CONTEMPORARY ART: Eli and Edythe Broad
A Different View
Eli and Edythe Broad made headlines when they announced they will not be donating their collection to any museums as planned. For many institutions the news was disappointing. But the Broads’ desire to make sure that the more than 400 works in the Eli and Edythe L. Broad collection and the roughly 1,500 pieces in the Broad Art Foundation collection remain in the public eye led them in a different direction. "It’s a new paradigm," Eli explained in a recent interview. Rather than donate the collection to select institutions, the Broads will continue their current practice of having the works be part of a "lending library." To date, the foundation has made 7,000 loans to 400 institutions throughout the world. Eli says it’s a model developed "to make the collection really a common collection housed in a foundation, where we will be responsible for the storage, conservation and insurance of the work but in effect the beneficial recipients would really be all of the museums."
 
Given that the Broads have chosen to collect a smaller number of artists but in great depth, it is a model that makes sense. In the late 1970s, Eli found the ability to interact with the artists a huge draw, and the couple began to purchase the work of Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Roy Lichtenstein. "Artists have a different view of society and the world," Eli muses. "I found that very educational."
 
In the early ’80s they became immersed in the East Village art scene, meeting and collecting works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Cindy Sherman and Jeff Koons, as well as Los Angeles–based Ed Ruscha and John Baldessari—artists they continue to collect to this day. In their commitment to follow and represent important developments within each artist’s career, the Broads are creating important documentation not only of the artists but of their collective contribution to the development of contemporary art. —Rebecca Dimling Cochran

PHOTOGRAPHY
Russell Albright New Orleans. Contemporary photographs
Joe Baio New York. 19th- and 20th-century and contemporary photographs of children
Laura and Fred Bidwell Peninsula, OH. Contemporary photographs
Henry M. Buhl New York and Palm Beach, FL 19th-century to contemporary photographs
Trish and Jan de Bont Los Angeles. 20th-century and contemporary photographs
Danielle and David Ganek Greenwich, CT. 20th-century and contemporary photographs
Manfred Heiting Los Angeles. Vintage and contemporary photographs
Lynne and Harold Honickman Philadelphia. Vintage photographs
Audrey Irmas Los Angeles. 20th-century photographs
Stéphane Janssen Phoenix and Brussels, Belgium. Contemporary photographs
Elton John Atlanta and London . Vintage and contemporary photographs
James Kloppenburg New York. 20th-century and contemporary photographs
Julie and Robert G. Lewis Denver. 19th-century photographs of the American West
Martin Z. Margulies Key Biscayne, FL. 20th-century and contemporary photographs
Michael P. Mattis and Judith Hochberg Westchester County, NY. 19th- and 20th-century photographs
James K. Patterson Memphis, TN. Vintage and contemporary photographs
Lisa S. and John A. Pritzker San Francisco. Vintage photographs
Mitchell P. Rales Potomac, MD. Contemporary photographs
Chara Schreyer San Francisco. Vintage and contemporary photographs
Gary Sokol San Francisco. 19th-century French and English photographs, vintage photographs
Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee New York and East Hampton, NY; Lincoln, MA; Palm Beach, FL. Vintage photographs
Jane and Michael Wilson Los Angeles and London. 19th- and 20th-century photographs
Gary Wolkowitz New York, Southampton, NY 20th-century and contemporary photographs
—compiled by Dana Micucci

ETHNOGRAPHIC AND TRIBAL ART
Marjorie and Charles Benton Chicago. American Indian art
Lillian and Robert Bohlen Andover, MA and Brighton, MI. African art
Bernice and Sidney Clyman New York. African art
Valerie and Charles Diker New York and Santa Fe, NM. American Indian art
Ruth and Marc Franklin San Francisco. African art
Marcia and John Friede New York. New Guinean art
Barbara Goldenberg Los Angeles. Pre-Columbian art
Alan Hirschfield Jackson Hole, WY. American Indian art (Plains beadwork)
John W. Kluge Palm Beach, FL. Aboriginal art
Myron Kunin Minneapolis. African art
Margaret Levi and Bob Kaplan Seattle. Aboriginal art
Gloria Lobb Seattle. American Indian art
Marion and Daniel Malcolm Tenafly, NJ. African art
Christine and Assen Nicolov Issaquah, WA. Pre-Columbian art
Marita and David Paly Gig Harbor, WA and Paracas, Peru. South American and Asian tribal textiles
Cynthia Putnam and Mark Groudine Seattle. African art
Laura and James J. Ross New York. African art
Richard Scheller Palo Alto, CA. African art
Sharon and Sam Singer San Francisco. Oceanic art
George Terasaki New York. Northwest Coast Indian and Arctic art
Robert Wall San Francisco. African art
Marva and John Warnock Los Altos, CA. American Indian art
Ziff Family New York. African art
—compiled by Bobbie Leigh