New List Profiles Hollywood's Top Ten Art Collectors

Photo: Courtesy Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Wealth-X, a consulting firm that specializes in what it has dubbed "wealth intelligence" has released a list of Hollywood's top ten art collectors. You will be surprised who is on it, as well as who tops it.

Despite several recent, high-profile purchases, art fair regular Leonardo DiCaprio barely landed the list's tenth slot, with actors Brad Pitt and Jack Nicholson beating him out for the seventh and fifth spots, respectively. But at just 40 years old, Leo is still the youngest Hollywood art collector on the list by about 10 years.
Brad Pitt. Photo: Francois Durand.

Brad Pitt.
Photo: Francois Durand.

In the ninth spot is agent Michael Ovitz, who is currently embroiled in a lawsuit over insurance claim for a pair of Richard Prince paintings. Number eight is big shot lawyer Jacob Bloom, who has represented the likes of Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in court, and in sixth position is producer Steve Tisch.

Famed director Steven Spielberg lands at number four, while producer Arnon Milchan; director George Lucas; and producer, film executive, and business magnate David Geffen make up the top three.
David Geffen. Photo: Entertainment Weekly.

David Geffen.
Photo: Entertainment Weekly.

According to Wealth-X, Geffen's $2.3 billion collection comprises nearly 33 percent of his total net worth of $7 billion, despite the fact that he sold two of his most valuable works— Jackson Pollock's Number 5 and Willem de Kooning's Woman III—for $277 million combined in 2006. Geffen's jaw-dropping collection still boasts a number of works by Pollock, Rothko, and others. Geffen's collection has been compared to that of Eli and Edythe Broad in its scale and in its abundance of 20th century masterpieces.

Lucas claims the second spot with his $600 million collection that includes Norman Rockwell paintings and pin-ups by Alberto Vargas. Lucas has famously been working to build a museum of narrative arts in Chicago, which is slated to open in 2018.
George Lucas. Photo: Fred Prouser.

George Lucas.
Photo: Fred Prouser.

The combined value of the ten high-profile collections on the list is about $3.9 billion, representing 16 percent of the collective net worth of the Hollywood denizens.

Wealth-X notes at the bottom of the report that the list was compiled based on "publicly available information on the individuals and their art collections."

Most interesting side note: no women made the list.