Modern Medicis and their art collections from 1472 to 2014
Bonhams have had a good idea for the latest exhibition at their New Bond Street HQ. Running from 13th to 24th January they are showing a selection of artworks from the collections of companies around the world. The show also marks the launch of a book by Peter Harris and Shirley Reiff Howarth which looks behind the scenes of the corporate art world and features works from pre-Columbian gold, through Renaissance paintings to the latest contemporary art.
Bonhams assistants finish hanging the Modern Medici exhibition
Corporate art collections are not a recent development. The first such collection was formed during the Renaissance in 1472 by the Monte dei Paschi bank in Siena – a collection that survives today. By the mid-1990’s half of the Fortune 500 companies were actively collecting art and the total value of their collections is billions of pounds. Some of the pieces in the book have been loaned to a variety of museums, but others have never been seen before. Works are generally wall-based but there are a few sculptures amongst the prints, photos and paintings.
Most companies have concentrated on a particular area of interest, often decided by the tastes of an influential partner. For example, since 1990 Clifford Chance has been building a large collection of UK prints. Acquisitions are not made and then hidden in vaults – Clifford Chance also support the printmaking community and run an art intranet site for staff, with lectures, exhibitions and Meet the Artist sessions. To round off their art credentials they are also a sponsor of the Tate, the RA and the South Bank Centre.
Trust me, Tracey Emin from the Simmons & Simmons collection
Other companies with important collections that have lent work to the show include ABN AMRO Neuflize Vie, Canary Wharf, Fleming Wyfold Art Foundation, EON, Fundacion Telefonica, Fundacion Mapfre, Hiscox, HSBC, Simmons and Simmons and Statoil. They will all have different specific reasons for collecting art, but there are tangible benefits that all art-collecting companies share with their staff and the artists. The artists benefit from exposure and patronage, but the company also benefits from the boost in morale that high-quality artwork can have on staff.
Each corporation has lent around four works, which are mainly modern or contemporary. Highlights include a diagonally powerful Cartier-Bresson owned by HSBC and a Presumed Reality image by Ebbe Stub Wittrup from the Statoil collection.There are also works by Rene Magritte, Tracey Emin, George Grosz, Otto Dix and Cornelia Parker.
Bonhams,
101 New Bond Street,
until January 24th.
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