The Mezzacappa Collection

At the heart of this collection is Lucian Freud’s The Brigadier. Like that picture, all of this collection connects the past and the present in a dramatic statement of the power of art

From the gestural sweeps of colour contained within Howard Hodgkin’s Rain at Il Palazzo to Joan Mitchell’s dramatic paintings from the height of the Abstract Expressionist era, the breadth and quality of works within this collection is remarkable. This rare ability to build artistic bridges across the century, is demonstrated most clearly in the highlight of the collection, Lucian Freud’s majestic The Brigadier. Painted between 2003 and 2004, this powerful portrait of Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles – a venerable member of the British Establishment – evokes the spirit of the grand military portraits that populate art history, yet in Freud’s hands the lucid brushstrokes produce a portrait that captures the contradictions of the modern world in a very contemporary way.

From his highly successful career in international finance, to his outstanding collection of masterpieces, Damon Mezzacappa sought – and achieved – the highest level of accomplishment in whatever he put his mind to. As a collector he was deeply engaged with the bold thought of the past and the present, and accumulated an enviable collection of works which not only were celebrated in their day, but also had a lasting legacy on the history of art as a whole.