The Top Collections from 250 Collectors
March 2008
The demand for top-quality collectibles appears to have reached a fever pitch. The international art market has never been stronger, according to a new report commissioned by The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF), which organizes the prestigious art fair each March in Maastricht, the Netherlands. And the United States remains the market frontrunner, thanks to the irrepressible passions of America’s top collectors.Each year, Art&Antiques sets out to identify these often mysterious, private and some would say, obsessed individuals. Our criterion is simple: Only serious collectors whose names are synonymous with first-rate artworks in their chosen areas of collecting earn a coveted place on our list.
For several months, a team of four reporters interviewed scores of top museum curators, dealers and other experts to hone the list. As more new names were added, it soon became evident that we could not limit them to our traditional number of 100. For quick reference, we have organized the list according to the specific categories of collecting. But because many collectors are not content to confine their appetites to a single field, several appear in more than one category.
This year, we delve deeper into the minds and hearts of our selected collectors to discover just what it is that drives their seemingly relentless quest for beauty, rarity, value and historical cachet. Collecting is about power and status, love and loss, obsession and addiction, but it is also a conduit for creativity and imagination. At its most refined level, collecting, like art, is a creative act. As the German author and psychoanalyst Peter Subkowski said in a recent discussion on the sensibility of the collector at the Philoctetes Center for the Multidisciplinary Study of Imagination in New York: "Collecting is not about money, collecting is about passion. And the true collector will give his last dollar if he gets the piece of art or inspiration that he’s been looking for. He would even spend his last dime to get it … a collector imagines a better world, a utopia." By Dana Micucci
OLD MASTERS: Lynda and Stewart Resnick
French Flair
When it comes to collecting, the city of Los Angeles typically conjures up images of sleek mansions filled with modern and contemporary art. Yet the iconoclastic collectors Lynda and Stewart Resnick, owners of POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice, FIJI Water, Teleflora and Paramount Agribusiness, have created a virtual house museum reminiscent of the Frick Collection in New York. They wake up each day to French, Flemish and English paintings from the 17th to 19th centuries by such artists as Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, François Boucher, Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Peter Paul Rubens and Sir Joshua Reynolds, along with European sculpture spanning five centuries by artists including Antonio Lombardo, Giambologna, Jean-Antoine Houdon and Aristide Maillol. These masterpieces are integrated in their Beverly Hills home with exquisite 18th- and 19th-century French and English antiques; dazzling Art Deco furniture, glass and ceramics; and Asian works of art.
"There are collectors and then there are collectors who are possessed," says Lynda, who began at age 19, when she started her own advertising agency. "We are the latter variety."
Given the couple’s eclectic tastes, Lynda says it is difficult to pinpoint a specific inspiration. "We collect only what we absolutely love and can’t live without, not according to what is in fashion," she adds. "It could be anything of quality. I am such a visual person. I love looking at beauty and can find it almost anywhere.In the end, it’s all about the quiver I get in my gut when I discover a great work of art."
If there is a unifying theme to their fine art collection, it is the emphasis on dynamic figurative works and vibrant painterly imagery. "I also love great draftsmanship and the history behind each work," says Lynda, who serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Chair of the Acquisitions Committee at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and on the board of the Philadelphia Art Museum. "The real joy for me, though, is being able to own art from various periods and cultures, because art is ultimately about building bridges between people so that we can better understand each other." The Resnicks also enjoy sharing their art through frequent loans to major museums such as the Louvre and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.The inspiration for the interior design of their home came from Lynda’s visit to the historic Paris home of the late Comtesse de Vogüé, of the renowned family of French winegrowers. "It was a seminal moment that opened my eyes in a new way," Lynda says. "Her home was filled with Old Master paintings, modern art, French antiques and Art Deco furnishings. The whole look really knocked my socks off."
What makes the Resnicks’ own home and collection unique, according to their curator, Bernard Jazzar, is the aesthetic harmony that arises from refined taste and an instinctive appreciation of beauty. "The Resnicks’ home is a sensual, multi-layered living museum that reflects the passion of the owners and their affection for each other," Jazzar says.
"Collecting is a lot like a relationship," explains Lynda in regard to her philosophy. "Initially, it can be love at first sight or just another pretty face that’s not for you. At its best, collecting can become an intimate part of your life and soul—just like a wonderful marriage." —Dana Micucci
ISLAMIC ART: Harvey and Elizabeth Plotnick
Ceramics Masterpieces
After spending a morning at the Musée du Louvre in 1992, Chicago collector Harvey B. Plotnick and his wife, Elizabeth, noticed a nearby antiques gallery displaying some exquisite ceramics. "At first, we thought they might be related to the Japanese tea ceremony, which Elizabeth was studying, but as we approached, we realized they were not Japanese," Plotnick says. After talking with the gallery owner, he learned they were 9th-century bowls from Iran or Central Asia.
Those pristine white objects with stark black calligraphy were the catalyst for years of study, beginning with a return 20 minutes later to the Louvre’s Islamic department. "At that time, we had been collecting primarily Old Master prints, which we still do, but I was blown away by what we saw at the Louvre," says Plotnick.
Before he even considered a first purchase, Plotnick developed a personal research library of Islamic art and met with curators and specialists in the field, mostly in London. Then, starting in 1995, he began assembling what is today generally regarded by experts as the finest private collection of early Islamic ceramics in the world.
The Plotnick collection totals approximately 200 museum-quality treasures, primarily from the Muslim peoples of the trade route towns between the Mediterranean Sea and Central Asia, what is now Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. Most of the Islamic pottery in the collection ranges from the early Abbasid caliphate centered in Cairo and central Iraq (9th to 10th century) and the Mongol Ilkhanid dynasty in Iran (mid-13th to mid-14th century) to the Timurid dynasty of Uzbekistan (14th to 15th century). Amir Timur, which is known to the West as Tamerlane, ruled over a large empire that at one time stretched from the Aegean coast of western Turkey to the northern plains of India.
This period between the 9th and the 15th century witnessed the development of an unparalleled variety of technique and decoration in Islamic ceramics. Various types of unglazed and glazed pottery, including white wares painted in cobalt blue, slip-or-surface-painted ceramics and luxurious lusterware, were developed. (Luster painting is a technique of applying metal oxide at the second firing of a clay piece. The reduced oxygen content produces a startling lustrous effect.) All of these examples are featured in the collection."We have examples representing almost all kinds of ceramics made from the 9th to the 15th century, about 90 percent of which are bowls," says Plotnick, adding that the variety of types of decoration is much broader than most people realize. "The four basic motifs that go through all Islamic visual art are floriate patterns, calligraphy, geometric and figurative representations—birds, camels, dogs, other animals, even people." One outstanding example of this figurative painting is a late 12th-century bowl from Iran with two seated figures whose facial features the artist has depicted in considerable detail.
About half of the Plotnicks’ collection was featured in the exhibition "Perpetual Glory," at the Art Institute of Chicago, from March through October last year. "After nine months, I’m glad to have it all home again," he says. "At first, I thought, who else is interested in this but us, but the show pulled in substantial numbers of people. It’s such an exciting area of art that most Americans don’t know much about." —Bobbie Leigh
AMERICAN FOLK ART: Jane Katcher
American Invention
Jane Katcher’s collection of Americana, considered one of the finest in this country, works on many levels. Aesthetically, it reflects Katcher’s admiration for art imbued with what she describes as "a restrained power, a sense of motion in space and supreme elegance." Historically, it reveals and documents how people lived, courted, married and maintained friendships in post-Revolutionary America. Many of the roughly 300 works in the collection are primarily utilitarian, "produced by people not making art for art’s sake," says Katcher. Her bucket-bench cupboard, Windsor armchairs, utility baskets, boxes and an ivory bodkin, among other historical material, were created for families in the 18th and 19th centuries in New England, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
What unifies the collection—everything from furniture to folk portraits—is what the Coconut Grove, Florida, collector calls "sincerity in the material, an openness and innocence." One of her most remarkable works, reflecting both a sense of restraint and a candid, straightforward simplicity characteristic of the collection, is the 1799 portrait "Comfort Starr Mygatt and Lucy Mygatt" by John Brewster Jr., which is promised to the Yale University Art Gallery. In this astounding painting, the visual restraint only serves to magnify the loving bond between father and daughter. "They are not smiling," Katcher notes. "Their gaze is penetrating, and with their fingers barely touching you sense a gentleness and the ephemeral nature of their relationship. It makes me weak-kneed just to gaze at it."
Katcher is especially drawn to family portraits and equally captivated by family and friendship memorabilia, such as an 1849 Christmas party invitation and fragile friendship albums replete with notes, woven hair, poems and personal sentiments. "Their sweetness and letters of affection allow us the incredible opportunity of getting close to people of a young nation and to admire their ability to express love and disappointment so openly," she says. Her Web site (janekatchercollection.com) features images from Expressions of Innocence and Eloquence: Selections from the Jane Katcher Collection of Americana (2006), a comprehensive book that includes scholarly essays that documents her collection. In addition, the site is updated with new acquisitions made since the book’s publication and presents new information about the collection. —Bobbie Leigh
PHOTOGRAPHY: Elton John
Iconic Images
Pop culture legend Sir Elton John has been snapped by many great photographers throughout his career, but it wasn’t until 1991, when he first saw photographs taken in the 1950s by fashion greats Horst P. Horst and Irving Penn, that his "eyes opened to photography as an art form." A longtime collector of everything from vintage records and cars to contemporary art and Art Nouveau and Art Deco, he went on to create one of the world’s leading private photography collections.
Distinguished by its extraordinary depth and stellar quality, Elton’s 5,000-plus work collection ranges from vintage 20th-century photographs by such masters as André Kertész, Man Ray, Edward Weston, Paul Outerbridge, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Diane Arbus, Berenice Abbott, Horst and Penn to contemporary prints by Andreas Gursky, Gregory Crewdson, David Hilliard, Sam Taylor-Wood and Zhang Huan, some of whom are personal friends of the entertainer.
The collection reflects Elton’s interest in figurative forms, fashion images, nudes and portraits, as well as abstract modernist works from the 1920s and 1930s by artists such as Man Ray and Kertész, which form a significant concentration. He became known for breaking price records for these photographers at New York auctions in the 1990s, having contributed to the explosive growth of the vintage photographs market. Indeed, Elton says one of his favorite works is the first print Kertész made of the "Underwater Swimmer" in 1917, which shows the original crop marks that he used to make future prints."Elton’s collection is experimental, cutting-edge and worldly, like his personality," says Jane Jackson, curator of the Sir Elton John Collection. "He is culturally attuned and keeps up with everything that’s current, so it is fitting that he would collect photographs, which are immediate and of the moment."
One of Elton’s greatest pleasures is living among his treasures and sharing them with others. His collection, which was the subject of a first-time exhibition at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art in 2000, is displayed throughout his four homes—in Atlanta, the south of France, London and the English countryside. In his Atlanta apartment, where he enjoys viewing his collection by candlelight, the photographs are closely hung from floor to ceiling. "Looking at art is inspirational to me," Elton says. "It regenerates me and relaxes me at the same time. With photography, there is always more to see, more to explore, more to learn, like life itself. I can’t wait until my most recent acquisition is delivered!" And how do his roles as collector and artist intersect? "I have never been afraid to take risks," he says. —Dana Micucci
ETHNOGRAPHIC: James Ross
Figurative African Tribal Art
"My first major piece was a Songye fetish," says James Ross, an eminent collector of African art and a long-time donor and trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Not only do I still find this statue beautiful, but it is a piece you can sit and talk to." Unlike some collectors of African art concerned with how their masks and statues relate to magical or social rites, Ross values visual and tactile appeal. "It is always interesting to know how a work of art was used in ancestor worship or another ritual, but I separate that from the aesthetic enjoyment I get from the object."
What fascinates Ross is that even when these objects are removed from their original environment, their spiritual power continues to resonate. "I have what some might call an anti-intellectual approach to my collection," he says. "I like to think the soul of the piece is speaking to me." Formal qualities rather than symbolism and significance are Ross’s prime interest. "I don’t have a curator," says the collector, who relies primarily on reading and visiting collections to train his eye. He also says he lucked out in the early days of his collecting working with New York dealer Michael Oliver. "He gave me very good advice, as did several dealers in Belgium and France."
The Ross collection currently comprises about 180 objects in wood, terra cotta, metal and ivory, from West and Central Africa. The collection is strong in ritual reliquary figures. The forceful physical presence of these figures, whose original function might have been to forecast the future, placate a magical power, insure fertility or perhaps heal the sick or wounded, is riveting. Indeed, without knowing anything about their origin, it is clear they are powerful figures, capable of inspiring awe and reverence. Some reliquary figures from the Ross collection were featured in the Metropolitan Museum’s "Eternal Ancestors" show, which closes March 2. Highlights include two figures from the Kota peoples in Gabon.
Ross continues to expand his collection and is also deeply involved with educational projects. He recently contributed to the renovation of the Louis Kahn building, which is one of the Yale University Art Gallery buildings. In his honor, the Art Gallery established the Laura and James Ross Gallery of African Art. Ross also supports a Yale University Art Gallery project, known as the Ross Book Archive, an Internet-based resource of some 10,000 images of African art currently under construction. Ross has one of the most important collections of rare publications containing illustrations of African tribal sculpture, which will form the basis of the Web site.
Another Ross project, in collaboration with Dutch archivist Guy van Rijn (a distant relative of Rembrandt), is the creation of a second African art Web site, which Yale will also host. Currently under development, "it will feature a search engine with the capacity to help the viewer identify and learn more about African tribal sculpture," says this ardent collector, who continues to work both privately and publicly to generate a deeper respect and appreciation of African art. —Bobbie LeighCONTEMPORARY AND MODERN ART: Beth Rudin DeWoody
Eye Impact
"Eclectic" is the word Beth Rudin deWoody uses to describe her collection of modern and contemporary art. "I collect a lot of young artists, but on the other hand, I do collect a lot of early art: abstraction from the 1920s and ’30s, 1960s Op Art, vintage photography—whatever strikes me."
Rather than collect according to a theme or style, deWoody chooses work for its visual impact and does not shy away from art that is controversial or difficult. Strategically placed throughout her various homes, the works confound and intrigue this generous hostess’ many guests. "Sometimes you can’t tell what is the art or what’s some weird antique that I bought or a piece of decorative art. Everything blends into each other."
The president of the Rudin family’s foundation, deWoody is known as an inveterate philanthropist who vigorously fosters the people and projects she believes in. Within the visual arts, she serves on the boards of established organizations like the Whitney Museum and Creative Time, which will honor her at their Gala Benefit this spring for her visionary leadership and her belief in transforming public space through the power of art.
At the same time, she has worked directly with artists to help them find their first gallery representation. "It’s always wonderful to support living artists, getting to know them and helping them with their careers," she says. "I also like discovering artists from the past who are new to me but older, underappreciated. I like to mix and match all of that."
With great passion and seemingly endless energy, she constantly combs galleries, art fairs and artists’ studios for new work. Her breadth of knowledge and well-trained eye are known to commercial galleries, who have even asked her to curate exhibitions. "One of the things that happens when you have a collection is that you see patterns in your collecting or you see patterns in the way artists are producing things," she explains.
DeWoody’s next project, which is tentatively titled "I Won’t Grow Up," was conceived during a visit to the studio of artist Donald Baechler, who is co-curating the show with her. It opens in June at the Cheim & Read gallery in New York. —Rebecca Dimling CochranASIAN ART: Etsuko and Joe Price
Japanese Naturalism
Etsuko and Joe Price collect exclusively Japanese Edo-period (1615–1868) art. "I don’t like the earlier Japanese paintings, as they were mostly copied from China, and I don’t like the later ones either, as then painters were too influenced by Western art," says the Corona del Mar, California, collector in explanation of his attraction to the period. "In Edo [now Tokyo] the educated people were not the rulers. Merchants and samurai, previously farmers, were in charge. For me they symbolize the pure Japanese heritage of thousands of years."
More than 50 years ago, Price bought his first work of Japanese art, a hanging scroll depicting elegant grapevines, at a Madison Avenue antiques shop. "I didn’t even know the artist’s name," he says. The work exercised such an influence over him that he continued to acquire Japanese scrolls and screens, buying, he says, "just what I liked with no concern for provenance." In the late 1960s, after seeing a book of the Imperial Collection in Tokyo, Price discovered that one of the painters whose works he admired was Ito Jakuchu (1716–1800). "To my complete surprise, I already owned some of his scrolls and screens," he says. Today, Jakuchu is the dominant painter in his collection, a radically idiosyncratic master who didn’t just depict nature, but, as Price notes, "improved it, made it worth looking at" by personifying his birds and animals, giving them almost human identities.
A remarkable pair of 200-year-old six-panel folding screen paintings, "Birds, Animals and Flowering Plants," is among the most accomplished of Jakuchu’s paintings, and one of the most puzzling. Why did the artist use a labor-intensive mosaic technique—43,000 tiny squares of color, and in the center of each square there appears to be a smaller square of a different color—for these screens and no others? According to Price, Jakuchu certainly never saw an elephant or some of the other creatures he depicted in the screens, a poetic fantasy of exotic animals and birds coexisting. One of Price’s theories about this work is that the artist may have used the mosaic technique as a signal to the viewer. "He’s basically telling us that this is his interpretation of what he imagines is true," he says. "As he usually painted from life, he is trying to differentiate this work from his still-life paintings."
Price credits his intense feelings about works of art related to the natural environment to the prairie walks he took as a young man with Frank Lloyd Wright, who was designing an office building for Price’s father’s oil pipeline business. "Wright taught me to spell nature with a capital N and that’s what I see in Japanese art, especially during the Edo period."
About half of the Price collection is usually on loan while the rest is stored in a study center in his home and available to scholars of Japanese art. "When scholars visit, we bring out the paintings they would like to see. Our scrolls and screens were meant to be seen one at a time in different light intensities—from sunlight to moonlight," he says, noting that Japanese homes had a small alcove called a tokonoma where the head of the household would select one painting each morning for the day’s viewing. Price is honored that nearly one million people viewed his collection when it was on a four-museum tour in Japan last year, and he is convinced they came in such large numbers because the museums worked very hard to ensure that the lighting on some of the art changed from daylight to moonlight every three minutes. "It was a revelation because for the first time, people could see the work as it was meant to be seen, not under glaring overhead lighting," he says.
In the current show, "Patterned Feathers, Piercing Eyes: Edo Masters from the Price Collection" (Sackler Gallery, Washington, D.C., through April 13), some of the special lighting also simulates changes from daylight to moonlight. The Price Collection will be next be on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from June 22 to September 14. —Bobbie LeighDECORATIVE ART: Barbara and Henry Landon
Form and Function
Newly married in 1959, Barbara and Henry Landon chose to furnish their North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, home with reproductions of late 18th- to early 19th-century American furniture. Their discovery that a local dealer was bringing in a truckload of antiques from Philadelphia every two weeks was the beginning of the couple’s lifelong pursuit of real antiques, and by the early 1980s, they had amassed a museum-worthy collection. (In 2005 selections from their collection were exhibited in "A Jeffersonian Ideal," at the University of Virginia Art Museum.)
Two of their favorite pieces are a Philadelphia high chest with rococo-style carving from the Garvan Carver that lends an imposing presence to their drawing room and an elegant
Federal-style sideboard from Hartford, Connecticut, in their dining room that the Landons call "breathtaking." Important examples from the Colonial cabinetmaking centers of Salem, Newport and Boston appear throughout the Landon home, and the couple makes sure the pieces are used and enjoyed by the family.
To complement their impressive furniture collection, the Landons compiled a wish list of art by painters of the same period, in John Singleton Copley, Charles Willson Peale, Gilbert Stuart and Benjamin West. Believing it was not possible to acquire such works, the couple began buying paintings by lesser-known artists. But they did attain their goal and today they own paintings by each of the four. Dominating one wall of their dining room is Copley’s nearly 8-foot high portrait, "Mrs. Richard Crowninshield Derby as St. Cecilia."
Over the years, the Landons have extended their timeline to include paintings by Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Albert Bierstadt and Childe Hassam, and starting in the 1990s, they began collecting sculpture, particularly bronzes. One of their favorites is a 19th-century copy of a third-century bronze of a seated Hermes. The Landons continue to collect today. "We never give up," Henry says. —Doris Goldstein
19TH- TO 20TH-CENTURY ART: Jack Warner
Art Patriot
"I’ve discovered who I am through collecting," says Jack Warner, 90, former CEO and chairman of his family’s Gulf States Paper Corporation, now known as The Westervelt Company, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. "What you collect is what you are, and I’m a definite romantic, an optimist and idealist." He is also an ardent American history buff. Those qualities have led Warner, over the past 50 years, on an impassioned search for top-quality American art and antiques from the 18th through early 20th centuries. Five years ago, he established the Westervelt-Warner Museum to showcase his formidable collection of nearly 800 paintings, sculptures and decorative arts, regarded as one of the world’s finest private collections of American art. Frequently, visitors to the museum will find Warner himself conducting tours or rearranging artworks.
Among his favorite works are Thomas Cole’s "The Falls of Kaaterskill" (1826) and Asher B. Durand’s "Progress (The Advance of Civilization)" (1853). "These painting express the beauty of nature and the expansion of our nation westward," he says. "They have a spiritual quality that ennobles me every time I look at them." Other treasures are period portraits of the Founding Fathers and paintings by Frederic E. Church, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent and works by Mary Cassatt, William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam and Daniel Garber. "I love the wonderful glowing light and atmosphere of these paintings," he says.
Also on display at his museum are 19th-century sculptures by Hiram Powers, Randolph Rogers and others; neoclassical furniture by Duncan Phyfe, Charles Honoré Lannuier and Joseph Barry; Paul Revere silver; Native American totem poles and a clock from the house where the Boston Tea Party was planned. A frequent bidder at auction, Warner recently picked up "The Spirit of ’76," a 1912 oil on canvas by Archibald Willard for a record $1.5 million at Christie’s New York.
What is his biggest collecting thrill? "Coming home with the prize and saying, ‘I won!’" he says. "I have a reputation at the auction houses for keeping my paddle up until I get what I want." Susan Austin-Warner, executive director of the Westervelt-Warner Museum and Warner’s wife, adds: "When Jack has his eye on a painting, there’s no stopping him. He even dreams about it, and then usually winds up buying five or six other paintings at the same time." For Warner, who says he established his museum to share his love of American art and history with others, collecting is both a privilege and a joy. "My happiest hours have been spent collecting. When I go to the museum every day and look at the art, it sends goose-bumps up my spine." —Dana MicucciCONTEMPORARY 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 LeighANTIQUES AND DECORATIVE ARTS
Andrew Augenblick New York. 18th-century English furniture, 17th- to 19th-century European textiles
John Axelrod Boston. American Art Deco
Bruce Barnes and Joseph Cunningham New York. American Arts and Crafts, and Prairie School Movement decorative arts
Susan Beningson New York . 17th- to 19th-century Indian jewelry
Lillian and Robert Bohlen Andover, MA and Brighton, MI. Wood art
John Bryan Chicago. 16th- to 18th-century English furniture and decorative arts, American and English Arts and Crafts furniture and decorative arts
Alan and Nancy Cameros Rochester, NY. Southwestern pottery and contemporary glass
Thomas P. Dimitroff Corning, NY. Frederick Carder glass, 19th- to 20th-century American cut glass
Mary Doering Falls Church, VA. 18th-century English, French and American clothing and textiles
Richard Driehaus Chicago. Tiffany glass, late 19th- to early 20th century decorative arts, vintage American cars, historic architecture
Edward and Marilyn Flower Bay Shore, NY. Majolica
Sonny and Gloria Kamm Encino, CA. European, Asian and American teapots
Thomas S. Kaplan New York. Carlo Mollino furniture
Marshall and Wallis Katz Pittsburgh. Palissy ware
Leonard and Jane Korman Fort Washington, PA. Warren McArthur furniture, studio furniture, glass and ceramics
Nanette Laitman New York. Contemporary ceramics, glass, wood and mixed media
Barbara and Henry C. Landon III North Wilkesboro, NC. 18th- to early 19th-century American furniture and paintings
John Lolley Monroe, LA. 19th-century American and European art glass
Barbara Luderowski Pittsburgh, PA. Toys
Michael O’Keefe New York. Irish Georgian furniture and silver
Mario Pulice New York. S.S. Normandie furnishings and artworks
Elihu and Susan Rose New York. English regimental silver
Robert M. Rubin and Stéphane Samuel New York. Architecture and design
Suzanne Saperstein Los Angeles. 18th-century French furniture and art, haute couture fashion
Eric Streiner New York. Works by Louis Comfort Tiffany, late 19th- to early 20th-century American and European decorative arts
—compiled by Doris Goldstein
19th- AND 20TH-CENTURY ART
Paul Allen Seattle. Impressionist art
Debra and Leon Black New York. Impressionist paintings and works on paper
Isabelle and Scott Black Boston. Impressionist, post-Impressionist and early modern paintings
Henry W. Bloch Mission Hills, KS. Impressionist and post- Impressionist paintings and works on paper
Cheryl A. Chase and Stuart Bear West Hartford, CT. American and French Impressionist paintings
Alexandra and Steven A. Cohen Greenwich, CT. Impressionist paintings
Davida and Alvin Deutsch New York. 18th- and 19th-century American portrait miniatures
Melinda and Bill Gates Medina, WA. 19th- and 20th-century American paintings
Anne and Kenneth C. Griffin Chicago. Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art
Marie and Hugh Halff San Antonio. American Impressionist and Ashcan paintings
Frank Hevrdejs Houston. 19th- and 20th-century American paintings
Bridget and William I. Koch Palm Beach, FL and Cape Cod, Mass. Impressionist art; 19th- and early 20th-century American art, including art of the American West
Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis New York; Vail and Meeker, CO; Bal Harbour, FL. Impressionist and 20th-century art
Myron Kunin Minneapolis. Late 19th- and 20th-century American art
Barbara and Jon Landau Rye, NY. 19th-century French Barbizon and Realist paintings
Cornelia and Meredith Long Houston. 19th- and 20th-century American art
Jane and Richard Manoogian Grosse Pointe Farms and Mackinac Island, MI 19th- and early 20th-century American art
Anne and John Marion Fort Worth, TX; Santa Fe, NM; Palm Springs, CA; Jackson, WY. 20th-century European and American art
Frances G. and James W. McGlothlin Bristol, VA; Austin, TX; Naples, FL. 19th- and 20th-century American art
Ellen and Leonard L. Milberg New York and Rye, NY. Late 19th- and early 20th-century American works on paper
Emily Rauh Pulitzer St. Louis. Impressionist and post-Impressionist art
Sharon and Jay Rockefeller Charleston, WV and Washington, DC. American Impressionist paintings
Linda and Harvey Saligman St. Louis
American Impressionist and modern art
Victoria P. and Roger Sant Washington, DC. Nabis paintings
Fayez Sarofim Houston. 19th- and 20th-century American art
Lana and Michael Schlossberg Atlanta. 19th-century French drawings and sculpture
Judy and Michael H. Steinhardt New York. Late 19th- and 20th-century works on paper
Margaret and Terry Stent Atlanta. 19th- and 20th-century American art
Alice L. Walton Fort Worth, TX. 18th- through 20th-century American art
Jack Warner Tuscaloosa, AL. 18th-, 19th- and early 20th-century American art
Reba and Dave Williams New York and Greenwich, CT. 19th- and 20th-century American prints
Elaine and Stephen A. Wynn Las Vegas; Incline Village, NV; Sun Valley, ID; New York. Impressionist art
—compiled by Dana MicucciANTIQUITIES AND MEDIEVAL ART
Renee E. and Robert A. Belfer New York. Greek and Roman art
Gregory Callimanopulos New York. Greek and Roman art
Lewis M. Dubroff Syracuse, NY. Greek and Roman art
Fred Elghanayan New York. Greek and Roman art
Walter Gilbert Cambridge, MA. Greek and Roman art
Ariel Herrmann New York. Greek and Roman art
Elizabeth and Harvey Plotnick Chicago. Medieval Islamic ceramics
Parviz Rabenou New Jersey. Ancient Near Eastern art
Sol Rabin Beverly Hills, CA. 8th- to 7th-century B.C. Greek geometric art
Jonathan Rosen New York. Ancient Near Eastern art
Judy and Michael H. Steinhardt New York. Greek and Roman art
Sally Werner Vaughn Houston. Greek and Roman art
Shelby White New York. Greek and Roman art
Nicholas Zoullas New York. Greek and Roman art
—compiled by Bobbie Leigh
OLD MASTERS
George Abrams Boston. 17th-century Dutch drawings and paintings
Paul Allen Seattle. Paintings
Debra and Leon Black New York. Drawings
Phoebe Cowles San Francisco. Paintings
Hester Diamond New York. Paintings, Renaissance and Baroque sculpture
Robert M. Edsel Dallas. Paintings
Marlene and Paul Herring, John Herring New York. 16th- to mid 20th-century drawings
Carol and Jeffrey E. Horvitz Beverly, MA. Late 16th- to 19th-century French drawings
Thomas S. Kaplan New York. 17th-century Dutch paintings
Barbara and Jon Landau Rye, NY. Paintings and sculpture
Ronald S. Lauder New York. Paintings
Diane Nixon New York. Drawings
Elizabeth and Harvey Plotnick Chicago. Prints
Lynda and Stewart Resnick Beverly Hills, CA and Aspen, CO. Paintings and sculpture
Marianne and Alan Schwartz Bloomfield Hills, MI. 15th- to early 20th-century European and American prints
Clare E. and Eugene V. Thaw Santa Fe, NM. Drawings
—compiled by Dana Micucci
ASIAN ART
Marilynn B. Alsdorf Chicago. Asian and Indian art
Debra and Leon Black New York. Chinese art
Barbara Bowman Los Angeles. Japanese art
Mary Griggs Burke New York. Japanese art
James D. and Stephanie Burns Seattle. Near and Far Eastern rugs and textiles
Peggy and Richard Danziger New York. Japanese art
Ruth and Bruce Dayton Minneapolis. Asian art
Robert Dootson Seattle. Chinese ceramics
Winnie and Michael Feng Westport, CT. Chinese art
Barry Fernando Phoenix. Sri Lankan art
Ruth S. and Robert Haywood Glendale, CA. Tibetan furniture
Marie and Shau-wai Lam Summit, NJ. Chinese painting
Mary Ann and Barry MacLean Chicago. Asian art
Roberta and H. George Mann Chicago. Japanese art
Robert W. Moore Los Angeles. Korean art
Alice and Halsey North New York. Contemporary Japanese ceramics
Kimiko Powers Carbondale, CO. Japanese art
Etsuko and Joe Price Corona del Mar, CA. Japanese Edo-period screens and scrolls
Thomas Pritzker Chicago. Asian art
Glenn Roberts New York. Chinese dress accessories embroidered with zodiac animals
Robert Rosenkranz New York. Asian art
Shelly and Donald Rubin New York. Himalayan art
Walter C. Sedgwick Woodside, CA. Japanese and Chinese art
Anthony M. Solomon New York. Chinese tomb sculpture
John C. Weber New York. Japanese art
—compiled by Bobbie Leigh
AMERICAN FOLK ART
William Arnett Atlanta. African-American folk art
Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Philadelphia. Self-taught art
Katherine and Robert Booth Gladwyne, PA. Folk art
Robert Greenberg New York. Self-taught art
Audrey Heckler New York. Self-taught art
Joan Johnson Philadelphia. Folk art
Jane Katcher Coconut Grove, FL. Folk art
Susan and Jerry Lauren New York. Folk art
Michael Mennello Orlando, FL. Folk art
Anthony Petullo Milwaukee. Self-taught art
Jan and Chuck Rosenak Tesuque, NM. Folk art
Robert Roth Chicago. Self-taught art
Angela and Selig Sacks New York. Self-taught art
Alice L. Walton Fort Worth, TX. Folk art
—compiled by Bobbie LeighMODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART
Paul Allen Seattle. Modern and contemporary art
Mary and Bernard Arocha Houston. Contemporary art
John Axelrod Boston. Modern art
Ruth and Theodore Baum Palm Beach, FL. Modern art
Walda and Sydney Besthoff New Orleans. Modern and contemporary sculpture
Debra and Leon Black New York. Modern art
Catherine B. Woodard and Nelson Blitz Jr. New York. Modern art
Henry W. Bloch Mission Hills, KS. Modern art
Ruth and Jake Bloom Los Angeles. and Sun Valley, ID. Contemporary art
Frances Bowes San Francisco and Hawaii. Modern and contemporary art
Irma and Norman Braman Miami Beach, FL. Modern and contemporary art
Edythe and Eli Broad Los Angeles. Contemporary art
Susan and Jeffrey Brotman Medina, WA. Contemporary art
Barbara and Don Bryant New York and St. Louis. Contemporary art
Blake Byrne Los Angeles. Contemporary art
Constance R. Caplan Baltimore. Contemporary art
Jereann and Robert Chaney Houston. Contemporary art
Payal and Rajiv Chaudhri New York. Modern and contemporary Indian art
Patty and Gustavo Cisneros New York and Caracas, Venezuela. Latin American modern and contemporary art
Alexandra and Steven A. Cohen Greenwich, CT. Modern and contemporary art
Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz Key Biscayne, FL. Contemporary art
Rosette Delug Los Angeles. Contemporary art
Beth Rudin deWoody West Palm Beach, FL. and New York. Modern and contemporary art
Hester Diamond New York. Modern art
Karen and J. Robert Duncan Lincoln, NE. Contemporary sculpture
Barney A. Ebsworth Seattle. Modern and contemporary art
Gael Neeson and Stefan Edlis Chicago and Aspen, CO. Contemporary art
Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Boston and Palm Beach, FL. Modern and contemporary art
Ann and Jerome Fisher Miami. Modern art
Doris and Donald Fisher San Francisco. Contemporary art
Aaron Fleischman Washington, DC. Modern and contemporary art
Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Miami. Contemporary art
Maxine and Stuart Frankel Bloomfield Hills, MI Modern and contemporary art
Kathleen and Richard S. Fuld Jr. Greenwich, CT Modern and contemporary works on paper
Danielle and David Ganek Greenwich, CT. Contemporary art
Sunanda and Umesh Gaur North Brunswick, NJ. Modern Indian art
David Geffen Los Angeles. Modern and contemporary art
Anne and Kenneth C. Griffin Chicago. Contemporary art
Diane and Bruce Halle Phoenix. Contemporary Latin American art
Eloisa and Chris Haudenschild La Jolla, CA. Contemporary Chinese art
Marieluise Hessel New York and Jackson Hole, WY. Contemporary art
Ronnie and Samuel Heyman New York; Palm Beach, FL; Greens Farms, CT. Modern and contemporary art
Marguerite Hoffman Dallas. Modern and contemporary art
Jane Holzer Palm Beach, FL. Contemporary art
Susan and Michael Hort New York. Contemporary art
Barbara and J.R. "Pitt" Hyde III Memphis, TN and Wildcat, CO. Modern art
Audrey Irmas Los Angeles. Contemporary art
Barbara Bluhm-Kaul and Don Kaul Chicago. Contemporary art
Harriet and Harmon Kelley San Antonio. African-American modern and contemporary art
Bebe and Crosby Kemper Kansas City, MO. Modern and contemporary art
Jeanne and Michael L. Klein Austin, TX. and Santa Fe, NM. Contemporary art
Bridget and William I. Koch Palm Beach, FL and Cape Cod, MA. Modern art
Sarah-Ann and Wynn Kramarsky New York. Modern and contemporary works on paper
Pamela and Richard Kramlich San Francisco. Contemporary art
Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis New York; Vail and Meeker, CO; Bal Harbour, FL. Modern art
Emily Fisher Landau New York; Santa Fe, NM; Palm Beach, FL. Contemporary art
Saundra Lane Massachusetts. Modern art
Evelyn and Leonard Lauder New York. Modern and contemporary art
Ronald S. Lauder New York. Modern art
Melva Bucksbaum and Raymond J. Learsy New York; Aspen, CO; Sharon, CT. Contemporary art
Marguerite and H.K. (Gerry) Lenfest Philadelphia. Modern art
Peter Lewis Cleveland. Modern and contemporary art
Toby Devan Lewis Cleveland. Modern and contemporary art
Margaret and Daniel S. Loeb New York and Miami. Contemporary art
Vicki and Kent Logan Vail, CO. Contemporary art
Ninah and Michael Lynne New York. Contemporary art
Martin Z. Margulies Key Biscayne, FL. Modern and contemporary art
Donald B. Marron New York. Modern and contemporary art
Henry S. McNeil Philadelphia. Contemporary art
Sarah Miller Meigs Corvallis, OR. Contemporary art
Julie and Edward Minskoff New York. Modern and contemporary art
Peter Morton Los Angeles. Contemporary art
Jane and Marc Nathanson Los Angeles. Modern and contemporary art
Judith Neisser Chicago and Aspen, CO. Contemporary art
Jerome and Margaret Nerman Kansas City, MO. Contemporary art
Gwen Adams and Peter Norton New York. Contemporary art
Nancy and Steven Oliver San Francisco and Sonoma County, CA. Contemporary sculpture
Judy and Michael Ovitz Los Angeles. Modern and contemporary art
Mary and John Pappajohn Des Moines, IA and New York. Modern and contemporary art
Ann and Ronald A. Pizzuti Columbus, OH. Modern and contemporary art
Emily Rauh Pulitzer St. Louis. Modern and contemporary art
Cindy and Howard Rachofsky Dallas. Contemporary art
Mitchell P. Rales Potomac, MD. Modern and contemporary art
Steven Rales Washington, DC. Modern and contemporary art
Louise and Leonard Riggio New York. Contemporary art
Ivelin and Craig Robins Miami. Contemporary art
Deedie and Dusty Rose Dallas. Contemporary art
Mera and Don Rubell Miami. Contemporary art
Kathy and Keith Sachs Rydal, PA. Contemporary art
Helen and Charles Schwab San Francisco and Atherton, CA. Modern and contemporary art
Monica and Richard Segal Rye, NY. Contemporary art
Leni and Adam Sender New York. Contemporary art
Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro New York. Contemporary art
Mary and Jon Shirley Bellevue, WA. Modern and contemporary art
Gayle and Paul Stoffel Dallas. Contemporary art
Norah and Norman Stone San Francisco. Contemporary art
Elizabeth Swofford Los Angeles. Contemporary art
Mahinder Tak Bethesda, MD. Modern and contemporary Indian art
David Tieger Bernardsville, NJ. Contemporary art
Ruth and William True Seattle. Contemporary art
Dean Valentine Los Angeles. Contemporary art
Abigail and Leslie Wexner Columbus, OH. and Aspen, CO. Modern and contemporary art
Virginia and Bagley Wright Seattle. Modern and contemporary art
Elaine and Stephen A. Wynn Las Vegas and Incline Village, NV.; Sun Valley, ID; New York. Modern and contemporary art
—compiled by Rebecca Dimling Cochran