ArtTour International Magazine
Paul Smith
Bernard Arnault
French businessman and current chairman and chief executive of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Arnault is an avid collector of modern art both on an individual basis and through LVMH. His collection numbers in the thousands and includes heralded works by such artists as Pablo Picasso, Henry Moore, Yves Klein, Damien Hirst, and Andy Warhol. Perhaps even more impressive is Arnault’s patronage through LVMH Young Fashion Designer and Fondation Luis Vuitton. The latter is a cultural center and 126,000 square-foot museum designed by Frank Gehry and opened in October 2014. This architectural wonder, whose defining mark is twelve glass “sails” that provide the building’s signature curving shape, houses a permanent collection derived from Arnault’s personal collection and that of LVMH—including works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jeff Koons, Ellsworth Kelly, and Olafur Eliasson. Since that time, the museum has hosted a variety of blockbuster exhibitions, including one in collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art in New York that attracted more than 750,000 visitors and an unprecedented (and perhaps impossible to reproduce) retrospective of Basquiat that included 120 works. Arnault’s work extends around the globe through events and exhibitions and “espaces” in Venice and Tokyo.
Eli and Edyth Broad
This luminary couple of the art world met as teenagers and married in 1954, before moving from Detroit to Los Angeles in 1963. There, Eli initially focused on business, while Edythe pursued her passion for the arts, acquiring works by Southern California artists and expanding her network of dealers and artists to New York. The couple united in their passion for collection, acquiring notable works by Picasso and Matisse before focusing on postwar and contemporary art. They eventually amassed a collection of more than 2,000 works—600 in their personal collection and 1,500 in the Broad Art Foundation, which they founded in 1984. As part of their mission to make art more accessible, they spearheaded the construction and opening of the Eli and Edyth Broad Art Museum in November 2012 at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. In addition to these efforts, the Broads have contributed generously to both the Los Angeles Opera and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Along the way, the Broads also served on the board of the Future Generation Art Prize and received the American Federation of the Arts Cultural Leadership award. In the wake of Eli’s death in April 2021, Edyth carries forward their legacy of philanthropy and passion for art.
Adrian Cheng
Hong Kong businessman and founder of the K11 brand, Cheng, has spearheaded the concept of a new marriage between commerce and art with the opening of his first museum mall in 2009. In his mission, as he says, to “democratize [art] and create a habit for Chinese millennials to go and appreciate beauty and culture and understand it,” Cheng has opened further malls in Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenyang—with plans to complete 29 such projects by 2024. In addition to this fusion of art and everyday life, the K11 Art Foundation has worked since 2010 to bridge between Chinese artists and the world of international art. In fulfilling its educational and philanthropic aims, the foundation has acquired a comprehensive collection of contemporary art, sponsored and mounted various exhibitions worldwide, and established a residency program in Wuhan. Cheng’s determination to connect artistic passions and cultivate new cultures has won him a slew of international recognition and arts positions, including board director of the National Museum of China Foundation, Trustee of Royal Academy of Arts, and Member of International Circle of Centre Pompidou.