I’m Loving Artists Instead

What’s the ultimate must-have for any self-respecting celebrity? An art collection. On the day of Sotheby’s much-publicised Now Evening Auction, which features three works by Banksy owned by Robbie Williams, we take a look at some of the world’s most high-profile collectors…

In a slightly surreal video on the Sotheby’s website, singer Robbie Williams entices viewers to drop a cool £10 million plus on three works by the artist that every self-respecting entertainer needs in their collections: Banksy. From Brad Pitt to Bono via Justin Bieber, A-listers have long been fascinated with the anarchic Bristolian and his mischief-making. As Williams points out in the video, “who wouldn’t want a set of Banksy’s on the wall?”

Williams isn’t selling all of his Banksys, according to Sotheby’s Hugo Cobb. But the three he’s chosen to part with (an early version of Girl With A Balloon, alongside Kissing Coppers and Vandalised Oils (Choppers)) were purchased directly from Pest Control back in the mid 2000s and so look set to net the singer a significant profit. As Cobb told the Evening Standard, “[Banksy] has become a totally global artist and is also in a large number of the very top contemporary collections in the world.”

Don’t go breaking my art…

Williams isn’t the only celebrity art collector to make savvy purchases. Elton John bought the iconic Glass Tears by Man Ray for $193,000 back in 1993 – it’s now valued at around $2 million. Though he claims not to collect for investment, John has so many pieces that he dreams of opening a museum to show them all. Among his 7,000-piece-strong photography collection are works by Cindy Sherman, Herb Ritts and Nan Goldin: in fact, he once bought an entire exhibition of Goldin’s work directly from Jay Jopling while it was on display at the White Cube.

Having a celebrity’s contacts book obviously comes in handy when collecting art but – as Williams illustrates with his Banksys – it also helps to be in the right place at the right time. That’s something to which Madonna and Brooke Shields can attest. The former was just a wannabe when she crashed on Keith Haring’s sofa and briefly dated Jean-Michel Basquiat back in the early 1980s, at the same time netting herself the beginning of a collection that has ballooned to include pieces by Picasso, Damien Hirst and Salvador Dali. Meanwhile Shields, who was Andy Warhol’s darling and a great friend of Haring, famously collects emerging artists and mixes their pieces with gifts from everyone from Haring to Robert Mapplethorpe.

But why do celebrities love collecting art? There’s no doubt that prestige is a factor and, for those lucky enough to need diverse portfolios, art can be a valuable strand to an investment strategy. Other celebrity investors hope to use their status to create valuable, agenda-driven collections and raise the profiles of their chosen artists or projects.

Titanic collections…

Leonardo DiCaprio, who’s a prolific collector and owns work by Basquiat, Egon Schiele and Sarah Lucas amongst others, once organised an art auction that netted a cool $38 million in aid of global conservation projects. Meanwhile, Swizz Beatz and wife Alicia Keys advocate for artists through The Dean Collection, with a particular aim to raise the profile of works by people of colour. Their huge collection, which includes pieces by Kehinde Wiley and Nina Chanel Abney, earned them a place as the only entertainers on Artnews’s Top 200 Collectors list last year. Swizz Beatz also famously urged Sean Combs to buy Kerry James Marshall’s Past Times for $21.1 million, creating a record for the highest-ever price paid for a work by a black artist.

Another artist that Swizz Beatz has been vocal about? Banksy. During the artist’s New York residency back in 2013, the collector cited the democratic nature of Banksy’s street work as bringing art to a wider audience, saying “his name is in everybody’s mouth around the world.”

It may be nine years later, but it seems not much has changed.

To discuss work by any of the artists featured in this piece, please get in touch here.