tears have gone into the project.” https://paddle8.com/editorial/collector-spotlight-alexander-heller/
CARLOS SLIM HELÚ You have to be brave to take on the traffic in Mexico City. But the world’s richest man, at the wheel of his car, certainly relishes a challenge. With a convoy of bodyguards following closely behind in blacked-out 4x4s, his navy Mercedes darts across the lanes. “Would you like me to scare you?” he says with a twinkle in his eye, accelerating suddenly and laughing at my braced position as we jostle through the congested streets. This is not what I had expected when I was granted a rare interview with Carlos Slim Helú. But Mr Slim is no ordinary multi-billionaire. His 42-year-old son Marco Antonio – “Tony” – sitting in the back of the car, laughs when I ask if his father normally drives himself around. “Always,” he replies. Despite his $53.5 billion (£32.9 billion) fortune, the 71-year-old lives in a modest six-bedroom house a mile from his office, and has no interest in flashy super-yachts or palatial houses around the world. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/8335604/Carlos-Slim-At-home-with-the-worlds-richest-man.html
Location: Mexico City Source of wealth: Telecommunications, finance, and retail Collecting area: modern art, especially Rodin; Old Masters; pre-Columbian and colonial Mexican art « I believe that we have to find means for all desirable things to be universally accessible,” Carlos Slim Helú told an interviewer for the Telegraph in 2011. “Culture. Entertainment. Sport. Communication. Health. Food. Housing. The fundamental things.” Slim definitely counts art among the “fundamental things,” and he has found a way to make it accessible to everyone (at least everyone who lives in or visits Mexico City)—buy 66,000 works of art, build your own museum, and open it to the public for free. Soumaya Museum, named after Slim’s late wife, is a massive 81,000-square-foot structure with six floors that houses everything from the largest collection of Rodin sculptures in private hands to the largest collection of pre-Hispanic and colonial coins in the world. Cézanne, Renoir, van Gogh, Matisse, da Vinci, Rivera, and countless other masters of European and Mexican art make up Slim’s $700 million collection—a collection which also includes a vast archive of letters and priceless historical documents. There’s a bronze copy of Michelangelo’s Pietà, the writings of Christopher Columbus and Cortés, and a collection of 2,000 spoons. “When you buy a collection you have to exhibit it,” Slim said, also in his 2011 Telegraph interview. “You have to share it.” Fun fact: Although he is one of the richest men in the world, Slim lives in a modest home one mile away from his office and three miles away from where he was born. His late wife grew up in the same neighborhood. http://www.artnews.com/top200/carlos-slim-helu/
Le milliardaire mexicain Carlos Slim Helú vient d’inaugurer le musée Soumaya à Mexico, qui abrite sa vaste collection d’art pré-hispanique, mexicain européen. Le musée ouvrira ses portes le 29 mars 2011 et sera l’un des plus importants d’Amérique Latine. Le musée porte le nom de la femme de l’homme d’affaire, décédée il y a plusieurs années. Il abrite en tout 66.000 pièces et fait partie du plan de développement urbain Plaza Carso, un programme de 800 M$ comprenant des logements et un hôtel de luxe pour un quartier huppé de la capitale. L’architecte Fernando Romero a conçu le bâtiment en s’inspirant du sculpteur Auguste rodin. Les collections présentent des œuvres de Cézanne, Renoir, Matisse, Léonard de Vinci, Diego Rivera, ainsi que des pièces de monnaie et des documents pré-hispaniques et coloniaux de la conquête espagnole du Mexique au XVIe siècle. La collection phare du musée est celle des sculptures de l’artiste Rodin. Désigné en 2010 l’homme le plus riche du monde par le magazine Forbes, la fortune de Carlos Slim Helú est estimée à 53,5 milliards $. Il a fait fortune dans les télécommunications et contrôle à présent des magasins de vente au détail, des mines et des sociétés de forage pétrolier. Avec ce musée qui sera complètement gratuit, il désire stimuler le « développement humain » de son pays. https://fr.artmediaagency.com/4463/le-milliardaire-carlos-slim-helu-ouvre-un-musee-a-mexico-pour-abriter-ses-collections/
YDESSA HENDELES Location: Toronto Employment: Investments Art Collection: Contemporary art; photography http://www.artfortune.com/collectors-10/
Ydessa Hendeles, C.M., O.Ont., PhD, LL.D. (Hon.), D.F.A. (Hon.), A.O.C.A.D., D.T.A.T.I. (born 1948 in Germany) is a Canadian artist-curator and philanthropist. She is also the director of the Ydessa Hendeles Art Foundation based in Toronto, Canada. Previously, Hendeles taught art history (New School of Art, Toronto), ran a commercial gallery (The Ydessa Gallery) and was an independent curator. A graduate of the University of Toronto, the New School of Art and the Toronto Art Therapy Institute, Hendeles earned her PhD, cum laude, from the Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis at the University of Amsterdam. In 2009 Hendeles donated 32 works of International and Canadian contemporary art to the Art Gallery of Ontario. This donation represented the most significant single gift of contemporary art in the gallery's history. In 1980, Hendeles opened The Ydessa Gallery in Toronto, a commercial space devoted to the presentation of Canadian contemporary art. The gallery represented such artists as Kim Adams, Shelagh Alexander, Tony Brown, FASTWÜRMS, Andreas Gehr, Rodney Graham, Noel Harding, Nancy Johnson, Ken Lum, Liz Magor, John Massey, John McEwen, Peter Hill, Sandra Meigs, Jana Sterbak, Jeff Wall and Krzysztof Wodiczko. Hendeles closed The Ydessa Gallery in 1988. (...) In 2003, Hendeles guest-curated Partners, a 16-gallery exhibition for the Haus der Kunst, Munich, at the invitation of then-incoming director Chris Dercon and the new chief curator, Thomas Weski. For Partners Hendeles combined work by Diane Arbus, Maurizio Cattelan, James Coleman, Hanne Darboven, Walker Evans, Luciano Fabro, On Kawara, Paul McCarthy, Bruce Nauman, Giulio Paolini, Jeff Wall and Lawrence Weiner, together with series of photojournalistic images, anonymous vernacular photographs and antique vernacular objects. This exhibition also included Hendeles's own work Partners (The Teddy Bear Project), 2002, a large-scale installation built around an archive of family-album photographs, each including the image of a teddy bear. Partners (The Teddy Bear Project) was first shown in the group exhibition sameDIFFERENCE at the Ydessa Hendeles Art Foundation in Toronto (2002). It was expanded as a two-gallery installation for Partners at Munich’s Haus der Kunst (2003), then remounted in Noah’s Ark by the National Gallery of Canada (2004) and 10,000 Lives, the 2010 Gwangju Biennale, South Korea. It was exhibited again in 2016 at New York’s New Museum in The Keeper, a group show curated by Massimiliano Gioni. Other exhibitions include Marburg! The Early Bird! at the Marburger Kunstverein (de), Germany (2010); The Wedding (The Walker Evans Polaroid Project) with Roni Horn at Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York (2011); and THE BIRD THAT MADE THE BREEZE TO BLOW at Galerie Johann König, Berlin (2012). Her work From her wooden sleep... (2013) was shown at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London, UK in 2015, curated by Philip Larratt-Smith (see external link below). In 2016 Hendeles expanded and augmented From her wooden sleep… specifically for the Helena Rubinstein Pavilion for Contemporary Art at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel, curated by Suzanne Landau. Hendeles is represented by Barbara Edwards Contemporary, Toronto. Her first exhibition for the gallery, Death to Pigs was on view in the fall of 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ydessa_Hendeles
When you have lots of valuable art, you can negotiate how it’s treated when you sell it. Toronto collector and curator Ydessa Hendeles has sold 144 works of contemporary art to the private museum of a U.S. billionaire, on condition that the pieces be shown together as a collection with its own catalogue. Hendeles, who closed her private art foundation last fall, cut the deal with Glenstone, a museum owned and run by Mitchell Rales and his wife Emily on a former hunting estate near their home in Potomac, Md. Glenstone, which opened in 2006, is in the midst of an ambitious expansion that will add 14,000 square meters of space to the museum by 2016. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and-architecture/ydessa-hendeles-sells-some-of-her-collection-to-a-private-usmuseum/article12417104/
ANNICK & ANTON HERBERT Location: Ghent, Belgium Employment: Textile machinery Art Collection: Contemporary art, especially Conceptual, Minimalism, arte povera, and 1980s http://www.artfortune.com/collectors-10/
La Collection Herbert se concentre sur l’avant-garde internationale entre 1968 et 1989. Ces deux dates balisent le cadre dans lequel la Collection se situe et représentent des moments charnières : la révolte étudiante de 1968 comme symbole d’un monde utopique et la chute du mur de Berlin en 1989 qui signifiait la fin de ce rêve. En 1973, 64 Lead Square de Carl Andre (1969) est la première œuvre à entrer dans la Collection. Mais les racines remontent à la Collection Tony Herbert (1902-1959), le père d’Anton Herbert. Tony Herbert est l’un des plus importants collectionneurs de l’expressionnisme flamand et sa vaste collection comprenait des œuvres de Constant Permeke, Gust De Smet, Jean Brusselmans, Edgard Tytgat, Rik Wouters et Frits Van den Berghe. Après le décès de Tony Herbert, Annick et Anton Herbert auraient pu poursuivre le développement de cette collection. Ils choisissent d’emprunter une autre voie. Fernand Spillemaeckers exerça sur eux une grande influence à cet égard en leur faisant découvrir l’avant-garde artistique qu’il représentait avec la Galerie MTL. Les artistes choisis par Annick et Anton Herbert ont en commun la mise en question de la définition traditionnelle de l’œuvre d’art, de la fonction de l’artiste et du monde de l’art. Aux côtés de Carl Andre, on retrouve parmi eux Sol LeWitt, On Kawara, Lawrence Weiner, Marcel Broodthaers, Gilbert & George, Mario Merz, Art & Language, Giulio Paolini, Robert Barry, Gerhard Richter et Bruce Nauman. À partir des années 1980, les changements sociaux entraînent un nouveau défi pour la Collection. Outre le Minimal Art, l’art conceptuel et l’Arte Povera, la nouvelle génération fait son entrée dans la Collection avec entre autres Thomas Schütte, Franz West, Martin Kippenberger et Mike Kelley. L’esprit critique qui se dégage de l’œuvre de ces artistes est la continuation manifeste de l’engagement pris par la Collection dans les années 1970. Les œuvres des artistes suivis par les Herbert et les entretiens qu’ils ont eu avec eux constituent la base d’une réflexion subjective sur l’art et la société. Cet ensemble délimite également le cadre dans lequel s’inscrit la Collection : concentrée sur les artistes occidentaux, elle représente la génération actuelle des Herberts ainsi que les générations antérieure et ultérieure. http://www.herbertfoundation.org/fr/collection
C’est un événement très attendu par tous les amateurs d’art contemporain. Un événement d’envergure internationale qui se passe à Gand. La Herbert Foundation, créée à partir de la collection d’Anton et Annick Herbert, va s’ouvrir pour la première fois au public. Un espace industriel de 2 000 mètres carrés, spécialement rénové pour cela sur la "Coupure", le long d’un canal à Gand, permettra de découvrir, étape par étape, des artistes de cette exigeante, pointue, mais fabuleuse collection. A partir du 20 juin, la Herbert Foundation sera ouverte deux jours par semaine. La première exposition, "As if it could, ouverture", montrera - jusqu’au 26 octobre - une sélection de 50 œuvres et de 250 documents d’archives de la collection (voir page suivante). Pour permettre aux visiteurs de bien comprendre ce qui se joue dans cet art conceptuel et minimal, l’exposition ne se visite qu’en groupe, sous l’accompagnement d’un guide formé à cette intention. Destinée à devenir un centre de recherches de l’histoire de l’art contemporain, la Herbert Foundation mettra aussi prochainement ses archives à la disposition du public. Considérés comme des personnages clefs de l’art contemporain au niveau européen, une référence absolue pour les collectionneurs de l’avant-garde, Annick et Anton Herbert font partie de ces grands collectionneurs belges d’art contemporain dont on parle si souvent. Mais jusqu’ici on ne pouvait que rarement, sur invitation spéciale, voir les trésors (400 œuvres) entreposés à Gand dans une ancienne usine désaffectée, à la Raas van Gaverstraat, juste à côté du nouveau lieu de "la Coupure". http://www.lalibre.be/culture/arts/la-collection-d-annick-et-anton-herbert-s-ouvre-au-public-51bf64bde4b0ac68e0f9211d
MAURO HERLITZKA How One Collector Aims To Empower Public Spirit In The Arts Considered to be one of Latin America’s most relevant art collectors, businessman Mauro Herlitzka is strongly engaged in the region’s art scene to facilitate its growth and exposure into the international art scene. He is the Chairman of Fundacion Espigas and its Documentation Center, gathering and protecting every document referring to the development of Argentina’s visual arts history. The avid art collector was a member of many museum and foundation boards as an advocate to Latin American art. He was former Chairman of arteBA and afterwards, former institutional director of Pinta art fair in New York and London. Discover how the local art scene pushed Herlitzka to become more than a collector, how he foresees the development of conceptual art in Latin America and what needs to be done to foster citizenship in the arts. (...) What is the main motivation behind your collecting? The main motivation behind my collecting is not only about collecting and buying. Let me explain: in 1992 and 1993 I felt I couldn’t move forward with my collection anymore since it didn’t seem to make sense for me to just simply buy and collect pieces. At that point, I started to get involved with art institutions, which helped me develop a keen interest in museums, cultural policies, etc… By that time, I founded Fundación Espigas, a documentation centre on the History of the Visual Arts in Argentina. Do you believe the local scene pushed you to be more than just an art collector? The shift appeared towards the end of the 1980s in the United States. As a businessman, I learnt how important the idea of value creation was to production and I wanted to apply this to culture and to the arts. (...) How do you see the art scene for conceptual art in Latin America? It was not very internationally known but in the last few years it has increasingly established itself in both symbolic and market value. Prominent public and private art institutions are also incorporating conceptual art. (...) Have you ever presented your art collection publicly? I have not. The important thing for me about being a collector is not about the destination but more about the journey and how you play the game. For instance, I used to collect coins when I was young. Once I turned 28 years old, I had the opportunity to present the collection. But for me, that coin collection ended as soon as I presented it. The same thing happened with my Italian baroque collection. Who inspires you in the art world? People that have the capability to create something not only for themselves but also for others, such as museum owners, proactive collectors and other influential people who have built citizenship through art. To name only one out of many: the gallery founder Ruth Benzacar (today a three generation family gallery located in Buenos Aires). (...) What is your advice to young and fresh collectors? Read, travel and see a lot of art. Art fairs are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to art. Young collectors, especially from business professions, have to apply methods of analysis to the art they acquire in order to expand art’s symbolic value, not just its market value. How do you see the art scene in Argentina developing in the near future? I believe there will be an upgrade especially with the sanction of a new law that encourages the private support to the arts. There are more and more private museums developing. Is it necessary to have a private museum nowadays? To build citizenship in a society, like the one we have today, it is crucial for collectors to participate in private and public museums. The museums have to hold not only strong art collections, but also contribute to art knowledge and enrich relationships with society. What was your happiest moment being involved in art? All of it. Art has been a true-life companion. http://www.larryslist.com/artmarket/the-talks/how-one-collector-aims-to-empower-public-spirit-in-the-arts/
DONALD HESS Location: Liebefeld-Bern, Switzerland Employment: Vineyards and properties Art Collection: International contemporary art http://www.artfortune.com/collectors-10/
Donald Hess began collecting art as a young man, following his intuition in the realm of art just as he did in the realm of business. Paying attention to a guidance system that was rooted internally, rather than in the trends and fashions that besieged the art world, he collected works from artists that had a unique perspective and which deeply touched or resonated with him. He made the decision to collect only around 20 living artists at any one time in order that he might be able to follow and support their evolving work over a longer duration. His willingness to be challenged by both the art and the artist showed itself visibly 30 years ago when Swiss artist Rolf Iseli, despite having little money, refused to sell his work to Donald Hess, believing his businesses polluted the earth and were not environmentally sound. The depth of Iseli's convictions provoked Mr. Hess to review his business practices, which sparked the beginning of a deep commitment to sustainable and natural businesses. The Hess Family Estates wineries and vineyards use sustainable, organic and biodynamic practices. Initially comprised of modern and contemporary works from European and US artists, the collection is now international in scope. Donald Hess has been recognized as one of the top two hundred art collectors in ARTnews magazine over the last two decades. Donald Hess initiated public access to his collection with the 1989 opening of The Hess Collection Winery in Napa Valley. The art museum there is housed in the original winery built in 1903. Hess Art Collection museums now include one at Glen Carlou Winery in South Africa and at Bodega ColomĂŠ in Argentina. Because he passionately believes contemporary art should be made available to the widest possible audience and that collectors have a responsibility to make their collections accessible to the public to the best of their ability, the museums are open to the public and free of charge. Mr. Hess continues to collect, and a fourth museum is planned. http://www.hess-family.com/collection.html
MARIELUISE HESSEL Location: Jackson, Wyoming Employment: Investments Art Collection: Contemporary art http://www.artfortune.com/collectors-10/
Marieluise Hessel Artzt was born in Munich, Germany. She lived for many years in Mexico before moving to the United States and becoming a citizen. She is married to Edwin L. Artzt. Marieluise has been a collector of contemporary art since the late 1960's. The wide-ranging collection, which continues to grow, is international in scope, and consists of over 2,000 works. It is housed at theCenter for Curatorial Studies at Bard College (CCS Bard), an international research center dedicated to the study of late 20th and 21st century art, curatorial practice, and contemporary culture. The Center, which Marieluise co-founded in 1992, offers a unique graduate program at the master's degree level in curatorial practice, the study of museum activities, exhibitions, art criticism, and the interpretation of art. The Collection is available to students, scholars and visiting curators. In 2006, CCS Bard inaugurated the Hessel Museum of Art with a major expansion of the galleries and the Center’s exhibition and public programs. (...) http://www.arttable.org/artzt
CCS Bard’s permanent collection of contemporary art includes more than 3,000 works by more than 400 of the most prominent artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. In addition to the Center’s collection of artworks, the CCS Bard Library and Archives house more than 25,000 books and exhibition catalogues focusing on contemporary art, exhibition history, and the theory and interpretation of contemporary art and culture, as well as extensive research archives comprising over 1,000 linear feet of material. Exhibitions are presented year-round in the CCS Bard Galleries and Hessel Museum of Art, providing students with the opportunity to work with world-renowned artists and curators. The exhibition program and the Hessel Collection also serve as the basis for a wide range of public programs and activities exploring art and its role in contemporary society. All CCS Bard exhibitions and public programs are free and open to the public. The foundation of the permanent collection is the Marieluise Hessel Collection of Contemporary Art, which has been the resident collection of CCS Bard for nearly two decades. The Hessel Collection is international in scope, with paintings, photographs, and works on paper, sculptures, videos and video installations from the 1960s to the present including notable representations from many of the foremost movements in contemporary art; Minimalism, Arte Povera, Transavantgarde, Neo-expressionism, Pattern and Decoration, The Hairy Who and Chicago Imagists, Post-minimalists, and New Media, among others. The Collection includes works by Janine Antoni, Georg Baselitz, Paul Chan, William Copley, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Rachel Harrison, Mona Hatoum, Donald Judd, Jannis Kounellis, Sol LeWitt, Robert Kushner, Bruce Nauman, Nam June Paik, Raymond Pettibon, Sigmar Polke, William Pope.L, Rosemarie Trockel, Kiki Smith, Christopher Wool and many, many more. Recent acquisitions include works by Chantal Akerman, Moyra Davey, Andrea Fraser, Sherrie Levine, Josiah McElheny, Laurel Nakadate, Philippe Parreno and Rirkrit Tiravanija, Haim Steinbach and Gillian Wearing. The Collection has extensive holdings of photographs by artists that have influenced a generation such as Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Larry Clark, VALIE EXPORT, Saul Fletcher, Nan Goldin, Nikki Lee, Robert Mapplethorpe, Ana Mendieta, An-My Lê, Gabriel Orozco, Cindy Sherman, Karlheinz Weinberger, to name a few. New works are continually being added to the collection. Recent additions include works by Robert Gober, Thomas Hirschhorn, Roni Horn, Rosemarie Trockel, and Franz West. Exhibitions are presented year-round in the CCS Bard Galleries and Hessel Museum of Art, with artist’s project’s, speakers’ series, conferences and other public events organized concurrently to expand and extend both our students’ and the public’s experience of viewing contemporary art. Vist our exhibitions page and calendar for a list of upcoming projects and events. The permanent collection also has works that have been given to the Center by Eileen and Michael Cohen, Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz, Asher Edelman, Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg, Robert Gober, Joan and Gerald Kimmelman, Eileen Harris Norton and Peter Norton, Toni and Martin Sosnoff, Thea Westreich, and Ethan Wagner. Many of the gifts are works from the 1990s by young and mid-career artists. http://www.bard.edu/ccs/view/the-collection/
GRANT HILL While all of his charitable work has been inspiring, Grant turned a lifelong love of art into what may be his most benevolent endeavor off the court. One of the world's premier collectors of African American art, Grant wanted to draw attention to a facet of popular culture that has gone unrecognized and unappreciated for far too long — African American art. Grant sponsored a nearly three year, seven city tour of his personal art collection entitled "Something All Our Own: The Grant Hill Collection of African American Art." This is an atypical example of an athlete capitalizing on the incredible power and influence that is often left unexplored by professional athletes. Featuring a large collection of African American artists, including the works of celebrated masters Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, as well as the work of artists including Hughie Lee-Smith, John Biggers, Phoebe Beasely, Malcolm Brown, Edward Jackson, John Coleman and Arthello Beck, Jr., the popular exhibition attracted visitors of all ages and ethnic backgrounds. Grant's message stressed the importance for young boys and girls to witness African Americans who have been successful outside of sports and entertainment. In conjunction with the exhibition, Grant created the "Something All Our Own Scholarship," which provided educational assistance to college students interested in pursuing a degree in visual arts. Through these efforts, Grant encouraged creative exploration of avenues beyond sports and entertainment while sharing his appreciation of artists who have played an important part in his life. http://www.granthill.com/hill-ventures/fine-art
Grant Hill’s Tips for New Collectors Discover what you like Before you start buying, visit galleries and museums and begin to form an opinion on what you like. “As athletes, we’re fortunate that we have some downtime in various cities,” Hill says. “You can go to galleries, visit bookstores and learn about what speaks to you before you open up the checkbook.” Start small You don’t have to start your collection with the Mona Lisa. Build slowly. “You can start out by purchasing prints,” Hill advises. “Look for things that you are drawn to. Everyone interprets art differently. What I like may be different to what you like. Try to find a certain genre that appeals to you and start there.” Gather information Hill recommends meeting with various dealers to gather as much information as you can before you spend any money. “Just like anything else,” Hill says, “there are people out there looking to take advantage of you. The more you know, the better off you will be.” https://www.athletesquarterly.com/athletes/grant-hills-personal-museum/
JANINE & TOMILSON HILL
Location: New York. Employment: Investment banking Art Collection: Postwar American and European art; Renaissance bronzes http://www.artfortune.com/collectors-10/
A Billionaire Is Opening a Private Art Museum in Manhattan J. Tomilson Hill, in front of Ed Ruscha’s “17th Century” and other artworks in his Upper East Side home, plans to open a museum drawing on his collection. Credit Benjamin Norman for The New York Times WHAT do you do with 14 Christopher Wools? And what if you want to exhibit them — or your four Bacons, 10 Warhols, four Lichtensteins and three Twomblys — alongside some of your 34 Renaissance and Baroque bronzes? You open your own museum. At least, that is what J. Tomilson Hill has decided to do in a two-story space on West 24th Street in Chelsea, which, when it opens in the fall of 2017, will become one of the few private galleries in New York City largely made up of a personal collection. It sits inside a new condominium building named the Getty, for the former gas station on the site. Peter Marino, who designed the Getty as well as the museum’s 6,400-square-foot interior, has done seven residences for Mr. Hill and his wife, Janine, the director of fellowship affairs at the Council on Foreign Relations. The couple collect together (although he is the more obsessive of the two) and now have established the Hill Art Foundation, for which the gallery will be named. “We’ve got so much art in storage,” Mr. Hill, 68, the billionaire vice chairman at the Blackstone Group, a private equity firm, said in an interview at their Upper East Side apartment. Spending time with Mr. Hill offers a window into the thinking of a major player in the art world: how he approaches collecting and why he’s now decided to share some of his extensive holdings regularly with the public. The gallery will draw mostly from the Hill collection, valued at more than $800 million, which includes prime examples of Modern and contemporary art, as well as old masters. It may also borrow works from collections “where I have a relationship,” Mr. Hill said. The Hills’ apartment — like their homes in East Hampton, Paris and Telluride, Colo. — is something of a museum itself. It’s hard to take it all in: Lucio Fontana’s glazed terra cotta crucifix from the 1950s; Alessandro Algardi’s 17th-century bronze “Corpus Christi.” Mr. Hill casually passes Willem de Kooning’s “Clamdigger” sculpture in the entryway, Picasso’s portrait of Sara Murphy above the fireplace and Ed Ruscha’s “Hollywood” pastel and graphite on paper in the master bedroom. Mr. Hill — who, with his slicked-back hair and smooth demeanor, is said to have inspired the look of Gordon Gekko in “Wall Street” (a claim Mr. Hill says is inaccurate) — not only wants to share more of his collection with the public. He also wants his gallery to provide arts education to city students. “They’re cutting out arts programs in the public schools,” he said. When the Hills’ bronze collection was featured in an exhibition at the Frick Collection in 2014, for example, students at an East Harlem elementary school studied the labors of Hercules for a week before seeing the bronze depictions of him by artists like Giuseppe Piamontini and Antonio Susini in the show. “These are kids who wouldn’t even think the Frick was accessible to them,” Mr. Hill said. The foundation also plans to become a partner in educational efforts with institutions like the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where Mr. Hill serves on the board. In preparing for this venture, Mr. Hill said he considered other private museums, including the financier Glenn Fuhrman’s FLAG Art Foundation in Chelsea; the oil trader Andrew Hall’s art foundation in Germany; and the billionaire industrialist Mitchell P. Rales’s Glenstone museum in Potomac, Md. Some private museums have been criticized as tax-exempt exhibition spaces that allow collectors to deduct the full market value of the art, cash and stocks they donate. Mr. Hill acknowledged that the tax benefit was part of his motivation. “I can shelter capital gains,” he said. “It would be the same as if I gave the art to a museum.” https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/29/arts/design/a-billionaire-is-opening-a-private-art-museum-in-manhattan.html?_r=0
DANIELA HINRICHS Daniela Hinrichs, a German curator, dealer, entrepreneur, and founder of online commerce platform DEAR Photography, has a keen eye for all things related to film. Hinrichs designed the platform with the hope of inspiring first-time collectors to take the plunge. “Don’t let yourself become embroiled in discussions about what art is and isn’t. Buy the artwork you still love even after you’ve looked at it for the 100th time,” she advises on her site. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/young-collectors-to-watch-2016-415178
“Perfection,” is the ambitious theme that Hinrichs says unites her collection, which “allows space for different directions, with a clear call for excellence.” She currently runs the company Yellowdine Ventures while acquiring new work; she’s particularly enthused about photography. “Recent excitements are Edgar Leciejewski’s ‘Seven Eggs’ and Armin Morbach’s ‘Golden Cut.’” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/artinfo/modern-painterss-50-most-_b_1694931.html
As an entrepreneur and an art dealer herself, Daniela Hinrichs is particularly passionate about photography. She has founded an online platform which showcases emerging photographers and offers limited edition prints. http://www.larryslist.com/artmarket/features/top-10-young-art-collectors/
DAMIEN HIRST Location: London and Devon, England; Mexico Employment: Artist Art Collection: Modern and contemporary art http://www.artfortune.com/collectors-10/
An exhibition of selected works from the Murderme collection is on display from 29th March to 17th April. The show is presented across two of Newport Street’s six gallery spaces and includes 31 works by 28 artists. A number of Hirst’s contemporaries are represented, including Angus Fairhurst and Michael Landy, both of whom exhibited in the seminal student exhibition ‘Freeze’, which was organised by Hirst in 1988. Also featured are emerging artists, including Sadie Laska and John Copeland, as well as giants of twentieth-century art, such as Richard Hamilton. Artists included are Johannes Albers, Frank Auerbach, Helen Beard, Don Brown, Gillian Carnegie, Patrick Caulfield, John Copeland, Michael Craig-Martin, Tracey Emin, Angus Fairhurst, Fabian Fobbe, Richard Hamilton, Marcus Harvey, Roger Hiorns, Damien Hirst, Rachel Howard, Jeff Koons, Michael Landy, Sadie Laska, Tanya Ling, Nicholas Lumb, Alessandro Magnasco (called Il Lissandrino), Rodrigo Moynihan, Julian Opie, Elizabeth Peyton, Boo Saville, Thomas Scheibitz and Rachel Whiteread. http://www.newportstreetgallery.com/exhibitions/group-exhibition_2
In the Darkest Hour There May be Light - Works from Damien Hirst's Murderme collection Some of the contents of Damien Hirst's personal art collection will go on show to the public for the first time at the Serpentine Gallery later this month. Valued in excess of £100m, it places works by Warhol, Bacon and Jeff Koons alongside younger artists such as Jim Lambie and Laurence Owen. 'A lot of the things that I collect deal with death,' says Hirst. 'Sort of dark but quite lighthearted - you know, laughing in the face of death.' https://www.theguardian.com/arts/flash/page/0,,1946887,00.html
Damien Hirst’s Murderme Collection began with the works Hirst received from exchanges with his artist friends, such as Angus Fairhurst, Sarah Lucas and Mat Collishaw, which subsequently developed into a wider-ranging collection reflecting the development of Hirst’s artistic interests. The collection spans several generations of international artists, from Francis Bacon, John Bellany and Andy Warhol to Jeff Koons, Angela Bulloch and Jim Lambie. Hirst also supports artists in earlier stages of their careers such as Tom Ormond, Laurence Owen and Nicholas Lumb. The exhibition featured over 60 works by more than 20 artists including paintings, sculptures, photography and installations, displayed both inside and outside the gallery. The show offered a fascinating insight into Hirst’s collecting acumen and personal interests, as well as representing a cross section of some of the most interesting contemporary art on the market today. Hirst worked closely with Hans Ulrich Obrist and the Serpentine on the selection of works presented at the gallery. Artists Francis Bacon, Banksy, Don Brown, Angela Bulloch, John Currin, Angus Fairhurst, Tracey Emin, Steven Gregory, Marcus Harvey, Rachel Howard, John Isaacs, Michael Joo, Jeff Koons, Jim Lambie, Sean Landers, Tim Lewis, Nicholas Lumb, Sarah Lucas, Tom Ormond, Laurence Owen, Richard Prince, Haim Steinbach, Gavin Turk, Andy Warhol http://www.serpentinegalleries.org/exhibitions-events/darkest-hour-there-may-be-light-works-damien-hirsts-murderme-collection
VENKE & ROLF HOFF The Hoffs have spent 30 years assembling a large collection of Norwegian and international contemporary art that they now house in a refurbished caviar factory located well within the Arctic Circle. A not-for-profit kunsthalle, KaviarFactory mounted a 20-year survey of Bjarne Melgaarde’s work in 2015. This year’s show is a group show of 25 female artists from the couple’s collection that includes Cindy Sherman, Roni Horn, Marina Abramovic, and Nicole Eisenman. And what about in 2017? Rolf told the magazine Port that the couple is planning “a one-person show with a superstar. It will be a sensation.” https://news.artnet.com/art-world/artnet-news-index-top-100-collectors-part-one-513776
La Fondation Hippocrène révèle la richesse de l’art contemporain scandinave en accueillant les œuvres de la collection de Rolf et Venke Hoff, élaborée depuis 30 ans et installée à la Kaviar Factory située dans les Iles Lofoten. L’exposition présentera des artistes contemporains internationaux, en majorité norvégiens et scandinaves : Knut Asdam, Borre Saethre, Ole Jorgen Ness, Dag Erik Elgin, Yngve Holen, Adam Jeppesen, Kjartan Slettemark, Matthew Stone, Erik Lindman, Rysard Warsinski. http://www.fiac.com/fr/a-paris-pendant-la-fiac/Fondation-Hippocr%C3%A8ne-333863
What was the first piece of artwork you purchased, and when was this? It was at the beginning of 1970 when I was still a teenager. They were prints by a Norwegian artist. Why do you collect? That’s a very good question – and I do not know! In a way I have always been collecting. It must run through veins. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents and their walls were crowded with art, antique furniture and lots of different old interesting “things”. I have also been collecting stamps, coins, antique Norwegian furniture, ancient Spanish candlesticks, but what I love most about collecting is the “hunt”. Looking, traveling and searching for a piece. Now my wife and I are almost only collecting contemporary art. After realizing that I am getting older, I find that art keeps me younger – it keeps me going, it challenges me and it gives me a lot of energy. A good excuse to continue collecting, I think. Wouldn’t you agree? Does your collection follow a concept or a specific theme? No it does not. It has always been spontaneous. However, if I am looking back and see through all works and artists, there is some sort of line, but I never think about this when purchasing a work. What grabs me is the “thing” – these “things” are not always very conventional and that is why I stick to contemporary art. Do you have a personal relationship with the artist you collect? Yes, we do have a personal relation with many of the artists. Some are also good friends with our two kids as they grew up with a lot of these artists around the kitchen table. Why did you decide to make your collection publicly accessible? We never really meant for it to happen – it just happened. We bought an old kaviar factory in Lofoten, behind the Artic circle about seven years ago. Just to save this building, as this space is very far from Oslo, about a two day drive. In this area of Norway there is almost no contemporary art of high quality, so part of the crazy idea was to show and “teach” the population in this area about contemporary art and what is going on around the world, outside of this part of Norway. Every autumn my wife Venke looks after, speaks and shows around about 400-500 students from the local schools around Lofoten. This is really fantastic. We also make one exhibition a year where the whole family is included. Which publicly accessible private collection would you recommend visiting? “La Fabrique”, Josee & Marc Gensollen Collection, Marseille. It's a very personal collection and they are a great couple. Real art lovers lead by their heart! https://www.bmw-art-guide.com/idx/collectors/interview-with-venke-and-rolf-hoff
ERIKA HOFFMANN KOENIGE Collecting since the 1960s, Erika Hoffmann-Koenig moved to Berlin with her late husband Rolf, a property developer, shortly after German unification in 1990, and installed their collection of largely conceptual contemporary art in their private residence, which they set up in a former sewing machine factory. Occasionally open to the public, their international collection ranges across all mediums; it was founded with works from the Italian Arte Povera movement and the Zero group (their first purchase, in 1968, was a sculpture by the Greek artist Vlassilakis Takis), and also features a substantial collection of Soviet Constructivist works, as well as works by Blinky Palermo, John Bock, Lawrence Wiener, and Andy Warhol, among many others. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/top-200-art-collectors-2015-part-one-286048
Rory MacLean meets Erika Hoffmann ‘Maybe we were naïve but it was our dream,’ said Erika Hoffmann, the elegant co-founder, owner and curator of the Hoffmann Collection, the first – and most inclusive – private art collection to open in the east after the fall of the Wall. ‘Originally neither my nor my husband’s family had any links with the arts world, until my mother remarried,’ recalled Hoffmann. After the war her stepfather, the director of the Mönchengladbach museum, was determined to rebuild its ruined collection. ‘He saw my interest and took me with him on trips to Holland and Belgium. At that time some children in those countries saw the German license plate and spat on our car. Yet once indoors with the curators and collectors we were welcomed with real warmth.’ Away from the devastation of post-war Germany, exposed to refined collections and exquisite works of art, Erika Hoffmann felt as if she’d entered ‘another world’. ‘Through those Expressionist paintings, and then in my discovery of radical contemporary work from Holland and the United States, I felt as if I was experiencing new moods, emotions and bold colours,’ she told me when we met in Berlin. ‘Art seemed to express to me absolute freedom, a freedom without limits.’ (...) ‘We never set out to be collectors,’ she said. ‘In the 1960s, objects were for the greedy, materialistic bourgeoisie. We wanted none of that. Instead we were hungry for ideas, to enrich ourselves through creative thinking and debate.’ The Hoffmanns made their first forays into the contemporary art world at early Documentas in Kassel and in Düsseldorf with Gruppe ZERO. They wanted to know what made tick artists like Günther Uecker, Heinz Mack and Otto Piene, what drove their need to work and to express themselves when there was virtually no prospect of financial return. Through their meetings and conversations, they came to see art as a powerful means of engaging in the questions facing contemporary society. Their resulting friendships brought inspiration and transformed both private and professional lives. ‘When we met the Belgian artist Marcel Broodthaers for example, he was so poor that he didn’t have a refrigerator. He couldn’t afford to pay the doctor’s bill. It was then we realised that the artists weren’t against selling their work.’ (...) The idea to open both the collection and their home to the public only came with the collapse of Communism. ‘Rolf and I were really moved by the Wall coming down,’ said Erika Hoffmann. ‘We wanted to open our doors, to share with other Germans the ideas which had shaped us. We knew there was a need for dialogue.’ In 1997 the Hoffmanns established their home-cum-display in the heart of old East Berlin. But in a manner reminiscent of the spitting children in the early 1950s, their overtures for reconciliation were rejected by their new neighbours. Doors stayed shut in their faces. Most locals ignored invitations. Around the neighbourhood appeared the graffiti ‘Rheinländer raus!’ ‘We were seen as the western capitalists, the colonialists,’ said Erika Hoffmann with real sadness. ‘We weren’t able to share the collection with the people who we’d most wanted to share it. Instead we have shared it with others from all over the world.’ The collection feels particularly personal, driven as it is not by trends or populism but by private passions. Americans Bruce Nauman, Andy Warhol and Fred Sandback are included, as is family friend Frank Stella whose vivid and striking work (from the Moby Dick series) is the only piece not to be moved during the annual re-hanging. The Hoffmanns growing interest in eastern Europe and Asia led to the acquisition of works by Poland’s Katarzyna Kozyra, Hiroshi Sugimoto from Japan and China’s Fang Lijun. Among the many other artists whose work and ideas shape the collection are Jean-Michel Basquiat, Joseph Beuys, Felix Droese, Günther Förg, Isa Genzken, Nan Goldin, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, François Morellet, Arnulf Rainer and Gerhard Richter. (...) http://www.goethe.de/ins/gb/lp/prj/mtg/men/kun/hof/en11527773.htm
MARGUERITE HOFFMAN Location: Dallas Source of wealth: Private investments Collecting area: Chinese monochromes; illuminated medieval manuscripts; postwar American and European art To make her first art purchase—a painting by the Fort Worth artist Richard Shaeffer—Marguerite Hoffman, then in her 30s, had to set up a long-term payment plan. “I was making a tiny salary working for the Dallas Museum of Art, [and] it was the only way that I could buy something that I basically couldn’t afford,” she told ARTnews. Since then, the collector has built a substantial collection, with works by Cy Twombly, Jasper Johns, and Christopher Wool, among many others. “Many dealers that I work with now show me the same kind of generosity and graciousness,” she said. Now, however, “there are just more zeros involved.” Fun fact: Marguerite was married to the late Robert Hoffman, an American businessman perhaps best known for cofounding the influential humor magazine National Lampoon. http://www.artnews.com/top200/marguerite-hoffman/
Along with the Rachofskys and the Roses, Hoffman and her late husband Robert have long been powerful patrons of the arts in Dallas, and were part of the triumvirate that promised a near $1 billion in art to the Dallas Museum of Art. In 2013, Hoffman, a museum trustee and former chairman, gave $17 million to the DMA to establish an endowment to enhance the museum’s collections of early European art. The “Marguerite and Robert Hoffman Fund” represents one of the museum’s largest gifts of its kind to date. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/dallas-power-collectors-2016-471287
The Dallas Morning News has a statement from Marguerite Hoffman, the Dallas collector who is suing David Martinez for breaking his confidentiality promise in the purchase of last week’s top Rothko lot by selling it auction: “When Robert and I made our bequest gift to the Dallas Museum of Art,” Hoffman said in a statement released Monday, “one of the key components that made the gift possible and exciting was the opportunity to continue to edit and refine our collection during our lifetimes. “This means that while I am alive, pieces will be added and subtracted to the collection. That is the nature of the gift, and that characteristic ensures that the collection stays dynamic and fresh. It also allows for reluctant sales like that of the Rothko, which occurred after the death of my husband.” [….] In the suit, Hoffman says the decision to sell “was a reluctant one, made in difficult personal circumstances,” with her financial condition unsettled after her husband’s untimely death in August 2006 at the age of 59. Robert Hoffman was a Harvard University graduate who became the owner of one of the largest Coca-Cola bottlers in the country. http://www.artmarketmonitor.com/2010/05/18/marguerite-hoffman-speaks/
MAJA HOFFMANN Maja Hoffmann (né en 1956) est une passionnée de la Suisse collectionneuse d'art, mécène et réalisatrice de documentaires. Elle est la fondatrice de la Fondation LUMA dans la cité Provençale d'Arles. (...) Maja Hoffmann a commencé sa collection d'art dans les années 1980 dans la Ville de New York en compagnie du metteur en scène suisse Werner Düggelin. Ils y ont notamment rencontré et acheter les œuvres de Julian Schnabel, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francesco Clemente ou Andy Warhol. En 2015, Steidl a publié un livre offrant un aperçu de la collection privé de design et d'art contemporain de Mme Hoffmann. La collection est répartie dans ses différents lieux d'habitation, à Arles, à Zurich, à Gstaad, Londres et l'Île Moustique. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maja_Hoffmann
We are creating a place where artists, thinkers, scientists – as well as doers and actors of the economic world – can gather and work together on new scripts for the world,’ Maja Hoffmann told The Art Newspaper of her plans for Luma Arles, a Frank Gehry-designed, €100m palace of culture that is rising in a former train yard in the French city. Hoffmann’s network for recruiting these ‘doers’ is extensive (Tom Eccles, Liam Gillick, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Philippe Parreno and Beatrix Ruf are the foundation’s ‘core’ advisory group, names worth noting as Hoffmann gets ready to appoint a director for this new institution); her existing Zu rich space is active (this summer it hosted part of Manifesta 11); her patronage is international (Kunsthalle Basel, Palais de Tokyo and the Serpentine Galleries are among the many beneficiaries of her largesse). Oh, and in June she was appointed chair of the Swiss Institute, adding to key roles at Tate, Kunsthalle Zu rich Foundation, the New Museum and CCS Bard. https://artreview.com/power_100/maja_hoffmann/
Single Line Identifier: Chairwoman of the Swiss Institute, visionary philanthropist and founder of the LUMA Foundation, a non-profit that supports contemporary artists working in various fields. Quote: “I don’t really want to own things. That’s not my focus. I want to make things happen.” https://news.artnet.com/art-world/artnet-titans-2016-part-one-654851
Officially, Art Basel, the highest-profile event on the jammed calendar of international art fairs, began on Tuesday. But days earlier, members of the art world’s inner circle gathered here for a dinner in the concrete, bunkerlike storage room of a luxury fashion store. Seated at the center of a long table was the Swiss pharmaceuticals heiress and collector Maja Hoffmann. Across from her were the super-collectors Don and Mera Rubell, who had flown in from Miami (“economy class!” they assured). Also at the table were New York artists, including Seth Price and Richard Phillips. “It gets earlier and earlier every year,” said Hans Ulrich Obrist, a director of the Serpentine Gallery in London, taking count of the art tribe he had convened, along with Cecilia Dean of Visionaire magazine, for this Art Basel curtain-raiser, a dinner underwritten by a sports brand to promote, of all things, a gym bag. It used to be that collectors, dealers and exhibiting artists showed up in Basel, about 50 miles away, the night before the fair’s invitation-only preview day, which was held last Tuesday for 8,000 V.I.P.’s, including Brad Pitt, Owen Wilson, the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and Sheik Saud al-Thani, a cousin of the emir of Qatar. But the core of the art industry has begun to arrive for fairs like Basel days ahead. This way they can pursue the high-level socializing that is foreplay to buying before the public or even run-of-the-mill V.I.P.’s have a chance to inspect the art on offer. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/08/fashion/08basel.html
SUSAN & MICHAEL HORT
Location: New York; New Jersey. Employment: Printing. Art Collection: Contemporary art http://www.artfortune.com/collectors-10/
Susan and Michael Hort have been collecting for 30 years, with a focus on “collecting in depth and supporting young artists,” they told ARTnews. They often buy early in an artist’s career and usually amass at least five pieces by any given artist. The Horts own the printing company Earth Enterprises and are the creators of the Rema Hort Mann Foundation, established in honor of their daughter Rema, who passed away from cancer at the age of 30 in 1995. The foundation funds travel and accommodations for families of cancer patients as well as providing grants for emerging artists. Fun fact: The Horts were the first collectors to purchase a work by John Currin, at White Columns in 1989. “He told me, ‘That’s the most important check I got.’ His work hangs in our bedroom,” Michael Hort told Forbes in 2012. http://www.artnews.com/top200/susan-and-michael-hort/
Michael Hort on How He Evolved Into a Collector of Influence In an art world where trends come and go, artists rise and fall, and buzzy galleries emerge only to quietly vanish, many New York collectors who want to buy fresh, young art with staying power follow a simple rule: find out what Michael and Susan Hort are collecting. A couple of rare influence within the early stages of the art market, the Horts have built a reputation not as champions of arena-worthy trophies, the playground of the Pinaults and Broads of the world, but as tireless seekers of intriguing paintings and sculptures by artists who are just hatching into the gallery system, eking out their first couple of shows. It’s a volatile pursuit with a high likelihood of disappointment—an artist can have a talked-about show and then vanish or go nowhere—but the Horts have an uncanny success rate of finding major talents early on. Among the artists they bought early (if not first) are John Currin, Chris Ofili, Michaël Borremans, and Adrian Ghenie. The Horts’ influence was unmistakable this January when they held a gala to mark the 20th anniversary of the Rema Hort Mann Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to supporting both cancer patients and emerging artists that they created in the memory of their daughter, who died of cancer at age 30. To celebrate Rema and pay tribute to the family’s generosity, dozens of artists, dealers, curators, and assorted art-industry heavyweights from across generations crowded into a Tribeca ballroom that was lined with more than a hundred works by people like Michele Abeles, Gina Beavers, Sascha Braunig, Ann Craven, Amy Feldman, Max Frintrop, Jamian Juliano-Vilano, and other young artists that had been donated for the benfit auction. Nearly all of those artists are represented in the Horts’ collection, and many had been given important grants from their foundation—a testament to both their taste and their market-making power. These days, as a new era of collecting is given rise by the advent of Instagram and the spread of the market, the Horts stand as emblems of old-fashioned patronage. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t paying very close attention to where the market is trending. Artspace editor-in-chief Andrew M. Goldstein spoke to Michael Hort about how he and his wife first got into collecting, what’s bothering him about the current gallery model, and what it means to wield enormous influence as a collector. Andrew M. Goldstein - http://www.artspace.com/magazine/interviews_features/how_i_collect/michael-hort-interview-pt-1-52742
One of the privileged treats for art collectors and aficionados during Armory Week is the annual viewing of the Hort Family Collection, a new hanging of a selection of the 3,000-plus artworks owned by Susan and Michael Hort, which they open to Armory Show VIPs and other guests. Though they’re open only to a select crowd, the viewings, which began 13 years ago, have become wildly popular and today can bring up to 3,000 visitors per day. Curated by art adviser Jamie Cohen Hort, the collectors’ daughter-in-law, the 2014 installation features over 150 works displayed over four floors of the family’s Tribeca home and includes works by a range of artists, from art world veterans like Cindy Sherman to lesser known emerging artists like Greg Gong, who has never had a show and is not represented by a gallery, yet. It is widely known that the Horts have always had a penchant for emerging talent and often create not only a little buzz around greener artists they decide to bring into the fold. Though there are works on permanent display, the annual viewing is geared toward newer acquisitions. “Our one request of Jamie as she decides on what to install,” said Susan Hort in a statement on the pamphlet handed out at the event, “is that she focus on what we have purchased recently and on what we have not seen recently.” https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/want-a-peek-inside-the-exclusive-hort-family-collection-4948
GUILLAUME HOUZÉ Heir to his family's chain of Galeries Lafayette department stores, Guillaume Houzé has been presenting artwork in La Galerie des Galeries, a space within the flagship branch, since 2005, along with his grandmother. His own collection includes works by Cyprien Gaillard, Wade Guyton, Tatiana Trouvé, Ugo Rondinone and David Noonan, and he is planning to open a permanent art foundation in Paris's Marais district in 2016. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/top-200-art-collectors-2015-part-one-286048
Cas de collectionneur : Guillaume Houzé « J’avais peut-être 10 ans quand j’ai ouvert la porte et vu le portrait d’une vieille femme signé Chaïm Soutine ». Cette vision captée, la peinture d’une tête dans la primordialité du vivant, est le déclencheur mental d’une passion qui saisit le jeune Guillaume Houzé dans l’atmosphère érudite de l’appartement de Max et Paulette Heilbronn, ses arrières grands-parents. L’histoire familiale sur cinq générations est intimement liée à celle des Galeries Lafayette fondées dans le vent de la modernité par son aïeul Théophile Bader. Il imprègne dès son plus jeune âge la culture propre à cette matrice familiale, toujours régénérée, le renouvellement des modes, une dynamique tournée vers la création. La première œuvre Une peinture de Erro achetée alors qu’il avait 13 ou 14 ans ; l’univers des artistes de la Figuration Narrative, coloré et expressif, remplace aisément les bandes dessinées dont on s’abreuve à l’adolescence. Son parcours singulier s’oriente vite vers des artistes de sa génération guidé par des marchands à l’œil prospectif, Olivier Antoine de la galerie Art : Concept, Michel Rein, les Valentin, Clémence and Didier Krzentowski de la galerie Kréo, ou Edouard Mérino et Florence Bonnefous de Air de Paris... Collectionner Toujours se laisser surprendre, laisser aller l’audace. « L’art n’est pas fait pour plaire ou pour distraire ». Guillaume Houzé se formule en privé un territoire qui tente d’absorber l’immense contenu de l’art, un versant plus philosophique que contemplatif. Chez lui, les œuvres agissent sans ostentation comme des présences, dans l’intensité d’un questionnement : de nombreuses têtes-masques, Mathieu Mercier, Ugo Rondinone, Martin Boyce, Bertrand Lavier sondent l’âme et l’humain ; des œuvres de Tatiana Trouvé, Walead Beshty ou Wade Guyton interrogent l’énergie des processus de création. Plutôt que « d’accumuler des trophées dans son salon », avec la nécessité d’insuffler un sens à une action et l’inscrire dans le long terme, il construit depuis 2005 en complicité avec sa grand-mère Ginette Moulin un projet de collection ouvert à la jeune création ; un fluide trans-générationnel régénérant et une manière de conjurer le fait que ses grands-parents « étaient passés à côté d’un Klein » dans les années 70. Jusqu’en 2012, la collection sera formulée en expositions annuelles, Antidote, au sein des Galeries Lafayette. En visionnaire, Guillaume Houzé avance une stratégie qui relie l’entreprise à l’art dans une dynamique pyramidale : des secteurs marketing, événementiel, mécénat ou communication interne jusqu’au partenariat officiel avec la FIAC, l’autre temple du commerce, il fait résonner le nom du groupe familial dans toutes les strates de la création. L’argent « Un moyen pour arriver à une fin ». C’est-à-dire une énergie productive qui définit clairement les contours de son engagement personnel dans l’art, au cœur de son écosystème : aider les galeries émergentes et permettre le renouvellement des artistes, activer le marché français, faire rayonner les artistes français à l’international, initier le secteur Lafayette à la FIAC ainsi qu’un prix aujourd’hui incontournable tissé d’un partenariat avec le Palais de Tokyo... De collectionneur, prescripteur à producteur, il n’y a qu’un pas qui se dessine à travers le projet d’une fondation conçue comme un laboratoire pour générer de la matière à penser, de la production d’œuvres, programmer, « curater »... A 32 ans, Guillaume Houzé est en train de faire bouger les lignes du monde de l’art en France. http://www.observatoire-art-contemporain.com/revue_decryptage/analyse_a_decoder.php?id=20120717
ALAN HOWARD Location: London Source of wealth: Hedge fund Collecting area: Impressionism; modern art Hedge-fund manager Alan Howard’s collection includes a $43 million Monet water-lily painting. The head of the firm Brevan Howard Asset Management, Howard is worth $1.5 billion as of September 2016, according to Forbes. In 2013, Howard paid $10 million to the victims of the Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos in order to retain possession of the Monet mentioned above; it used to belong to a widow of Marcos. Fun fact: Howard is a former director of the Conservative Friends of Israel, a British parliamentary group with ties to the Conservative Party whose purpose is dedicated to strengthening business, cultural, and political ties between the U.K. and Israel. http://www.artnews.com/top200/alan-howard-2/
British billionaire pays $10 million to avert legal claim on his Monet painting Hedge fund manager Alan Howard bought $43 million painting 'in good faith', but pays additional $10 million to victims of Marcos regime to forfeit any potential legal claim over its ownership. Hedge fund manager Alan Howard insists he bought $43 million painting 'in good faith', but pays out another $10 million to keep it out of legal dispute over Marcos legacy A British billionaire has paid $10 million (ÂŁ6.2 million) to victims of the brutal Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos in order to keep hold of a Monet painting that once belonged to the late dictator's widow, Imelda. Alan Howard, a hedge fund manager, originally spent $43 million to buy the work, Japanese Footbridge Over the Water-Lily Pond, in 2010, only to see it dragged into a legal dispute in the US over the Marcos legacy. Mr Howard claims that while he knew the painting was once owned by Ms Marcos, the high-spending glamorous former First Lady of the Philippines, he was assured by the seller and legal advisers that it was safe to buy. Yet it had allegedly been stolen by a Marcos aide after the couple was ousted in 1986, meaning it was not among a list of multi-million dollar embezzled assets later recovered for the Philippine public. The aide, Vilma Bautista, has been charged in Manhattan with conspiracy and tax fraud relating to the September 2010 sale of the Monet, which she is alleged to have hidden for more than 20 years. (...) Mr Howard, the founder of Brevan Howard Asset Management, now plans to take legal action against Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, the London gallery and dealership that sold the painting. The gallery is said to have made about $7.5 million on the sale of the painting, with about $30 million going to Ms Bautista, who had apparently kept the artwork for years in her Manhattan apartment. Suspicions about the sale are believed to have been raised when the large sum was wired to bank account belonging to Ms Bautista. Prosecutors allege that she gave $5.1 million of the proceeds to her nephews, and another $4.5 million to other unnamed associates. A memo from the New York police's major economic crimes bureau, which was obtained by The Smoking Gun website, said that when interviewed, she advised them "that after the sale of the art, some money was going to the Marcos family". Her lawyers now say she was coerced or intimidated into the remarks. The 75-year-old, who served as Ms Marcos's personal secretary, appeared in the past as the named buyer for millions of dollars worth of jewellery and other purchases for the profligate First Lady. Ferdinand Marcos died in 1989 at the age of 72. Ms Marcos, who is now 84, is now a member of the Philippines' House of Representatives, after being elected in 2010. She is continuing to fight the government to regain seized assets. Her former aide is said by prosecutors to have used $2.2 million from the art sale to buy her New York condominium, $637,000 to pay off a mortgage and a further $800,000 on other personal expenses. A staff member at Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox's London office declined to discuss the case and said: "I'm afraid that none of our directors are here". Anthony Payne, a spokesman for Mr Howard, said: "Mr Howard bought the painting in good faith from a reputable gallery and received expert legal advice on the purchase. In light of these proceedings Mr Howard is examining available legal redress. He has no further comment on the proceedings." Mr Howard is not a party to the criminal proceedings against Ms Bautista in New York, nor is he the subject of any lawsuit brought by the class-action group. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10418395/British-billionaire-pays-10-million-to-avert-legal-claim-on-his-
FRANK HUANG Location: Taipei Source of wealth: Computer hardware Collecting area: Chinese porcelain; Impressionist and modern painting Frank Huang is the chairman and chief executive of Powerchip Semiconductor, a maker of memory chips that also provides foundry services to its customers. In 2008, Forbes reported that Huang had given more than $3 million to charity in the previous year. He is the creator of the Jensan Foundation, which has in the past brought performers like the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Placido Domingo, and a Russian ballet to his home country of Taiwan. Fun fact: Huang received his Ph.D. in Medical Science from New York’s Mount Sinai School of Medicine. http://www.artnews.com/top200/frank-huang/
Frank Huang (Huang Chongren), the chief executive of Powerchip Technology, collects Chinese porcelain, Impressionism and Modern art. The Shanghai-born, Hong Kong-raised Barry Lam (Lin Baili), the founder and chairman of laptop manufacturer Quanta Computer and the seventh president of Ching Wan, has a collection of more than a 1,000 paintings, including more than 250 by the Chinese master Zhang Daqian. Robert Tsao (Cao Xingcheng), Ching Wan’s fifth president, is considered one of the world’s great collectors of Chinese art and antiquities, with an extensive collection ranging from Neolithic jades to contemporary art. The founder of the chipmaker United Microelectronics, Tsao sits on the board of trustees of San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum Foundation. Rudy Ma (Ma Zhiling), the founder of Yuanta Financial and the third president of Ching Wan, collects Chinese antiquities, particularly porcelains. http://theartnewspaper.com/market/analysis/tech-tycoons-dominate-the-salerooms/