What does a private collector get out of turning their hobby into a private museum? According to Scott Reyburn’s story in the International New York Times, one of the fringe benefits is greater access to the best works:

According to Larry’s List, the number of private contemporary art museums is increasing. There are now 350 of them in 46 countries. The United States leads the way with 48; Germany has 45; and China 17, with six in Beijing alone. […]

“It’s one of the reasons why I’m with my museum,” said François Odermatt, a contemporary art collector in Montreal, where he is one of the partners and a major exhibitor at the public Arsenal gallery. “It gave me great access to amazing works from dealers.”

The Canadian collector recently bought one of seven new large-scale “landscape pot” paintings by Jonas Wood, exhibited by the Los Angeles gallerist David Kordansky from Nov. 8 through Jan. 10. Among other buyers at the front of the line for these $110,000 to $140,000 paintings by Mr. Wood, whose billboard still lifes at New York’s High Line drew plaudits last year, were the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles; the Pompidou Center in Paris; and the movie actor Leonardo DiCaprio, according to dealers. The gallery declined to comment on the identities of the buyers.

New Report Builds a Profile of the Elusive Art Collector  (NYTimes.com)