Renowned Collectors Around the World

Huang began collecting when he was in high school. Today, he focuses specifically on collecting post-internet art, or art, “made by consciously revealing, investigating, or subverting internet practices,” he explains. By displaying the collection at M WOODS, the museum he established in Beijing, “I want to engage the younger generation. We want to keep the best art works at the center of this program.” Of all his pieces, Huang is most excited about one artist in particular. “At the moment I would say Amalia Ulman. She really masters many aspects of art, from aesthetics to medium, challenging art history constantly. My favorite work of hers is one from her Instagram series where she’s wearing lingerie. Tate Modern borrowed it for a recent exhibition.”

Huntington began her collection of contemporary art during college. Her favorite piece is “Eve” by Alex Prager, a photo she purchased from an art fair in 2011 after first seeing Prager’s work at the Museum of Modern Art‘s New Photography show. Fast forward to today and I was offered five times what I had purchased Eve for in 2010. I wish I had purchased all the works I was interested in, but it’s still a rewarding feeling when the market agrees with your taste.” Her longterm goal? “Never stop collecting. But, if I ever do stop and reflect, I’ll be able to look back and see my life through art. Ultimately, I hope to showcase the collection for many to experience and enjoy—maybe a warehouse à la Rubell in my home state of New Jersey?”

The son of well-known art collectors who have amassed both Old Masters and contemporary collections, Maleki is preserving his family’s tradition with his own collection of work by emerging young artists, including Ida Ekblad, Dean Levin, Kasper Sonne, and Richard Hoglund. “When we left college, my father kindly entrusted us with an art budget. He said that we would have to do our own research on artists, and when we wanted to buy then we had to make a presentation to him. If we wanted to sell he said that we had to tell him why we wanted to sell and give valid reasons. Any funds made from these transactions would go back into this budget. And that’s how the collection would be able to grow.”

Hartley, a documentary film producer, has put together a beloved collection of novels, which includes first editions of Ernest Hemingway’s A Sun Also Rises and Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. “My main passion was and still is story. My career in film and love of acting is rooted in an early immersion in literature. Novels transported me to far off lands and I was able to morph into different characters and experience their lives through my imagination. Razor’s Edge is one of my favorite novels, the characters are sharp and transform through the challenges of time. A dear friend gave this copy to me for my birthday a few years ago.”

Al-Senussi started her art collection in 2006 with a piece she bought at Art Basel. “I fell in love with the art world. My academic background was in international relations and I contemplated a life in diplomacy, and then I realized that working with artists was the ultimate soft power. My first art trip was rather by accident—when my two best friends (one of whom was from Basel, and the other was an Art History major) took me to Art Basel the summer after my freshman year of university, so it completely made sense that the first significant work I would collect (Missing Lebanese Wars, Linguistic by Atlas Group/ Walid Raad) would be at the first Art Basel I attended as a professional, five years later, in 2006.”

A member of the Frick‘s Young Fellowes Steering Committee, Porter is also a collector of what she describes as “classic contemporary” art, or works of art created by emerging artists who preserve traditional techniques. “Collecting meaningful objects is a way to extend your family and build a legacy. I’m drawn to timeless beauty that still packs character—and excellent quality, of course. I found this personal ‘genre’ more affordable than, say, Old Master painting, with the sometimes-startling bonus of personal relevance. My favorite of all is an 8 x 10 oil on canvas by Robby Rose called Thirty Stitches & A Cigarette Burn.”

Sakai began her collection of Piero Fornasetti plates when she found a work from Piero’s original collection in Italy. “Everything in my home has meaning or significance to me, so collecting these special trays felt like a natural choice and I want to enjoy them for that reason. When it comes to my home, I’d rather have a bare space than an item that means nothing to me in its place. My home is filled with little knickknacks that have caught my eye throughout my travels. My favorite one is of a poster from the first performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera ‘Otello’ at Milan’s La Scala, complete with the trademark Fornasetti folded corner in rose gold.”