Outstanding collectors of our time
Perhaps, one can look at the world without irony solely because it contains beauty that mankind creates, such as music, literature, sculptures, and, of course, paintings. Every new generation instills a deep awareness and an understanding of life in the great works of art that it produces.
In the modern world, people can afford to invest their savings in many different ways. Some enjoy the latest gadgets and luxurious cars, while others often travel the world and collect new experiences. However, there are also those among us who look at life in a completely special way – through art.
Art collectors know that the best way to crown their achievements and multiply the return on their investments is to buy great works of art.
Indeed, interest in great art has always been an integral part of life for worldly individuals. Therefore, we have decided to talk about the owners of the most expensive and rare masterpieces of all time.
Haryanto Adikoesoemo
Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko, Gerhard Richter, Damien Hirst, Lee Ufan, and Takashi Murakami are just a few of the great painters that authored over 800 works of art that belong to the president of the energy company PT AKR – the developer Haryanto Adikoesoemo. So why did we start our list with the name Haryanto Adikoesoemo?
Unlike many other famous collectors of our time, Mr. Adikoesoemo works for the benefit of his compatriots. Case in point, in 2017 Haryanto opened the MACAN Museum of Contemporary Art in Jakarta, to which he donated his collection. In this elegant way, he deservedly entered the country’s history books
Philip Niarchos
Philip Niarchos rightfully bears the status of one of the richest people in Greece. Heir to the shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos, Philip is known to the world not only as an entrepreneur but also as the owner of an impressive collection of art (part of which he inherited from his father). Like many other owners of the world’s cultural wealth, Niarchos Jr. does not release the full list of the paintings that he owns. However it is known that among his collection there are such masterpieces as the famous self-portrait of Van Gogh with a severed ear, Pablo Picasso’s self-portrait “Yo, Picasso”, “Self-portrait” by Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Andy Warhol’s “Red Marilyn”. What other masterpieces are part of this collection remains a secret.
Leonard Lauder
The head of the family company Estee Lauder is known in secular circles primarily for his collection of cubist art, which valued at least $800 million! Leonard owns the following world-famous canvases: “Nude in an Armchair” by Pablo Picasso and “Dish with Fruit and a Glass” by Georges Braque. By the way, Leonard had another interesting passion – collecting twentieth-century postcards. Lauder has amassed over 25 thousand of them since he began collecting them as a child, which he then donated to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Another generous gesture in favor of the elder Lauder includes a $131 million donation to the Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art in New York.
Ronald Lauder
Ronald is the youngest son of the cosmetics company Este Lauder’s founder and bought his first painting – a self-portrait of Egon Schiele – with the money he received as a birthday gift when he came of age. According to press reports, about four thousand works of art are currently in Ronald Lauder’s collection, including “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” by Gustav Klimt. The collector acquired this famous work of art for 135 million dollars, (a record amount for 2006).
Interestingly, like his older brother, Ronald Lauder doesn’t limit his collections to paintings. He has one of the most impressive armor collections in the world as well!
Francois Pinault
The founder and owner of the luxury goods company PPR, which, includes the brands such as Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, and Gucci, among others, has been collecting art for over twenty years. Pinault’s art collection includes more than two thousand works and is estimated by experts to be worth nearly 1.5 billion dollars. Among the 80 authors of Mr. Pinault’s private collection are Pablo Picasso, Pete Mondrian, and Jeff Koons. Most of the paintings are in the Frenchman’s public museums – Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana in Venice. Additionally, Pinault is the owner of Christie’s Auction House, an official position that allows him to acquire the lot he likes first!
Henry Kravis
Like everyone on this list, the co-founder of the investment fund Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co has a passion for art, but he isn’t shy about making a profit from it either. Therefore, in 2008, Henry Kravis put Edgar Degas’s “Dancer Resting” at Sotheby’s auction and sold it for $37 million! The amount is 9 million more than the amount Kravis got the work for in 1999. The fact that the Metropolitan Museum has a wing named in his honor also speaks of the financier’s impressive art assets.
Roman Abramovich
The well-known Russian businessman is among the top 200 art collectors of the world, according to the authoritative publication ArtNews. In 2008, Abramovich bought a triptych by Francis Bacon at the Sotheby’s Auction House for $86.3 million, making Bacon the most expensive English artist in history. Another work that is in the possession of Mr. Abramovich is the painting called “The Sleeping Social Worker” by Lucian Freud, as well as a collection of pastels by Edgar Degas. Of course, this is far from all of the businessman’s treasures, but we will have to wait until he shares the details with us in the future!