Out with the Antiquities and in with the Female Artists, says Christian Levett
June 24 2024
Picture: FT
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The FT ran an interesting article at the weekend regarding the changing tastes of the collector Christian Levett. Levett, a former hedge fund manager, had opened a museum in Mougins, France, dedicated to classical antiquities back in 2011. However, at the end of last year a series of sales was held at Christie's selling off a great portion of his collection. Levett is now focused on opening a museum dedicated to female artists.
According to the article:
Why the shift in his museum’s focus? Although the market for antiquities has become polarised in recent years — “Things with great provenance have exploded in value, while objects with weak provenance are almost unsaleable,” Levett says — the overriding factor has been his parallel enthusiasm for postwar art. In 2013, with his antiquities museum up and running, he “decided to focus on Modern and contemporary art. I wanted to buy fantastic works by the greatest artists, be they male or female.” His purchases included pieces by Joan Mitchell, Lee Krasner, Helen Frankenthaler, Cecily Brown and Tracey Emin, which he initially installed in the Florentine palazzo where he now lives.
