By OGP Reporters / Members Contribute File Photos
Oh Good Party
These private collectors were trailblazers, and they established museums for various objectives due to the complex system of government departments. But, for the most part, the purpose is to create a space where learning and education can take place, ideas and experiences can be shared, private museums may thrive, and the roles of art and business can collide.
The Tate Gallery, The Metropolitan Museum, The Guggenheim Museum, The Getty Museum, The Wallace Collection in London, and The Frick Collection in New York are all well-known private museums that grew out of wealthy benefactors' private art collections. Non-profit contemporary art institutions have sprung up all over the world in recent years, from Miami in the United States to Shanghai in China, like a raging 'storm.'
Private museums have additional advantages over public museums. In comparison to a few weeks in a private museum, a public-funded exhibit can take over a year to develop. It's a new trend in art display in which the wealthy or discriminating express their passion for art collecting to art enthusiasts while also making commissioning easier and more efficient. Collectors might directly commission artists to create works for a reasonable 'ex-works fee' during this period of significantly reduced resources for public museums. At the same time, these patrons continue the Medici family's heritage of art support by providing vital exposure chances for emerging artists.
The Chinese elite have gathered enough wealth to enter the cultural arena; they want to share their preferences and knowledge, as well as participate in the process of recreating China, Asia, and even the world through art. Art works are an excellent medium for showcasing some of today's most notable artists and works.
Ms. Wang Wei opened the "Long Museum Pudong" in 2012, named after the Chinese culture "dragon." The Long Museum then invested another US$31 million in 2014 to construct a second "Long Museum West Bund." In the 2010 Art Power Awards, Wang Wei was named the top collector by Art Finance magazine. She and her spouse, Liu Yiqian, are clearly "big money owners" in the collection sector.
These private collectors were trailblazers, and they established museums for various objectives due to the complex system of government departments. But, for the most part, the purpose is to create a space where learning and education can take place, ideas and experiences can be shared, private museums may thrive, and the roles of art and business can collide.
Shanghai, which has the most large-scale private museums, relies on the Shanghai Municipal Government's backing to transform the West Bund into a cultural and art corridor equivalent to New York's Museum Avenue and London's South Bank Art Center. A great number of exhibitions and art institutions continue to arrive, and the number of private museums will continue to rise as the West Bank is completed. However, maintaining a museum solely on ticket sales is impossible, and financing organisations must generate a significant amount of money for operational capital. A successful growth and profit plan can enable private museums stay open indefinitely.
Not only that, but private museums with various themes have opened in Nanjing, Chengdu, Wenzhou, and other cities in addition to "Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen." The most significant shift has taken place in China, where wealthy collectors from emerging nations are keen to diversify their holdings and recapture something in the art market that might signify their country's cultural power. China has unquestionably reached the "Museum Period."
1. Zhou Hetong, collector
Zhouyuan Park
China's largest private collection is Zhouyuan Park. "The North Palace Museum and the South Zhouyuan Park," as the locals call it. It houses Mr. Zhou Hetong's family's century-old collection, which spans five generations. Stone carvings, wood carvings, jade carvings, ancient beds, classical furniture, Buddha statues, murals, and other collections all have a Buddhist theme.
2. Liu Yiqian and Wang Wei, collectors
Long Museum
Liu Yiqian and his wife Wang Wei created the Long Museum. Long Museum Pudong and Long Museum West Bund are both located in Shanghai. It is China's leading corporate art museum with the highest collection strength, and it is part of a unique "one city, two museums" art ecosystem.
3. Chen Lihua, collector
China Red Sandalwood Museum
The China Red Sandalwood Museum is a private museum in Beijing, China. It is China's first museum dedicated to the collection of red sandalwood works of art, as well as the country's first private museum named "China." The museum houses around 3,000 exhibits, including Ming and Qing furniture and miniature landscapes of well-known domestic structures like Beijing Siheyuan, Shanxi Feiyun Tower, Wutai Mountain Longquan Temple Archway, and others.
4. Zhang Lianzhi, collector
Porcelain House (also known as China house)
Porcelain House is a contemporary museum in Tianjin, China, dedicated to ceramics and antiques. It's housed in an old colonial structure that Zhang Lianzhi has severely re-decorated with abundant pieces of broken antique porcelain. These items are from various historical periods. This house is so extraordinary and all the treasures make this house so gorgeous.
5. Ma Weidu, collector
Guanfu Museum
Guanfu Museum is one of China's most prestigious private museums. The collections of hardwood furniture from the Ming and Ching dynasties, as well as ancient porcelain exhibitions, are particularly impressive. Ma Weidu is well-known and respected in China and internationally for his expertise in Chinese antique collection, and he has a strong background in Chinese history. The Shanghai Guanfu Museum and the Beijing Guanfu Classical Art Museum have highly specialised collections and exhibition halls.
6. Yu Deyao, collector
Yuz Museum Shanghai
The Yuz Foundation runs the Yuz Museum Shanghai, which is a non-profit organisation. It's in Shanghai's Xuhui District, on the West Bund. He has amassed a sizable collection of modern art, particularly installation art. Shanghai's only museum dedicated to conceptual, large-scale installation art is the Museum. Yuz was built by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto and reconstructed from the existing Longhua Airport hangar.
7. Fan Jianchuan, collector
Jianchuan Museum Cluster
The Jianchuan Museum houses the world's biggest private collection of Red Revolution cultural relics, with over 8 million artefacts depicting China's progress over the last 60 to 70 years. "For peace, gather battle; for the future, collect lessons; for peace, collect disaster; for inheritance, collect folklore," says the museum's motto. It is the largest private museum project in China so far, a national 4A-level tourist attraction, and a national cultural industry demonstration base.