Pierre Chen, Taiwan
Based in Taiwan, Pierre Chen is one of the world’s leading art collectors and the founder of the YAGEO Foundation.
His collection spans painting, photography and sculpture, featuring works by Gerhard Richter, Picasso, Francis Bacon, Thomas Struth, Yayoi Kusama, Peter Doig and David Hockney. Notably, it was later revealed that Chen was the buyer of David Hockney’s masterpiece, ‘Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)’ (1972), which sold for a record-breaking $90.3 million at Christie’s in 2018.
Throughout his Taiwan home, Chen’s incredible art collection is on full display. One of Peter Doig’s seminal paintings from his canoe series hangs above the dining table. A radiant yellow, orange and white composition by Mark Rothko hangs in the arched corridor. Sculptures by Yayoi Kusama feature throughout, and an intimate family portrait by Gerhard Richter hangs in the lounge.
When asked to pick his favorite works in the collection, Chen told reporters that the two that rank at the very top are Cy Twombly’s Untitled (Rome), 1971, and Francis Bacon’s Three Studies for a Portrait of Lucian Freud (1965).
Tina Kim, South Korea
For Korean-born, New York-based gallerist Tina Kim, art has always been a family pastime and profession. As a collector and gallerist, Kim has led the way in bringing the Korean Dansaekhwa movement of the 1970s to international audiences—with several historical exhibitions for artists such as Park Seo-bo and Kwon Young-woo, both of whom also exist in her personal collection.
Other notable Dansaekhwa masters, such as Lee Ufan and Ha Chong-Hyun, have pride of place in Kim’s Upper West Side townhouse, but so do works by Louise Bourgeois, Anselm Kiefer, and Bill Viola, all with whom Kim has closely collaborated throughout her years in the art world.
In addition to her incredible groups of artworks, Kim is an avid collector of French design. Jean Prouvé, Charlotte Perriand, and Pierre Jeanneret are among the mid-century talents whose furnishings and objects are found throughout the home—a reflection of Kim’s late husband Jaewoong Chung’s business, Vintage20, which specialized in European furniture and decorative art from this period.
Yusaku Maezawa, Japan
Fashion entrepreneur, Yusaku Maezawa, has become a household name in the art world after a string of significant art purchases over the past decade. He’s known for his fascination with street art – most notably his obsession with Jean-Michel Basquiat.
In one two-day stretch in 2016, he bought seven works — including Bruce Nauman’s Eat War (1986), Jeff Koons’s Lobster (2007), and Alexander Calder’s Sumac 17 (1955). Following this, Maezawa made headlines in 2017 after spending $110 million on a gigantic Basquiat painting, setting a new record for the artist at auction. His collection also includes works by George Condo, Roy Lichtenstein, Christopher Wool, Joan Mitchell, Richard Prince, and more.
Inside his Tokyo apartment, Maezawa’s fascination with street and pop art is clearly seen. In the entryway, objects of design by Jean Prouvé and Charlotte Perriand are paired with a Bruce Nauman neon work and an instantly-recognisable Christopher Wool text painting. In the dining areas, sculptures by John Chamberlain and Alexander Calder hang alongside paintings by Lichtenstein and George Condo. In the living room, a massive painting Joan Mitchell takes center stage.
