Richard and Monica Segal

NEW YORK—Richard and Monica Segal are two of the most prominent collectors of contemporary art in New York. Richard is the founder, president and CEO of Seavest Inc., a private investment and wealth management firm based in White Plains, N.Y. The couple created the Seavest Collection of Contemporary Realism in the early 1980s, which features work by the leading masters of Pop, realism and photorealism. Together, the Segals serve on the national board of advisors at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University and the advisory committee for the Wesleyan University Art Museum in Middletown, Conn.

Our First Acquisition:

We acquired two works at the same time, and they were both Romare Bearden collages. That was in about 1981, and they were about $7,500 each. They are in the main hallway of our house in Rye, on the staircase.

Our Most Recent Acquisition:

The last work that we got was a sculpture by Eric Fischl. It’s about 75 inches tall. He just recently did it; it’s dated 2005. It’s from a "Death" series that he did, both sculptures and watercolors. We got it from the Mary Boone Gallery. The retail price was $300,000. It has not yet been delivered or placed, but it will most likely be by our pool outside.

Our Favorite Acquisition:

We bought a Jim Dine painting about a year ago that is one of our favorites. It is a triptych of three Pinocchios. It was from the show at the Richard Gray Gallery in Chicago. We get a kick out of this painting. It’s hanging in our dining room. The retail price was $195,000.