The top 20: who are the world's most influential collectors?

The collectors who really matter to the history of art are not necessarily the very richest or even the most acquisitive. They are those who by their example set standards for others, encourage interest in the art they collect and share their treasures with the public. In short, the collectors of greatest importance are those who wield the greatest influence. Martin Bailey presents APOLLO'S list of the 20 most influential collectors today.

What makes a collector influential? Obviously, the really big spenders have a major impact on the market, but the aim of our quest is to delve deeper--to focus on those who have a longer-term impact on the wider world. Influence, in this sense, comes when a collector feels the need to share their enthusiasm with fellow art-lovers. Few, if any, of our Top 20 collectors have consciously sought influence, but it has followed from a combination of connoisseurship and generosity.

All the names on our list (which is presented in alphabetical order) have exhibited their collections. Most have lent works to museum shows and some have arranged exhibitions of them. Most of the collections have also been published (at least in part), often as exhibition catalogues. It is striking that 13 of our collectors have set up (and funded) their own public galleries, for changing displays. There may be an element of vanity involved in sharing a collection, but we all act with a range of motivations.

Choosing half of the names was simple, since their influence was indisputable. After that, it became more difficult to weigh the candidates, so inevitably there is an element of subjectivity in the list. We also aimed for a reasonable balance both of nationalities and collecting fields. It should be stressed that we have focused on mainstream art, since within a narrow speciality it is obviously much easier for an individual to exert a powerful influence. Our list emphasises the growing interest in contemporary art: half the names are collectors in this area. This reflects great public interest, particularly among the younger generation, so it is a field that offers considerable opportunities for collectors to reach out to a wide audience.

Inevitably, all our collectors are wealthy, and indeed seven of them figure in this year's Forbes list of billionaires: Broad, Khalili, Lauder, Pinault, Pinchuk, Thomson and Wurth. Many of the 20 have been generous donors to public galleries; this in itself undoubtedly brings influence, particularly in America, where philanthropy is more widely acknowledged (very major museum donors are normally offered a seat on the board).

As to nationality, seven of our 20 are from north America (six from the United States and one from Canada), a result of the numerous important collectors there; Americans also tend to be more open about sharing their art. Nine are from western Europe, including three from Switzerland, which has an unusually high number of collectors for its population. Four are from newly-emerging art markets: Mexico, Ukraine, Qatar and India.

These new markets are already having a major impact on collecting at the very upper level. For instance, until recently no one would have suggested that the Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich was an important collector, let alone an influential one. Yet, as The Art Newspaper reported in May, that month he was the anonymous buyer of Freud's Benefits Supervisor Sleeping ($33.6m) and Bacon's 1976 Triptych ($86.3m). The purchases were the result of encouragement by Abramovich's girlfriend, Daria Zhukova, who is setting up the Center for Contemporary Culture in Moscow. Is this a one-off trophy purchase or the launch of a new mega-collection and major public gallery? Only time will tell.

THE TOP COLLECTORS

JEAN PAUL BARBIER-MUELLER--Tribal Art Nationality: Swiss Age: 77 Source of wealth: Property

Josef Mueller began a collection of tribal art in the 1930s and, after his death in 1977, it was developed by his son-in-law Jean Paul Barbier. That year, Jean Paul and his wife, Monique, opened the Barbier-Mueller Museum in Geneva, to present a changing selection of works in focused exhibitions (Fig. 2). They now have 7,000 objects, making it the world's greatest private collection of tribal art, which is particularly strong on Africa and Oceania. In 1997 the couple opened a second museum in Barcelona, for Pre-Columbian works.

ERNST BEYELER--20th-century painting and sculpture Nationality: Swiss Age: 86 Source of wealth: Art dealer

Initially Ernst Beyeler and his wife, Hildy, kept works they particularly liked that had failed to sell in their gallery, but they soon bought especially for their personal collection. The couple eventually decided to set up a public gallery at Riehen, on the northern outskirts of Basel, and the elegant Renzo Piano-designed building opened in 1997. The emphasis of the collection is on the first half of the 20th century, although it does have more recent works. There are 220 pieces by the great masters of modern art, with Picasso and Klee particularly well represented. The Beyeler Foundation has nearly 400,000 visitors a year, more than any other gallery in German-speaking Switzerland. One third of the space is for temporary exhibitions (currently Leger--see APOLLO'S June issue), with the remainder for the foundation's collection. Despite his age, Beyeler continues to run his commercial gallery in Basel.

ELI BROAD--Post-war and contemporary Nationality: American Age: 75 Source of wealth: Property and insurance

Eli Broad and his wife, Edythe, began to collect modern and contemporary art in the 1970s, and have amassed one of America's greatest private collections. They have nearly 2,000 pieces, of which 400 (mainly 1960s and 1970s works) are personally owned for their Brentwood home, on the outskirts of Los Angeles. The remainder (mainly contemporary) belongs to the Santa Monica-based Broad Art Foundation, which serves as a 'lending library' to museums across America. Purchases continue at the rate of over 100 works a year. Broad has donated $50m to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for a new extension, the Renzo Piano-designed Broad Contemporary Art Museum, which opened in February (see APOLLO's April issue). He gave a further $10m for acquisitions. It was widely assumed that most of the foundation's art would be presented to LACMA, but in January it was announced that it would remain with the Foundation (Fig. 3).

Broad was also the founding chairman of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. He has given $26m to help build a Zaha Hadid-designed art museum at Michigan State University; building work is due to start this autumn, for completion in 2010.

AGNES GUND--Post-war, mainly American Nationality: American Age: 69 Source of wealth: Banking inheritance

Agnes Gund began collecting contemporary art in the late 1960s, with a focus on American artists. In 50 years she has acquired over 1,000 works. What marks her out is her generosity: she has been a major lender and donor to US galleries. Based in New York, she served as president of the Museum of Modern Art from 1991 to 2002 and led the fundraising drive for its $858m extension, which opened in 2004. Her husband, the lawyer Daniel Shapiro, collects Chinese antiquities.

NASSER DAVID KHALILI--Islamic and Japanese Meiji Nationality: British Age: 62 Source of wealth: Property

Although a number of major Islamic collectors have emerged in the Gulf in recent years, Nasser Khalili (born in Iran and of Jewish descent) has been at the forefront of this field since the 1970s. What makes him particularly important is that his works of art have been meticulously catalogued (in 27 volumes) and widely exhibited (in 18 shows, most recently in Abu Dhabi). He also has an important collection of 19th-century Japanese Meiji art, together with Swedish textiles, Spanish damascene metalwork and European enamels (the last to be unveiled in December 2009 in a show at the Hermitage in St Petersburg). Altogether, the Khalili collection comprises 25,000 pieces (see APOLLO'S March issue). There has been speculation about the source of his wealth, but since the 1990s most of it has come from Favermead, a UK property company that invests in shopping centres. Khalili has long been considering setting up a museum, possibly in London, but nothing has yet been arranged.

Dalí Art Fraud

The following photographs have been provided to us by the Salvador Dalí Archives Ltd., of New York City. Their provenance is Mara and Giuseppe Albaretto, Turin, Italy.

http://www.salvadordalifakes.com/gallery/dali-fakes-gallery.php

The Albarettos provided these photographs to the Archives sometime in the mid '90s so that the Archives would have a complete record of their Salvador Dalí art collection.

Each photograph is marked on the verso with information, in Italian (see example). In addition, there are numerous rubber stamps with the name and address of the authenticator, one "Professor Doctor Giorgio Pillon". The information includes the title of the work, its dimensions, and occasionally venues where the work was exhibited. The closing statement reads: "Pertanto certifico l'assoluta auutenticita dell'oppera." Translation: Therefore I certify the absolute authenticity of (this) work. Following this statement is the original hand signature of Giorgio Pillon.

These photographs have been scanned and distributed to Dali specialists around the world. The consensus? The vast majority of these works are fraudulent - not by the hand of Salvador Dalí.

We present these works here in their entirety, for all to see, the largest art fraud ever recorded; the largest art fraud disseminated to the world via the Internet. The perpetrators? Stay tuned.
(Clue - artworks sold by Park West Gallery based in Michigan & on cruise ships; other company names from Park West Circle Fine Art Liquidators, and currently Plymouth Auctioneering)

Fine Art Registry® Helping Bring Order to the World of Art™

Salvador Dali work suspected of being a fake.

Fine Art Registry® provides a unique, patented, high technology tagging and registration system for artists, collectors, galleries and museums, to help ensure authenticity and provide accurate provenance for works of art and all valuable collectibles. Fine Art Registry members have their own online art gallery and artist portfolio, and can offer their art and collectibles for sale.

Fine Art Registry takes no commission for these sales. Free downloadable certificates of authenticity are also available for members. Our system helps prevent art fraud and fakery and deter theft. It helps with recovery of stolen art and with insurance policies and claims.

Cultural/heritage tourism

Cultural/heritage tourism is based on the mosaic of places, traditions, art forms, celebrations and experiences that portray the diversity and character of a community, a region, or a nation. Travelers who engaged in cultural heritage tourism activities visit:
historic sites
museums and art galleries
theater and performing arts venues
cultural events, festivals and fairs
ethnic communities and neighborhoods
architectural and archaeological sites
national and state parks

The Travel Industry of America reports that in 2000, 65% of adult American travelers indicated they included a cultural, arts, heritage or historic activity or event while on a trip of 50 miles or more. Of those travelers, 43% visited historic sites, 30% visited a museum, 23% attended live theater, 21% attended art galleries, 20% attended heritage or ethnic festivals, and 19% attended music concerts.

Travelers who include cultural events on their trips differ from other US travelers in a number of ways. They are more likely to:

Have annual household incomes over $50,000
Have completed college
They also share similarities to other travelers:

56% are married
40% are Baby Boomers with an average age of 48 years
36% have children under 18
(The above statistics come from the January 2001 survey of resident US adults, conducted by the Travel Industry of America.)

"Cultural tourists tend to be slightly older than other travelers and spend more on their trips than other age groups. The sophistication of this market will demand an experience that is authentic, high quality, and in many cases, customized to meet individual interests and needs."1

The Economic Impact of Arts and Culture

New York State ranks first in overnight travel from Canada; 3rd in overseas visitors; and 4th in terms of both total domestic and domestic leisure travel. In 2000, there were 131.2 million person trips to New York State. These visitors spent an estimated $37.5 billion in the state during the year. More than one-quarter of these visitors attended cultural activities and historic sites.2

In its recent report, Arts & Economic Prosperity: The Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts Organizations and Their Audiences (2002), Americans for the Arts gathered compelling new evidence that the nonprofit arts are a significant industry in the United States - "one that generates $134 billion in total economic activity. This spending -- $53.2 billion by nonprofit arts organizations and an additional $80.8 billion in event-related spending by their audiences - supports 4.9 million jobs and delivers more than $23 billion in total government revenue¼.when communities support the arts, they not only enhance the quality of community life, but also invest in its economic well-being."

This represents a 45% increase over the $36.8 billion spent just eight years earlier in 1992. Significant to this increase was corporate support (45% increase); state legislative support (47% increase); foundation giving to the arts (100% increase); total private sector giving to arts and culture (23.4% increase); and local government support (30% increase).3

Arts programs have served as components of high-impact economic development programs by assisting state and local government in: leveraging human capital and cultural resources to generate economic vitality in underperforming regions through tourism, crafts, and cultural attractions; restoring and revitalizing communities by serving as a centerpiece for downtown redevelopment and cultural renewal; creating vibrant public spaces integrated with natural amenities, resulting in improved urban quality of life, expanded business and tax revenue base, and positive regional and community image; and contributing to a region's "innovation habitat" by simultaneously improving regional quality of life -making communities more attractive and highly desirable to knowledge-based employees - and permitting new forms of knowledge-intensive production to flourish.4

Ten Considerations to Guide Successful Cultural/Heritage Tourism Programs

1. Visitor experiences and attractions provide genuine entertainment and educational value.

2. Sites and attractions have been developed to preserve their authenticity.

3. Visitor safety, convenience, and value are paramount concerns.

4. Visitation is viewed as an important part of the local and regional economy.

5. Business and employment opportunities accrue in the communities where cultural tourism development occurs.

6. Visitors travel a "circuit," so that less-popular sites get their share and more popular sites are not adversely affected by excessive visitation and commercialization.

7. A regional pride and identity exists among residents that are interpreted in its many facets at area attractions.

8. An understanding exists among all that tourism requires accomplished hosts and that the community's hospitality is genuine.

9. The best promotion is that provided by the recommendations of the region's residents.

10. Where participation in cultural and civic life is cherished and considered by the community to be vital in economic development, as well as an enhancement of the quality of life.

Specific Characteristics of Success

Adapt what already works
Stimulate and support entrepreneurial efforts, including product development
Marketing: make me care; make me act
Preservation
Planning: bottom up, not to-down
Packaging: unite multiple destinations around common goals
Passion: leadership is the key to overcoming many obstacles
Partnerships: capitalize on the strengths of others

Working With Consultants

Painting by Alexis Portilla

When to Use Arts Consultants and How to Get the Most Benefit From Them

In this article, I'm going to use the rather amorphous noun "consultant," which should be taken to mean any outside expertise, paid or volunteer, who your organization may call upon to assist you with some aspect of your operation. Consultants can serve as subject matter experts, group facilitators, or mentors. They can work with your organization on short or long-term needs or special projects.

There comes a time in every organization's life when a bit of objective analysis or special expertise can facilitate the work of a board, a committee, or staff. Sadly, many organizations don't reach out for help for fear of appearing vulnerable or direction-less, or for not knowing how and whom to ask for help. However, a well-timed visit by the right pair of outside eyes can bring tremendous benefits to an organization -- structure through renewed focus and process, new ideas and creative solutions, boosts to momentum, and overall rejuvenation.

On the other hand, a poorly timed intervention, or a poor choice of consultant, can be a real time-waster, if not a disaster. I don't know how many times I've heard a board or a staff lament, "We've been burned by consultants before." What does that mean? Upon closer examination, what that means is usually one or a combination of three things: 1) the consultant and the organization weren't a good match -- they didn't get along well; didn't understand one another; didn't listen to each other; 2) the organization hadn't clearly articulated to itself why it needed a consultant and, in turn, was unable to adequately communicate its needs to the consultant; and/or 3) there was no real organization support for bringing in a consultant -- it was being done simply to meet someone else's expectations.

So, how do you know when it might be the time to call in a consultant or facilitator? The time is ripe to call in outside help when a group has gotten stuck on some issue that keeps resurfacing without resolution, such as that strategic plan that hasn't been updated in five years, or whether to move to a larger building; has an issue on the table that needs the benefit of a new perspective, such as a new program direction needs to tackle a project, but does not have the expertise within the organization to do it, such as assistance with deaccessioning or exhibit design has run out of steam and needs some reenergizing.

Consultants, whether it's the board president of another organization who's voluntarily talking to your board about leadership issues, or whether it's a person whose expertise you're paying for, will need first to be engaged in a discussion about your needs. Consultants are not clairvoyants. It's kind of like going to the doctor -- if you don't tell her where it hurts, she's going to have a hard time making you feel better. So, a little self-assessment before talking to a potential consultant is in order. The more you can pinpoint your need, the more likely you can find the right person with the best strategy to help.

Most consultants I know want to be approached well before they are formally hired. They welcome the chance to be a part of a collaborative process of diagnosing needs and providing solutions. If a consultant has an opportunity to design an intervention with a potential client, the intervention itself will be more tailored to your needs and more flexible than if the consultant is asked to implement someone else's design, or worse -- clean up a half-finished project designed and left by someone else! Plan on spending time talking with potential consultants about your needs as you perceive them and about how they would approach your situation.

Where do you find consultants? Treat the search for a consultant the way you would search for any professional employee. Ask around -- talk to other nonprofits, your regional service organizations, and funding organizations. Look in the publications of museum associations, such as AAM or AASLH, for articles written by consultants. The Internet has also become a vast source of information. As with most contractor-types, your best leads are referrals from others.

Ask consultants for a client list and a resume. Talk to those clients to find out how well a consultant worked out -- if project goals and deadlines were met, if the work was of quality, if the consultant was easy to work with.

Ask consultants for some samples of their work. Interview consultants face-to-face if you can, especially if you've got an involved and/or lengthy project ahead. You want to know that you can get along with this person and that they are listening to you.

Discuss fees up front. You will find that consultants charge on an hourly, daily, or fixed-fee basis. Understand what other billable expenses you will be obligated to pay, i.e., travel time, out-of-pocket expenses.

What you want to get from any potential consultant is a written proposal of how they are going to work with you to meet your needs. For projects where you're planning to ask numerous consultants to submit proposals, it's best that you prepare a written Request For Proposal (RFP). The RFP lays out the scope of your need, your desired result, your anticipated timeframes, pertinent information about your organization, and what you want the consultant to submit to you. An RFP insures that each consultant is preparing his/her proposal (and costs) on the same project specifications as the next consultant.

Once you've chosen a consultant, put an agreement in writing that outlines specific expectations, outcomes, and deadlines. Note to whom the consultant is responsible and the frequency of reporting contact. Outline also what your organization will do/provide to expedite the consultant's work. Address the issue of payment: lump sum, divided equally over a period of time, etc. If paying in lump sums, never pay any consultant his/her entire fee up front. Always reserve a portion of the fee for payment after satisfactory completion of the job. Also address the issue of termination. No matter the amount of preparation, sometimes consulting relationships just don't click. You and the consultant need to have an agreed upon mechanism to end a contract.

Written agreements provide the consultant with a sense that the organization is committed to a project; they also help to protect a consultant in case the organization is not.

A consultant experience is only as good as the time and energy an organization puts into the preparation for it. If an organization fails to define its needs, actively search for the right consultant, and provide organizational commitment to the consultant in terms of time and other resources, then the consulting process may yield poor results. Both the organization and the consultant will be soured by the other.

Consultants will be eager to work with you if they feel you have a handle on what you need or where you want to go your organization is committed to working collaboratively with them, to utilizing their expertise, and following through on their recommendations there is a defined plan of work that has been jointly created you have a track record for building productive relationships with consultants

If, after reading this, you are contemplating the use of a consultant, do some further research (especially if you've never used a consultant before). Talk with other organizations that have successfully used consultants and read some books and articles on the subject. To paraphrase an advertising slogan, "An informed consumer makes the best customer."

For Further Reading

Andringa, Robert C. and Engstrom, Ted W. Nonprofit Board Answer Book: Practical Guidelines for Board Members and Chief Executives. Washington: National Center for Nonprofit Boards. 1997. ISBN: 0-925299-80-4. $29.95. To order, call 202-452-6262.

Forsht, Nichol J. The Not So Mysterious Request for Proposal (RFP) Process, Federation Files, c1989. Federation of Historical Services (now the Museum Association of New York), 265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180.

Managing Consultants and Contract Workers, In The Field, April, 1999. New York State Archives and Records Administration, Albany.

Munley, Mary Ellen and Kent, Frances Beth. Advice with Consent: Using Consultants, American Association of Museums Museum News, May/June, 1980.

About the Author

Anne W. Ackerson is the administrator of the Museum Association of New York and is also an independent consultant providing management, organizational development, and creative services to cultural institutions. She can be reached at 1914 Burdett Avenue, Troy, New York 12180; 518-271-2455.

Art Loans Get Ugly

Of all the crazy loans handed out by banks in the past decade, perhaps the most ill-considered were art loans.

As art exploded in price, both banks and owners wanted to tap into the value. Paintings were used in the same way as people used their homes–as giant ATMs spitting out cash as long as the market went up.
But there are two problems with art: it’s highly cyclical and it can disappear–suddenly.
Evidence of the first problem became apparent last week when the Swiss banking giant UBS shuttered its “art banking” practice. The bank had an 11 person team devoted solely to advising clients on art purchases. It also sponsored Art Basel.
UBS says it has never offered art loans. Still, it is probably safe to assume the art-banking business wasn’t a big profit generator if UBS is shutting it down.
“Art banking does not belong to our core activities, so we will discontinue the operation,” a spokeswoman said, raising the obvious question of why they built it in the first place.
The more serious problem is that art can vanish. Sure, cars, boats and planes can vanish, but not as easily as a painting. J.P. Morgan Chase last week sued Dutch businessman Louis Reijtenbagh for secreting his Rembrands, Picassos and other paintings out of the country. The artwork was collateral for more than $23 million in unpaid loans.
The suit says the art was supposed to be safeguarded at an apartment in Manhattan, at Trump Tower, that is owned by Reijtenbagh’s sons, Jacob and Edgar. Oops. A list of the art that is now gone includes works by Rembrandt, Picasso, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre Bonnard, Rene Magritte and others. (Jay Fialkoff, a lawyer representing Reijtenbagh and his sons in the Credit Suisse case, told Reuters on Friday that he was “not sure” if he was going to represent the investor in the J.P. Morgan lawsuit and declined to comment on it.)
Perhaps it is time someone invented a Lojack for art?
--By Robert Frank

Hearst Castle to return artworks seized by Nazis

State parks officials agree to turn over two paintings to heirs of Jewish art dealers. The family allows a third to be kept at San Simeon to help tell the story of the Holocaust.
April 9, 2009

For decades, three Italian Renaissance paintings have hung on the walls of Hearst Castle without betraying their grim history.

But on Friday, state parks officials will formally acknowledge the artworks' past, turning them over to the heirs of a Jewish couple who were forced by the Nazis to liquidate their Berlin art gallery in 1935.

At a brief ceremony in Sacramento, the paintings will be repatriated to descendants of Jakob and Rosa Oppenheimer, who were among Germany's premier art dealers before World War II. The transfer will be witnessed by family members from as far as Argentina, and their Paris-based attorney, who for two decades has been pressing claims on their behalf at museums in Europe and the United States.

After researching the Hearst paintings since 2007, the state agreed with attorney Eva Sterzing that they were sold at a Nazi judenauktionen -- a coerced sale aimed at stripping Jews of their assets.

"This is an opportunity to right a wrong," state parks Director Ruth Coleman said. "It also gives us a chance to tell the story over and over, so we don't forget our history. Every time someone tours the castle, they'll be learning about this."

Under the family's agreement with the state, one of the pieces -- "Venus and Cupid," done by a student of Venetian painter Paris Bordone -- will remain at the castle, the opulent 165-room home built by newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst. Guides will be schooled in its history and make a point of explaining it during their tours.

"I think it's marvelous that the state will continue educating people as to what occurred," said Peter Bloch, an Oppenheimer grandson who lives in Pompano Beach, Fla. "The family very willingly agreed to that."

The other two paintings -- a portrait by a student of Jacopo Tintoretto and one by a Venetian artist thought to be Giovanni Cariani -- will probably be sold by the family.

"There are nine heirs involved on three continents and trying to keep the paintings would be difficult," said Bloch, a retired food services manager. He would not discuss the works' monetary value.

No other pieces at Hearst Castle are thought to have tainted origins, museum Director Hoyt Fields said. In 2003, staff members started the laborious process of vetting the entire collection as required by the American Assn. of Museums. However, they had not yet examined the paintings when the Oppenheimer heirs made their claim.

Denounced as "Jewish capitalists" by the Nazis, Jakob and Rosa Oppenheimer fled to France in 1933. He died in 1941 in France. She died at Auschwitz two years later. Proceeds from the many valuable paintings in their gallery went to pay "flight taxes" and other fees levied on Jews who left Germany.

Repatriating art confiscated or looted by the Nazis has become a subject of intense interest in the museum world only in the last decade, according to Erik Ledbetter, the head of international programs and ethics for the American Assn. of Museums. When the Berlin Wall fell, previously inaccessible archives opened up. By then, descendants of Holocaust victims were a generation or two removed from the horror, and more interested than many of their parents in seeking reparations.

Twenty-five U.S. museums have negotiated settlements over Nazi-looted art in the last 10 years.

"There's not a great deal of law on the subject, but the dominant view right now is that, for sales ordered by the Nazi government, the transaction is the equivalent of theft," said Thomas R. Kline, a Washington, D.C., attorney who has done extensive work in the field.

Although documents tracing the ownership of disputed works are scattered, a surprising number still exist because of the Nazis' penchant for record-keeping.

"The consensus seems to be that they were fascinated by creating a legal framework for their art looting," Kline said. "If a Jew fled the country or was even taken to a camp, his property was considered abandoned and could be seized."

Attorneys for the California State Parks Department approached the family's claim with predictable skepticism. But they verified it after examining numerous documents, including 50-year-old West German court records in a successful claim filed by the family. They also conferred with the San Diego Museum of Art, which had settled with family members in 2004 over their claim for Peter Paul Rubens' "Allegory of Eternity."

"The debate soon became: Was there a solution greater for both parties than just returning the paintings?" said Bradly Torgan, a Los Angeles attorney who was general counsel for the state parks at the time.

The transfer will not leave the Hearst Castle art-poor. A legendary, voracious collector, Hearst had buyers scouting galleries all over Europe. His home at San Simeon, which was opened to the public by the state in 1959, still holds about 25,000 pieces -- a small portion of all he collected.

As for the Oppenheimers' paintings, "we have no evidence to indicate he was anything other than an innocent purchaser," Torgan said. "Our best guess is that the gallery that acquired them at auction called Hearst's agent and said, 'We've got some pieces Mr. Hearst might be interested in.' "

By steve.chawkins@latimes.com

RICHARD SERRA

Jumpstart, 1995
Etching printed in black on Mexican paper
33 3/4 x 44 in. / 88.3 x 111.9 cm
Edition of 65

Richard Serra (born November 2, 1939) is an American minimalist sculptor and video artist known for working with large scale assemblies of sheet metal. Serra was involved in the Process Art Movement.

1939 Born: San Francisco, CA

1957 - 1961 B.A. University of California in Berkeley. Santa Barbara, CA

1964 M.A. Yale University, New Haven, CT

1964 - 1966 Fulbright Scholarship (travelled to Paris and Italy)

1975 Skowhegan Sculpture Prize

1994 Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

1994 Praemium Imperiale, Japan Art Association; D.F.A. CA College of Art and Crafts
Selected Exhibitions
2007 Sculpture: 40 Years, Museum of Modern Art, NY

1999 Richard Serra: New Etchings: Torqued Ellipses and Rounds, Gemini G.E.L. Los Angeles, CA

1998 Richard Serra: Rounds, Eleven New Drawings, Galerie m Bochum, Germany

1998 Richard Serra: Weight and Measure Drawings, Gagosian Gallery New York, NY

1998 Richard Serra, The Geffen Contemporary at the Mus. of Contem. Art Los Angeles, CA

1997 Leone and Macdonald/Richard Serra, , Rena Bersten Gallery San Francisco, CA

1996 "Weight and Measure" Etchings and Ike and Tina: a Drawing Installation, Matthew Marks Gallery New York, NY

1996 Richard Serra Drawings, Galerie Nieves Fernandez Madrid, Spain

1996 Richard Serra: Weight and Measure Etchings, John Berggruen Gallery San Francisco, CA

1996 Richard Serra: Prints, International Biennial of Easel Graphik Kaliningrad-Konigsberg, Russia

1996 Richard Serra: Thirteen Intaglio Prints, Gemini G.E.L. Los Angeles, CA

1995 Richard Serra: To Whom it May Concern, Matthew Marks Gallery New York, NY

1995 From Bauhaus to Pop: Masterworks Given by Philip Johnson, The Museum of Modern Art New York, NY

1995 L'Informe; Mode d'Emploi, Centre Georges Pompidou Paris, France

1995 Abstraction in the Twentieth Century: Total Risk, Freedom, Discipline, Soloman R. Guggenheim Museum New York, NY

1994 Beyond Boundaries - Art of the 60s and 70s, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art San Francisco, CA

1994 Sculpture's Maquettes, Pace Wildenstein New York, NY

1994 After and Before, The Renaissance Society at the Univ. of Chicago Chicago, IL

1994 The Tradition of the New: Postwar Masterpieces from the Guggenheim Collection, Soloman R. Guggenheim Museum New York, NY

1993 The Tradition of Geometric Abstraction in American Art 1930-1990, The Whitney Museum of American Art New York, NY

1991 Johns, Kelly, Lichtenstein, Serra: Works Loaned by the Artists in honor of Neill Rudenstein, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University Cambridge, MA

1991 Richard Serra: The Afangar Icelandic Series, The Museum of Modern Art New York, NY

1991 Richard Serra: Sculpture and Drawings, Gagosian Gallery New York, NY

1991 Richard Serra: Skulptur, Malmö Konsthall Malmö, Sweden

1990 Richard Serra:Tekeningen/Drawings, Bonnefantenmuseum Maastrict, Netherlands

1990 Richard Serra: The Hours of the Day, Kunsthaus Zurich

1990 Image World: Art and Media Culture, The Whitney Museum of American Art New York, NY

1989 The Linear Image: American Master Work on Paper, Marisa del Re Gallery New York, NY

1988 Richard Serra; Graphik, Galerie Cora Hölzl Dusseldorf

1988 Richard Serra: Gravures Récentes, Galerie Lelong Paris

1987 Richard Serra: New Editions, Pace Primitive/Prints New York, NY

1987 Richard Serra: Sculpture, Leo Castelli Gallery and Pace Gallery New York, NY

1985 Black: Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, Richard Serra, Akira Ikeda Gallery Tokyo, Japan

1984 Richard Serra: Room Installation and Drawings from "Clara-Clara", Leo Castelli Gallery New York, NY

1984 Richard Serra: Sculpture, Galerie Daniel Templon Paris

1983 Gemini G.E.L., Art and Collaboration, National Gallery of Art Washington, D.C.

1982 A Century of Modern Drawing (org. under the Int'l. Council of MOMA, NY), The British Museum London

1981 Richard Serra: Recent Drawings, Blum Helman Gallery New York, NY

1980 91e Salon des Artistes Independants, Grand Palais Paris

1980 Richard Serra: Elevator 1980, The Hudson River Museum Yonkers, NY

1974 Art as Language (org. under the Int'l. Council of MOMA, NY), Museo de Arte Moderna Bogota (traveled)

1973 Opinions and Alternatives: Some Directions in Recent Art, Yale University Art Gallery New Haven, CT

1971 Sixth Guggenheim International, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum New York, NY

1968 Primary Structure, Minimal pop Art, Anti-Form, Galerie Ricke Kassel, Germany

1966 From Arp to Arschwager 1, Noah Goldowsky Gallery New York, NY

Doing More With Less

Art fairs and biennials around the world are cutting back amid the economic crisis, but the tenth edition of the Havana Biennial opening today could be a playbook on how to do more with less. On a budget of a million Cuban pesos, or roughly $200,000, organizers have orchestrated more than a dozen exhibits involving 300-plus artists from 54 countries in venues throughout the city.

Financing the event was a global affair, with some artists paying their own way to Cuba and others seeking help from art nonprofits in their home countries. At least a half-dozen countries, such as Spain and Brazil, are also paying costs for their artistic delegations, according to Ruben del Valle Lanterón, director of the biennial's organizing committee. Most of the local workers staffing the biennial's sites are also volunteers, he adds: "People work for free because they want to -- this is our moment."The theme of the biennial is "Integration and Resistance in the Global Age," so plenty of artists have brought work that tackles globalization, immigration and the economy. Cuban artist Alexandre Arrechea has constructed "The Room of All," a spine-like metal device that contracts or expands according the jumps in the Dow Industrial Average. Annalee Davis's installation "Just Beyond My Imagination," is a faux golf course with sand traps shaped like the Caribbean islands, her sly take on the region's play-land reputation.

Elsewhere, the biennial features a group of Chinese artists, from the eerie expressionism of Chen Bo to Liu Xiaodong. For the first time since the inaugural biennial in 1984, art from the U.S. will also be on major display at the National Museum of International Fine Arts, giving local artists a rare chance to take in the latest trends from the New York art scene. (Cuba's artists rarely get U.S. visas.) "Chelsea Meets Havana" includes works from over three dozen artists, including Doug Young's "Nuclear Launch Center," a sea-foam green desk built to look the kind used by the commander of an Arizona nuclear silo.

Kelly Crow Wall St. Journal

Cuba Now

As the art world flocks to Havana, a revolutionary gallery owner emerges as a key tastemaker

This weekend, the art world is descending on Cuba for the 10th Havana Biennial to see new works from hundreds of young artists that are on display in the city's museums, crumbling colonial forts and baroque churches. Many art insiders will also make a stop at a space that's not on the biennial's roster: the living room of Sandra Ceballos.

Ms. Ceballos manages the country's oldest independent art space, one of the few galleries in Cuba not funded by government-controlled cultural institutions. Art professionals say her gallery, run out of her apartment, is nurturing some of the country's most cutting-edge local talent at a time when Cuba is positioning itself as the next hotbed for contemporary art. Ms. Ceballos was among the first to exhibit Cuban art stars like Carlos Garaicoa, Angel Delgado and Tania Bruguera, whose works are highly sought after by major institutions like the Tate Modern in London.

Behind her iron gate at Calle 6, No. 602 lies a little-seen Havana brimming with tattoo artists, punk rockers, and teenagers in T-shirts that read, "Viva el diversionismo ideologico." Right now, her rust-colored walls feature Orlando Silvera's pencil drawing of a clown, his mouth sewn shut by the word, "Cubano." A concrete patio is covered, graffiti-style, with the names of artists and curators who say they have been censored in Cuba over the years. Artist Luis Gárciga and others also papered a space in the living room with sticky notes listing Web sites that won't work in Cuba, like Generacion Y, Yoani Sánchez's blog about Havana life that often criticizes the Cuban government.

The works are part of her new exhibit, timed to coincide with the biennial, called "La Perra Subasta," or "The Auction of the Big Dog," a group show for artworks that contain letters or words.

Ben Rodriguez-Cubeñas, a collector who is chairman of the Cuban Artists Fund in New York, says he's planning to bring at least 40 of his art-world friends by Ms. Ceballos's house while he's in town for the biennial next week: "Everything she does is gutsy."

The fact that Ms. Ceballos has never been shut down is a source of great intrigue for Cuba-watchers around the world. Some say it signals a new tolerance by Raúl Castro, who has enacted a few reforms -- allowing cellphones, for example -- since taking over the country's leadership from his brother last year because of Fidel's failing health.

Others say she exercises just enough restraint to avoid real trouble. Cuban artist Glexis Novoa, who lives in Miami but often travels to Havana, says, "She knows that the government will try to deal with you and tolerate you, up to a limit."

In a country where the biggest art patron is the Cuban government, alternative art spaces that aren't on the state payroll are nearly nonexistent. Artists who want to exhibit here typically attend government art schools before vying for a coveted slot in Havana's handful of sanctioned galleries like Galeria Habana or the biennial, Cuba's biggest art event. Gallery owners and biennial curators say they are free to show whatever they like, but they tend to sidestep pieces that directly criticize the ruling Castro family or their policies. Ms. Ceballos, who mounts exhibits with the regularity of a seasoned art dealer, is only allowed by law to sell her own artwork, but she can help collectors contact other artists if they're interested in buying other works.

Her role is key because the demand for edgy Cuban art has skyrocketed lately. Prices can easily top $40,000 for work by stars like Kcho and Yoan Capote, who show in Cuba's sanctioned galleries as well as in U.S. and European galleries. The U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, in place since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, allows Americans to buy Cuban art.

This week, at least 10 groups from museums like the Bronx Museum and El Museo del Barrio in New York secured humanitarian visas so they could fly into Havana. (The Bronx Museum delegation packed vitamins into their luggage to donate during their stay.) Major American collectors like Ron Pizzutti and Howard Farber have also come to town.

Cuban art is the main attraction at this week's biennial, though the official exhibitions feature over 300 artists from 54 countries in venues throughout the city. Crowds are expected to form around Humberto Diaz's faux tsunami, which he made by suspending wave-like strips of cloth from the roof of the Cuba Pavilion. The National Museum of Fine Arts also offers a crash course on 20th century Cuban art in "Resistencia y libertad: Wifredo Lam, Raúl Martínez y José Bedia," including an untitled 1964 abstract by Mr. Martínez that features a newspaper snapshot of the Commandante himself, Fidel Castro.

Ms. Ceballos's space, which she calls Aglutinador, or the Glue, comes under occasional fire from Cuba's cultural establishment. The biggest blowup occurred in October when the National Council of Visual Arts, a state agency that organizes the biennial and other major art events across Cuba, sent a mass email to its member artists denouncing her for spending time with human-rights activists and producing "propagandistic" shows, according to a copy of the email obtained by The Wall Street Journal. Ms. Ceballos denied the claims and her shows have continued.

A spokesman for Ruben del Valle Lanterón, the director of the National Council of Visual Arts, confirmed that one of its employees sent the email but said the controversy was overblown. Later, Mr. Lanterón said he believes alternative art spaces should be able to coexist with state-run institutions even if he doesn't always appreciate Ms. Ceballos's artistic choices. "In her early years she really rescued artists who weren't well acknowledged, and I respect that," Mr. Lanterón added.

Ms. Ceballos seems bored by her role in the debate: "I'm not interested in pushing the political. That's for politicians. I'm just interested in defending the artists." She says she neither seeks political art for shows nor filters it out.

The scene cultivated at Aglutinador is more irreverent than overtly political. Ms. Ceballos, age 48, is a petite woman who wears combat boots and has a tattoo on her arm of a comic-strip character, Salomon, who was censored from Cuba's papers years ago. She exudes the calm, organized demeanor of a den mother, yet she has a penchant for dying her hair fire-engine red. In a city where people confront layers of bureaucracy, artists say Ms. Ceballos likes to produce shows quickly and never questions the outlandish ideas they can foist on her home, from obscene doodles to artworks glued to her tree leaves. Coco Fusco, who now lives in the U.S., did a performance piece in 2000 that involved digging a waist-high pit into Ms. Ceballos's garden.

Typical gallery openings in New York last two hours, followed by fancy dinners for a chosen few. Last Saturday at Aglutinador, the opening lasted nine hours, with a steady stream of people filtering in and out. Ms. Ceballos's parents, who live next door, and her 8-year-old son, Oscar, mingled easily with a college crowd sporting nose rings. Some stayed for hours, hanging out under the patio's pink bougainvillea or cramming into the apartment's narrow living room or adjoining kitchen. At 11 p.m., Ms. Ceballos gently shooed everyone out so she could put her son to bed in the 10-foot-square loft bedroom they share above the living room.

Like many Cubans, she lives on a financial shoestring. Recently divorced, she has a monthly budget of around $100 a month, though it can cost up to $800 to produce her shows because it's expensive to get the art photographed and programs printed. She has received grants over the years from European nonprofits like the Prince Claus Fund in the Netherlands and Spain's Ministry of Culture, some of it configured so she can pass money on to younger Cuban artists who need support to finish art projects. She refuses to ask for money from the Cuban government so she can "stay independent."

She was born in 1961, two years after the revolution, in the eastern city of Guantánamo that gives its name to the U.S. military base nearby. By the time she graduated from the National Academy of Visual Arts San Alejandro in 1982, Cuba's art scene was undergoing its own revolution. Ms. Ceballos, then an emerging artist, watched unsanctioned art spaces sprouting in homes and unusual venues around town and she dove in. In 1989, she landed her first major show at the Castillo de la Fuerza with "Beauty and the Beast," a series of paintings made by lumping together masses of hospital sheets, sponges, blood and hair.

Shortly afterward, the end of Soviet oil subsidies in Cuba plunged Cuba into the economic crisis dubbed the "Special Period," and she struggled along with everyone else to get enough food to survive, often working by candlelight because there was no electricity. It was in these fraught times that she and her boyfriend at the time, artist Ezequiel Suarez, decided to start holding experimental art shows in their home. The first show in spring 1994, "Degenerate Art in the Era of the Market," paid homage to masters like Ernst Kirchner who were persecuted by the Nazis.

The show that created such a stir last fall began as an experiment to see if she could create an exhibit completely devoid of leadership. She invited a group of 25 artists to come to her home and display whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted, curator-free. The concept was a bit cerebral, so for pizzazz she titled the show, "Curadores Go Home!"

Two days before the show opened, she received the following unsigned email from the National Council of Visual Arts: "A propagandistic show with openly political ends has been programmed for next Saturday, October 18, 2008 in the 'Espacio Aglutinador.' .... We denounce the attempt to give artistic coverage to provocations of this nature. We regret that Sandra Ceballos goes along with the game of the servants of the empire."

She says she was floored. She quickly fired off a reply: "It is an embarrassment for the artists and everyone involved in the art world in Cuba to read texts so pretentious, decadent and unoriginal."

Emails began to crisscross among dozens of Cuban artists now living everywhere from Ecuador to Madrid to Miami. Ms. Fusco, in New York, started an online petition of support, and after two days it had 300-plus signatures. Ms. Ceballos, who had temporarily suspended the show, decided to go to the council instead and seek a meeting with Mr. Lanterón. She was led to his office.

The pair talked about her past accomplishments for a few minutes, and she left. She says she didn't get a satisfactory reason for the email or an apology. But ultimately it didn't matter. Several artists in her show backed out -- one because of the controversy, two because they suddenly had to take trips out of Havana -- but the rest stayed put.

The ordeal even inspired her latest piece, hanging now above her red sofa. It's a poster colored to look like the Cuban flag.

—Wilson Lievano contributed to this article.
Write to Kelly Crow at kelly.crow@wsj.com