Private collection
A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually
History
This section relies largely or entirely on a single source. (March 2018) |
Art collecting was common among the wealthy in the
The tastes and habits of collectors have played a very important part in determining what art was produced, providing the
In recognition of its importance in influencing the production of new art and the preservation of old art, art collecting has been an area of considerable academic research in recent decades, having been somewhat neglected previously.[2]
Famous art collections
Very famous collections that are now dispersed include the
The
Many collections were left to the public in some form, and are now museums, or the nucleus of a museum's collection. Most museums are formed around one or more formerly private collection acquired as a whole. Major examples where few or no additions have been made include the
Other collections remain complete but are merged into larger collections in museums. Some important 19th/20th examples are:
- The Waddesdon Bequest of Renaissance objects was bequeathed to the British Museum, where it is displayed in its own room (a condition of the bequest), as is the Percival David Collection of Chinese porcelain. Many other bequests or purchased collections are split up within the museum's collection.
- St. Petersburg.
- The Charles Lang Freer collection became an important part of the Smithsonian—the Freer Gallery of Art.
- Count Antoine Seilern bequeathed the bulk of his art collection to the Courtauld Institute of Art in 1978 where it is known as the Princes Gate Collection, which was also the title of the catalogue of the collection.
- When the banker Robert Lehman died in 1969, his foundation donated 2,600 works of art to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.[4] Housed in the "Robert Lehman Wing", the museum refers to the collection as "one of the most extraordinary private art collections ever assembled in the United States".[5] To emphasize the personal nature of the Robert Lehman collection, the Met housed the collection in a special set of galleries which evoked the interior of Lehman's richly decorated townhouse; this intentional separation of the collection as a "museum within the museum" met with mixed criticism and approval at the time, though the acquisition of the collection was seen as a coup for the Met.[6] Unlike other departments at the Met, the Robert Lehman collection does not concentrate on a specific style or period of art; rather, it reflects Lehman's personal interests.
References
- ^ Jim Lane (2005-10-25). "Private Art Collections". Archived from the original on 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2006-10-03.
- ^ "How to become an art collector?". 25 January 2022. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
- ^ Martin Bailey. "The World's Second Greatest Private Art Collection". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2005-03-13. Retrieved 2006-10-03.
- ^ "The Metropolitan Museum of Art - The Robert Lehman Collection". Metmuseum.org. Archived from the original on 2012-06-08. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
- ^ Metropolitan Museum of Art press release, September 1999
- ^ Thomas Hoving. Making the Mummies Dance. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993.
External links
Media related to Private collections at Wikimedia Commons