It takes more than a trust fund to build a great art collection.

I’ve been a member of The Met for years – and every so often, maybe once a year, I receive a letter from Thomas Campbell reminding me of the financial benefits of donating works of art to The Met as promised gifts. I always chuckle at the idea that Mr. Campbell has identified me as an art collector or even an individual that would have an estate large enough to donate to the financial power house that is The Metropolitan Museum of Art. That’s the point – art doesn’t discriminate. But, it does need vast financial resources to survive over centuries.

I’ve long believed that art collectors are merely custodians – trusted servants who are graced with the presence of a masterpiece for a certain amount of time, only to lovingly leave it to a fortunate heir or institution. The greatest works of art, the ones that survive multi century journeys, are the ones that have found a great collector, or rather, many great collectors. Because, a masterpiece travels through time and space touching lives, privately first, then hopefully, publicly.

Leonard Lauder’s very generous billion dollar “promised” gift to the Met is the most important art collection of our time – and as the title of this post says, “It takes more than a trust fund to build a great art collection.” Yes, it takes vast sums of money. But, it also takes talent, style and focus. Mr. Lauder, lovingly acquired works by Picasso, Braque, Juan Gris and Fernand Leger over a period of thirty years. His gift to the Met transforms the institution into a modern art juggernaut – and his relationship with The Whitney has allowed The Met to acquire The Whitney’s building to house its growing modern art collection. Then too, there’s The Whitney’s move downtown to it’s new Meatpacking home, The Neue Gallery, and the list goes on and on…

Lauder owns the art world right now, or rather, graciously guides another generation of masterpieces on its journey from private to public. Bravo!

Here are a few reviews of Cubism, now on view at The Met…
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/oct/16/cubism-met-review-lauder-picasso-braque

http://online.wsj.com/articles/with-leonard-lauder-collection-metropolitan-museum-of-art-attempts-to-fill-a-modern-art-gap-1413333609

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/17/arts/design/cubism-the-leonard-a-lauder-collection-starring-picasso-and-braque.html?_r=1