Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Art, Business & Life

May 18, 2011 by Marion Maneker

Australia’s John Kaldor has donated a substantial collection to the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Australia. Collecting was more than a pastime for Kaldor, it was an integral part of his life and business:

Right from the start, working and collecting were entwined. He was not a banker dabbling on the side. Kaldor commissioned fabric designs and bought revolutionary international art with the same eye. “I don’t think I am that talented as a businessman,” he says in the considered Hungarian accent a few years at Riverview failed to beat out of him. “I think my strength was in design and also in colour.” […]

“As I was building my business, I didn’t buy real estate besides my home or invest in shares,” he says. “I put everything into art or art projects. I never collected because I thought it was a good investment. So in effect the collection is a big part of my assets.”

He bought energetically for 20 years through a dozen dealers in Europe and New York. “I sold when I got divorced. I sold a couple of pieces to help my children get their homes. But I never traded in art. I didn’t buy to trade and I never traded. There was a lot in storage. There were a number of works that were too big to get into my house.”

A Life’s Works (Sydney Morning Herald)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • How Does a Work Get Off the Wall?How Does a Work Get Off the Wall?
  • Menzies Looks to Buy in New York to Sell in AustraliaMenzies Looks to Buy in New York to Sell in Australia
  • Sotheby’s Australia Comes Up Short with 42% Sell-ThroughSotheby’s Australia Comes Up Short with 42% Sell-Through
  • Australian Retirement Rules Soften Aboriginal Art MarketAustralian Retirement Rules Soften Aboriginal Art Market
  • I Have Seen the Future & It Is AustraliaI Have Seen the Future & It Is Australia
  • Australian Art Dealer’s Stock Sees Record SalesAustralian Art Dealer’s Stock Sees Record Sales

Filed Under: Collectors Tagged With: Australia

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • Restituted Van Gogh Portrait from London Collection to Sell at Christie’s
  • $10 M. Picasso Portrait Unseen for Decades to Sell at Bonhams
  • Vienna Secession Painting, Long Thought to Be Lost, Sets a Record at Auction
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Christie’s to Sell Its First Fully Digital Work of Art in Test of Emerging Market
  • Roy Lichtenstein’s Top Ten Auction Prices
  • After Pandemic’s Rapid Change, Sotheby’s Has 8 Predictions for 2021
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor