Collecting stories

In our regular series of interviews and short films, collectors from across the world discuss how they got started, their motivations, and, ultimately, what collecting means to them

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Discover the world of collecting

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Collecting stories: Gael Neeson How Gael Neeson and her late husband Stefan Edlis amassed one of the world’s greatest collections of modern and contemporary masterpieces	Alexandra Tolstoy: ‘Everything we’ve got is in its own right very unusual and special’ Alexandra Tolstoy on items from the Chelsea home she created with Colefax & Fowler — featuring items offered online
Collecting stories: Jane and Kito de Boer and their passion for modern Indian art The couple describe how they began to acquire art after moving to Delhi in the early 1990s	‘Chinese artists will soon be the global superstars of the art world’ Young French collector John Dodelande sees China as the future of art
‘Most people know when I’m bidding’ — Kiran Nadar has big plans for Indian art One of the world’s top collectors of Indian art talks about auctions, artists and her new museum in Delhi	The minimalist: at home with collector Catherine Walsh The beauty industry veteran has been collecting minimalist art for years. Her John Pawson home sets it off to perfection
Collecting stories: ‘If we weren’t married, we’d be bidding against each other at auctions’ Meet Erica Lai and Ronald Ooi, the couple for whom Tang-dynasty art, Lalique glass and Fernando Botero are part of family life	‘I want the artist to be triggered by the landscape’ Norwegian entrepreneur and collector Christen Sveaas offers Jonathan Bastable a tour of his sculpture park and new gallery at Kistefos
At home with business leader and art collector Pierre Chen For the electronics billionaire Pierre Chen, collecting art balances out the pressures of doing business. By Mark Jones	Headline news: Eva Dichand on art, collecting and newspapers In her passion for art and newspapers, Eva Dichand has assumed the mantle of her late father-in-law, Krone editor Hans Dichand
The Clarke Collection: A West Coast love story As an extraordinary collection of West Coast art comes to Christie’s in New York, we meet the visionary couple behind it	Collecting Stories: Dr Tuan Pham As selected works from one of the finest collection of Vietnamese art comes to Christie’s Hong Kong, we meet the man behind the collection
Four Texas-based collectors and their collections Our quartet tell us about their passions for samurai armour, illuminated manuscripts, toy banks and antique dolls	‘I have pursued art to find a balance in my life’ Walter Vanhaerents discusses his collecting journey ahead of the opening of a new exhibition at the Venice Biennale
J. Tomilson Hill: Warrior, dealmaker, collector In the art world as on Wall Street, J Tomilson Hill plays to win. He is now opening a dedicated space for his stellar collection	Remembering Si Newhouse, a ‘unique and legendary collector’ Insights into the collecting life of a man described by David Geffen as ‘the greatest collector in the world’
The art world’s new rock star His sensational purchases at auction and plans for a new museum have put Yusaku Maezawa’s every move under the spotlight	Art and vines: The stuff of legacy Allan and Mei Warburg’s Donum Estate vineyard in California is home to a sculpture collection as rich and complex as its Pinot Noirs
Collecting stories: Jean Bonna Jean Bonna discusses his collection of Old Master and 19th-century drawings being offered at Christie's in New York	Collecting stories: Perry A. Margouleff The musician and owner of Pie Studios in New York reflects on a lifelong fascination with electric guitars
Handbag tips from the owner of Jane Birkin’s original Birkin bag Vintage boutique owner Catherine B. on collecting vintage Hermès and Chanel, and how she came to acquire one of the most iconic of all handbags	Collecting stories: Valeria Napoleone A glimpse of some of the many artworks by women artists with which the Italian and her family surround themselves
Collecting stories: Marcus Flacks The dealer in Chinese furniture, paintings and scholar’s objects discusses his collecting journey — and how he once almost sold his wife’s favourite scholar’s rock	Collecting stories: James Perkins The property developer describes his passion for stuffed animals, classical statuary and antique globes
Collecting stories: Joel Chen Items from the personal collection of one of L.A.’s most admired antiques dealers are offered online from 7 February, and in New York on 13 February	Collecting stories: Sandro Fratini The Italian entrepreneur discusses his collection of more than 2,000 superb watches, and his new book, My Time
‘Life is richer when you live it among the dreamers’ From 2016, an in-depth interview with collectors, museum founders and city regenerators Eli and Edythe Broad	Collectors & their Collections: Don and Mera Rubell With a prophetic eye for up-and-coming talent, Don and Mera Rubell have been buying art for more than 50 years. Jonathan Bastable went to meet them. Photographs by James Mollison
Resurrecting Eastern Europe’s forgotten artists Collectors Artur Trawinski and Irmina Nazar discuss their mission to promote Eastern European artists of the Soviet era	The man from MALBA E. Jane Dickson meets the founder of the Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires, Eduardo Costantini
Touria El Glaoui: putting African contemporary art on the map The founder of the 1-54 art fair on giving African artists international visibility, and building her own collection	The Rockefellers and the road to Modern Art John Elderfield, a former curator at MoMA, on how the museum’s first director, Alfred H. Barr, influenced David Rockefeller’s purchasing power
‘Had she been a man she could have commanded an army’ An in-depth profile of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, wife, mother, influential patron of modern art and co-founder of MoMA	From Gertrude Stein to the Rockefellers: The collecting of modernist masterpieces How important works from one of the first ever great collections of modern art came to be acquired by the Rockefellers
An American Place: The Barney A. Ebsworth Collection comes to Christie’s The greatest privately owned collection of American Modernist art ever to come to market features works by O’Keeffe, Hopper, Sheeler, de Kooning, Pollock and more	‘Everything was designed to complement the art’ Architect Jim Olson on the challenges of designing a home that doubled as the perfect setting for Barney A. Ebsworth’s stellar collection of art
‘I like to buy works that bug me’ Four Berlin-based German collectors discuss their collections, and the considerations that drive their collecting	‘Building a collection is like climbing Everest’ Five Venetians discuss the objects that fascinate them, from Lego figures to coloured glassware, Scandinavian furniture, shoes — and harpoons
Fashion connoisseurs and their collections Paul Smith, Karina Duebner, Wolfgang Ruf, Martin Kamer and Iris Apfel present their most cherished wearable treasures	‘It’s a personal collection, so I think it ought to be fun’ Five London-based collectors present a dazzling variety of objects, from photographs and furniture to punk memorabilia
Collectors & their collections: Lu Haiyan The chairman of the Hotel Kunlun in Beijing and popular novelist, this collector is also the founder of the Huanghuali Art Museum in Beijing. Photography by James Mollison	Collectors & their collections: Liu Lan The Beijing entrepreneur is passionate about the unique life experiences she has gained through collecting contemporary art. Photography by James Mollison
Collectors & their collections: Kou Jianjun This collector-turned-art-dealer is fascinated by modern and contemporary Chinese painting and calligraphy. Phototography by James Mollison	What drives Asia’s most powerful art collectors? Their passions, motivations and dreams — and advice for anyone hoping to join their exclusive club
‘My friend Norman’ — Picasso and the jazz impresario Norman Granz introduced the world to American Jazz. His love of the music was only matched by his passion for Modern art	Reverting to type Why everyone from Tom Hanks to Lady Gaga is collecting vintage typewriters — a lure for some of the 20th century’s greatest designers
Jay McInerney: ‘The watches that I own have a story’ The writer, columnist and collector on how he caught the watch collecting ‘bug’, and why almost all the watches he buys now are at auction	Peggy Guggenheim and the ghosts of the unfinished palazzo Peggy Guggenheim wasn’t the first woman to own Palazzo Venier dei Leoni. The two who preceded her were equally colourful

Collecting stories

Discover the world of collecting

Related content

Collecting stories: Gael Neeson

How Gael Neeson and her late husband Stefan Edlis amassed one of the world’s greatest collections of modern and contemporary masterpieces

Alexandra Tolstoy: ‘Everything we’ve got is in its own right very unusual and special’

Alexandra Tolstoy on items from the Chelsea home she created with Colefax & Fowler — featuring items offered online

Collecting stories: Jane and Kito de Boer and their passion for modern Indian art

The couple describe how they began to acquire art after moving to Delhi in the early 1990s

‘Chinese artists will soon be the global superstars of the art world’

Young French collector John Dodelande sees China as the future of art

‘Most people know when I’m bidding’ — Kiran Nadar has big plans for Indian art

One of the world’s top collectors of Indian art talks about auctions, artists and her new museum in Delhi

The minimalist: at home with collector Catherine Walsh

The beauty industry veteran has been collecting minimalist art for years. Her John Pawson home sets it off to perfection

Collecting stories: ‘If we weren’t married, we’d be bidding against each other at auctions’

Meet Erica Lai and Ronald Ooi, the couple for whom Tang-dynasty art, Lalique glass and Fernando Botero are part of family life

‘I want the artist to be triggered by the landscape’

Norwegian entrepreneur and collector Christen Sveaas offers Jonathan Bastable a tour of his sculpture park and new gallery at Kistefos

At home with business leader and art collector Pierre Chen

For the electronics billionaire Pierre Chen, collecting art balances out the pressures of doing business. By Mark Jones

Headline news: Eva Dichand on art, collecting and newspapers

In her passion for art and newspapers, Eva Dichand has assumed the mantle of her late father-in-law, Krone editor Hans Dichand

The Clarke Collection: A West Coast love story

As an extraordinary collection of West Coast art comes to Christie’s in New York, we meet the visionary couple behind it

Collecting Stories: Dr Tuan Pham

As selected works from one of the finest collection of Vietnamese art comes to Christie’s Hong Kong, we meet the man behind the collection

Four Texas-based collectors and their collections

Our quartet tell us about their passions for samurai armour, illuminated manuscripts, toy banks and antique dolls

‘I have pursued art to find a balance in my life’

Walter Vanhaerents discusses his collecting journey ahead of the opening of a new exhibition at the Venice Biennale

J. Tomilson Hill: Warrior, dealmaker, collector

In the art world as on Wall Street, J Tomilson Hill plays to win. He is now opening a dedicated space for his stellar collection

Remembering Si Newhouse, a ‘unique and legendary collector’

Insights into the collecting life of a man described by David Geffen as ‘the greatest collector in the world’

The art world’s new rock star

​​His sensational purchases at auction and plans for a new museum have put Yusaku Maezawa’s every move under the spotlight

Art and vines: The stuff of legacy

Allan and Mei Warburg’s Donum Estate vineyard in California is home to a sculpture collection as rich and complex as its Pinot Noirs

Collecting stories: Jean Bonna

Jean Bonna discusses his collection of Old Master and 19th-century drawings being offered at Christie's in New York

Collecting stories: Perry A. Margouleff

​The musician and owner of Pie Studios in New York reflects on a lifelong fascination with electric guitars​

Handbag tips from the owner of Jane Birkin’s original Birkin bag

Vintage boutique owner Catherine B. on collecting vintage Hermès and Chanel, and how she came to acquire one of the most iconic of all handbags

Collecting stories: Valeria Napoleone

A glimpse of some of the many artworks by women artists with which the Italian and her family surround themselves

Collecting stories: Marcus Flacks

The dealer in Chinese furniture, paintings and scholar’s objects discusses his collecting journey — and how he once almost sold his wife’s favourite scholar’s rock

Collecting stories: James Perkins

​The property developer describes his passion for stuffed animals, classical statuary and antique globes

Collecting stories: Joel Chen

Items from the personal collection of one of L.A.’s most admired antiques dealers are offered online from 7 February, and in New York on 13 February

Collecting stories: Sandro Fratini

The Italian entrepreneur discusses his collection of more than 2,000 superb watches, and his new book, My Time

‘Life is richer when you live it among the dreamers’

From 2016, an in-depth interview with collectors, museum founders and city regenerators Eli and Edythe Broad

Collectors & their Collections: Don and Mera Rubell

With a prophetic eye for up-and-coming talent, Don and Mera Rubell have been buying art for more than 50 years. Jonathan Bastable went to meet them. Photographs by James Mollison

Resurrecting Eastern Europe’s forgotten artists

Collectors Artur Trawinski and Irmina Nazar discuss their mission to promote Eastern European artists of the Soviet era

The man from MALBA

E. Jane Dickson meets the founder of the Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires, Eduardo Costantini

Touria El Glaoui: putting African contemporary art on the map

The founder of the 1-54 art fair on giving African artists international visibility, and building her own collection

The Rockefellers and the road to Modern Art

John Elderfield, a former curator at MoMA, on how the museum’s first director, Alfred H. Barr, influenced David Rockefeller’s purchasing power

‘Had she been a man she could have commanded an army’

An in-depth profile of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, wife, mother, influential patron of modern art and co-founder of MoMA

From Gertrude Stein to the Rockefellers: The collecting of modernist masterpieces

How important works from one of the first ever great collections of modern art came to be acquired by the Rockefellers

An American Place: The Barney A. Ebsworth Collection comes to Christie’s

The greatest privately owned collection of American Modernist art ever to come to market features works by O’Keeffe, Hopper, Sheeler, de Kooning, Pollock and more

‘Everything was designed to complement the art’

Architect Jim Olson on the challenges of designing a home that doubled as the perfect setting for Barney A. Ebsworth’s stellar collection of art

‘I like to buy works that bug me’

​​Four Berlin-based German collectors discuss their collections, and the considerations that drive their collecting

‘Building a collection is like climbing Everest’

Five Venetians discuss the objects that fascinate them, from Lego figures to coloured glassware, Scandinavian furniture, shoes — and harpoons

Fashion connoisseurs and their collections

His sensational purchases at auction and plans for a new museum have put Yusaku Maezawa’s every move under the spotlight

The musician and owner of Pie Studios in New York reflects on a lifelong fascination with electric guitars

The property developer describes his passion for stuffed animals, classical statuary and antique globes

Collectors & their Collections:
Don and Mera Rubell

Four Berlin-based German collectors discuss their collections, and the considerations that drive their collecting

Collectors & their collections:
Lu Haiyan

Collectors & their collections:
Liu Lan

Collectors & their collections:
Kou Jianjun

Why everyone from Tom Hanks to Lady Gaga is collecting vintage typewriters — a lure for some of the 20th century’s greatest designers