Ullens to Sell Artworks to Fund Private Museum

Published: February 20, 2009

Ai Weiwei Liu Wei Wang Du Yan Lei Yan Pei Ming Yang Fudong Yin Xiuzhen Liu Wei

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BEIJING— Leading Chinese contemporary art collectors Guy and Myriam Ullens have announced that they will sell off part of their collection to acquire new works and raise funds for their private museum in Beijing, Bloomberg reports.

Poly International Auction Co. will sell three contemporary Chinese works and several antiques in May. The Ullens' declined to provide Bloomberg with specifics but said that they have always "dynamically managed" their collection.

The couple opened their Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in November 2007 in Beijing's 798 art district to house their collection of about 1,500 paintings, sculptures, installations, and video works.

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Guy Ullens comes from a family of diplomats and industrialists who ran a sugar business and traveled frequently to China. Recent acquisitions in the couple's collection, which has been amassed over decades, include works by Ai Weiwei, Cao Fei, He An, Michael Lin, Liu Wei, Wang Du, Wang Jianwei, Wen Fang, Yan Lei, Yan Pei-Ming, Yang Fudong, and Yin Xiuzhen.