A: Is for those who collect

Two weeks ago I wrote about celebrity artist in our mist. I'd like to pick up where I left off which is with celebrities that collect. As stated numerous times art is subjected and these days what makes you hot is who collects you and finds you to be invaluable. Take Cecily Brown the darling of the Hollywood set. Charles Saatchi the worlds most renown collector adores her. Gaggosian represents her and Elton John and Cameron Diaz have her on their walls. They say sex sells and Ms. Brown exudes Sexuality which she explores through semi-figurative and abstract means. Drawing her influences from painters such as Francis Bacon and Willem de Kooning she puts a feminine twist on a male dominated art world. Her paintings use the names of classic Hollywood films, such as The Pyjama Game and The Fugitive Kind. They suggest illicit romance and passion which discretely unveil social etiquette. Cecily Brown conveys intellectual eroticism indulging us through piercing ecstasy and that my friends sells.

If you are owned by Saatchi then you have made it or so they say. Thus was the case of English artist Damien Hirst, however in 2003 they parted ways. Death is a central theme in his work and in 2004 a 14ft tiger shark in formaldehyde sold, making him the second most expensive living artist (after Jasper Johns). As of March 2007, Damien's exhibition Superstition, 28 canvases covered in preserved butterflies and household paint garnered over $25 million and placed Hirst as the most "successful"/most expensive living artist. He brought back the 60's spin art craze for kids and made it collectible and expensive. David Bowie and Elton John are avid collector of this Brits work. Artists are also collectors and in Damien's collection are Francis Bacon, Jeff Koons, Richard Prince and Andy Warhol as well as lesser known artists like Rachel Howard, Nicholas Lumb and Tom Ormond. They say collecting art is like real estate it never deprecates in value.

The most well known celebrity collector is Madonna.She has now been steadily accumulating art for 20 years. Having grown up with people like Haring, Basquiat and Andy Warhol it's no surprise that Madonna has become a serious collector of modern art. It seems her favorite is Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. In October, the singer lent the Kahlo painting Self-portrait with Monkey to London's Tate Modern. Also part of Madonna's collection is Kahlo's My Birth, a painting which the singer reportedly uses a social litmus test if you don't like it, she doesn't like you. By this measure, Kahlo is considered a better artist (investment) because her work is collected by Madonna and Madonna is considered a more serious and respected celebrity (investment) because she collects Kahlos. The singer also collects Tamara de Lempicka and Diego Rivera paintings. This Lempicka looks like it could be the material girl.


Lou Reed, is a friend of Julian Schnabel, and has used works by Andy Warhol on his record sleeves. Mick Jagger also commissioned portraits by Warhol. Elton John's collection runs from 18th-century furniture to the most recent photographs of Helmut Newton. Elton started with Art Nouveau, then moved on to 20th-century classics. The sleeve of his last record, Songs from the West Coast, was done by Sam Taylor-Wood. Also in his collection are works by such artists as the Chapman brothers, Tracey Emin and Gary Hume. Stella McCartney, dress designer and daughter of Sir Paul McCartney, is a fan of Gary Hume and Sam Taylor-Wood as well and has printed works by both onto her shirts. The Icelandic singer Björk lives with artist Matthew Barney, and she shares the same tastes as Stella, the two of them are great fans of Nan Goldin, the American photographer who specializes in scenes snatched from people's most intimate, often highly sexual, life. Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer of long-running musicals, is to be found whenever there is a pre-Raphaelite sale. Christie's has sold Barbra Streisand's Art Deco collection, half of Eric Clapton's collection, and last June disposed of the collection of Lars Ulrich of Metallica, the popular heavy metal group. Ulrich had acquired works by Jean Dubuffet, Sam Francis and the CoBrA group, and sold a 1982 Jean-Michel Basquiat for $2 million. Celebrities and art or so it seems now go hand and hand and that is a F.A.C.T.