Martin Taplin, the owner of Miami Beach’s Sagamore and a pioneer of the art hotel movement, has died at 77. He and his wife Cricket bought the Sagamore in the late 90s:

“We put in our artwork,” Marty Taplin recalled in the Miami Herald magazine, Indulge, in January 2015. “It was an accident.”

The Taplins’ “accident,” utilizing much of their personal 600-piece collection, started a global trend. Other hotels soon followed, including the Gallery Hotel Art in Florence, Italy, the Windsor Hotel in Nice, France, and The Savoy in London.

Marty Taplin, a real estate developer, attorney, art collector and philanthropist, died Tuesday at 77 in Surfside. His taste and partnership with his wife left a mark.

The Sagamore became a hot spot during Art Basel. The Taplins’ invitation-only Saturday morning Basel brunches gathered top artists, museum and gallery representatives.

Sagamore Hotel owner, Art Basel booster Marty Taplin dies at 77 (Miami Herald)