(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
ARTnews magazine announces top 200 art collectors
International buyers outnumber Americans among "active" art collectors in annual ARTnews tally.
By Mary Abbe
June 26, 2012 at 11:22PM
ARTnews' annual list of the world's top 200 art collectors is shamelessly self-promotional, assuring a few thousand extra magazine sales as the chosen few splash copies around the guest rooms and pools of their many houses. Still, it is always a must read.
It's a very international bunch with more than half of the crowd hailing from somewhere other than the United States. Nevertheless, "experts say that Americans are still driving the market in a huge way," said Milton Esterow, the magazine's editor and publisher.
A quick scan shows NO Minnesotans this year. Come on collectors, ante up. The closest big buyers hereabouts are Mary and John Pappajohn of Des Moines, Iowa and New York who collect modern and contemporary art. Their fortune derives from "venture capital."
Other names of note include artist Damien Hirst of pickled shark fame, entertainment mogul Andrew Lloyd Webber, Walmart heiress Alice Walton and fashionista Miuccia Prada.
A special nod goes to the Doha-based philanthropist Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who appears to have the longest name. And another to Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder who seem to have the most homes, that would be five, in New York and Wainscott, New York; Washington, D. C., Palm Beach, Florida, and Paris.
about the writer
Mary Abbe
Star Tribune writers showcase Minnesota architecture.