Inside the Most Expensive Art Collections Owned by Celebrities and Billionaires
Written by
Terence Loose
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Amen Oyiboke
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Serious art collection is not for the faint of heart — or the faint of wallet. It can be an expensive game, especially if you’re interested in the masters. But if you’re a passionate art aficionado and have the bank account to match, money seems to be no object.
Here are six celebrity and billionaire art collections worth more than some countries’ GDPs.
David and Ezra Nahmad
Estimated Collection Worth: $3.5 billion
These brothers are credited with the largest private art collection in the world, comprising a collection of more than 4,500 masterpieces, including 300 works by Pablo Picasso. Housed in a 15,000-square-foot warehouse in tax-haven Geneva, most of the collection has not been seen by the public.
The brothers began dealing in art in the 1960s, in Italy, after their family fled Syria due to antisemitism. They pioneered the art of treating art like stocks, buying low, holding, and selling high. For example, a Picasso they bought in 1995 for $2.6 million, they later sold for $30.8 million. And, obviously, they hold onto many works.
David Geffen
Estimated Collection Worth: $2.3 billion
The cofounder of Dreamworks Animation and Asylum Records might love art more than movies or music: He is credited with the world’s largest private art collection in his sole possession. Filled with pieces from the abstract expressionist and pop art movements — think Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, David Hockney, and Robert Rauschenberg — the collection makes up nearly a quarter of his net worth.
Madonna
Estimated Collection Worth: $160 million
Madonna has always been a fierce feminist, so it’s probably no surprise that her extensive art collection is dominated by female artists such as Tamara de Lempicka, Marilyn Minter and the artist she has called her muse, Frida Kahlo. A friend of artists like Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, Madonna began buying art in the 1980s, growing her collection over the years to a point where it includes masters such as Salvador Dalí and Picasso.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z
Estimated Collection Worth: $70 million
The ultra-cool power couple have long been art aficionados, amassing an impressive collection of artists such as Andy Warhol, Richard Prince, George Condo, and Laurie Simmons. They also seem to be fairly savvy collectors. For instance, a Jean-Michel Basquiat piece, “Mecca,” the couple bought in 2013 for $4.5 million, is estimated to be worth $20 million today. But for a couple worth more than a billion dollars, a mere $15 million in profit probably isn’t worth pulling it off the wall.
Jack Nicholson
Estimated Collection Worth: $150 million
The multi-Oscar-winning Jack Nicholson is known as one of America’s most iconic actors. And he holds his own among art collectors as well. His vast collection includes giants such as Picasso, Matisse, Rodin, Botero, and Warhol. With an apparent passion for 20th-century and contemporary works, Nicholson has collected art since the 1960s and, reportedly, his collection of art even outshines his extensive real estate empire — estimated to be worth $100 million. In other words, lots of wall space.
Sir Elton John
Estimated Collection Worth: $200 million
Considering Sir Elton John’s flair for the artistic — everything from his eyeglasses to his pianos has a signature aesthetic — it shouldn’t be surprising that he has a significant art collection. By some accounts, he has the world’s largest fine art photography collection, with more than 7,000 pieces. He also has a passion for contemporary artists like Damien Hirst and David Hockney, buying one of Hockney’s most famous works, “The Splash,” for $2.9 million in 2006. His Elton John AIDS Foundation has also given millions of dollars to artists around the world.
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