From the relatively priceless Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci to the Interchange by Willaim De Kooning, it is clear many of the world's wealthiest people will pay a lot of money for rare artworks that they can add to their collection.
Although some of the world's most famous art pieces are found in public museums, may popular artworks are in private collections, including the portrait of Jan Six by Rembrandt van Rijn and the Les joueurs de cartes by Paul Cezanne to mention a few. These private collections value these art and guard them jealously.Here are some of the largest private art collections in the world.
King Charles III
King Charles III is better known as the former Prince Charles of England's private art collection is the largest in the world. The collection includes more than a million objects, some 7,000 paintings, and approximately 450,000 photographs. It is dispersed between 13 royal residences within the UK. Some items are owned by the King himself as an individual, while others are the Crown's property – the latter including works bought by the country's monarchs over 500 years.
Steve Cohen
Steve Cohen's collection is considered one of the most prestigious globally. Steve is a wealthy buyer who spent hundreds of millions on his quest to create an incredible collection.
The collection features several post-impressionist paintings (Gauguin's Bathers or Van Gogh's Young peasant woman), a few modern artworks (like Munch's Madonna), and numerous contemporary art marvels (such as Willem de Kooning's Police Gazette and Woman III, one of Jackson Pollock's drip paintings and Damien Hirst's The
Wildenstein
Wildenstein's collection is considered the best private Art collection in the world. Dealers and collectors for many decades, the Wildenstein family has amassed a fabled Art collection valued by several sources at $10 billion. It is said that this "Eldorado of the Arts" could exhibit several masterpieces by some of the most important artists from the 14th to the 20th centuries, such as Van Gogh, Renoir, Gauguin, Cézanne, Monet, a handful of Rembrandt's, several Rubens, Caravaggio, El Greco, Fragonard, a recently rediscovered "Madonna and child with saints and the seven virtues" by Giotto di Bondone, or even a work by Vermeer still unknown by the critics.
Eli and Edythe Broad
Valued around $2.2 billion, Eli and Edythe Broad's collection is arguably the best private collection of contemporary art in the world. With nearly 2000 works, most of which are available for the public to see in LA's The Broad Museum, Eli and Edythe Broad possess artworks made by Jasper Johns, Cy Twombly, Joseph Beuys, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Edward Ruscha.
Niarchos Family Collection
The Niarchos family collection boasts a remarkable Impressionist and Modern Art collection, especially from his son Phillipe Niarchos. Among the works in the collection, we could find three masterworks by Vincent van Gogh ("Self-portrait with a bandaged ear," "Portrait of Pere Tanguy" and "The house of Pére Pilon"), arguably the most important work by Paul Gauguin in private hands ("Riders on the beach") and the self-portrait "Yo, Picasso," bought-in 1989 for almost $48 million, as well as the marvelous "Pietá" by El Greco.
In recent years, Phillipe Niarchos has completed his collection with works by contemporary artists, like Andy Warhol's "Shot Red Marilyn" or a self-portrait by de Jean Michel Basquiat.
Poju and Anita Zabludowicz
Since the 1990s, Poju and Anita Zabludowicz have slowly accumulated their 500-artist / 5,000-piece collection of artworks.
They exhibit their private art collection at three locations, primarily at 176, a gallery in North London. Besides organizing artist residency programs in Las Vegas, Poju and Anita Zabludowicz plan to open up a privately funded contemporary art museum somewhere down the line.
Duke Of Sutherland
The Duke of Sutherland's collection is arguably the best collection of old master paintings still in private hands.
In 2003 the new Duke sold Titian's "Venus Anadyomene" to the National Gallery of Scotland, but he is still the owner of two other masterpieces by Titian, "Diana and Callisto" and "Diana and Actaeon" (update, may 2009: this last work has been purchased by the National Galleries of London and Scotland), a masterful 1657 self-portrait by Rembrandt that is, in my opinion, the most important old master painting still in private hands; the "Bridgewater Madonna" by Raphael and the "Sacraments" series by French master Nicolas Poussin.
François Pinault
François Pinault possesses an extraordinary collection of almost 2,500 works belonging to modern and contemporary art spheres. This French billionaire has over 30 years of art collecting under his belt.
Featuring works made by the likes of Mark Rothko, Lucio Fontana, Jeff Koons, and Damien Hirst, Pinault's collection, valued at around $1.4 billion, is available for public viewing at the Palazzo Grassi in Venice.
Casa De Alba
The impressive collection of the Casa de Alba (Alba House) in the Palace of Lira, Madrid, now the property of Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba, includes works by Fra Angelico ("Virgin of the grenade"), Titian ("The last supper"), Velázquez ("The infant Margarita"), El Greco, Veronese, Correggio, Rubens, a landscape by Rembrandt, and several Goyas, most notable the portrait of the Duchess of Alba painted in 1795. In recent years the duchess has also purchased works by modern masters such as Picasso or Chagall
Lee Byung-Chul
After Lee Byung-chull died in 1987, his marvelous private art collection was opened for tours.
This leading Korean private art museum is full to brim with what the Korean government defines as national treasures. Lee Byung-chull's Korean art collection is considered one of the country's largest private collections.
Conclusion
The value of art continues to increase. Although it costs a lot to create a private art collection, others may create private collections. Also, although we have some private online art collections like the DSL collection and Broad Art Foundation, to mention a few, we are likely to see more virtual online art collections in the future. This will give more people more access to these private collections and increase their revenues.
