Eli Broad

Works From The Collection Of Eli Broad

Robert Rauschenberg Jasper Johns Cy Twombly Roy Lichtenstein Jeff Koons Joseph Beuys Roy Lichtenstein Foundation Acquires Harry Shunk Archive Space. The Final (Art) Frontier / Florida

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Their Broad Art Foundation serves as an educational and lending resource for contemporary art, and they have donated extensively over the years to museums and schools.

Between their multimillion-dollar personal collection and the artworks owned by the Foundation, the Broads have amassed nearly 2,000 works by such influential artists as John Baldessari, Damien Hirst, Eric Fischl, Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The most recent acquisitions by the Broad Art Foundation include 570 works by Joseph Beuys, and Franz Ackerman’s mixed-media installation Home, home again.

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How I Started Collecting:

My wife was the first collector in her family—she collected drawings, prints and posters. When I was a child I collected postage stamps, but I didn’t become interested in collecting art until about 32 or 33 years ago. It started just with curiosity, but then it became a learning experience, and I enjoyed being with people from the arts, whether they were artists, dealers or curators. It was a broadening experience, as opposed to spending all my time with other business managers. And it also became a worldwide activity; we have traveled extensively.

My First Acquisition:

Our first important acquisition was a Van Gogh drawing (Cabanes a Saintes-Maries, 1888). From there we progressed into contemporary art. Now we have several personal collections and the Foundation collection, totaling about 1,800 works.

Favorite Items in My Collection:

I have many favorites. We love all of the 20 works we have by Jeff Koons. We also have the largest collection of Cindy Sherman works, plus 20-some-odd works by Roy Lichtenstein, and a number of works by Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Cy Twombly. As far as the Jeff Koons works go, his iconic Rabbit (1986) comes to mind, and his Michael Jackson and Bubbles (1988). From Jasper Johns, it’s the American flag and a piece called Watchman (1964), which is on display at the National Gallery of Art. From Rauschenberg, I like all of his early “Red Paintings.”

Advice for Beginning Collectors:

Spend a lot of time looking. Spend a lot of time reading art magazines, catalogs and the like. Really become a student—invest in that before you spend any money. And if you don’t have a large amount of money to spend, you can start with prints and drawings.