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historical notes
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Born in Johannesburg in 1970, Stefan Simchowitz is an unconventional art collector and has become a polarizing figure in the art world. After earning a degree in economics from Stanford University in 1992, he embarked on a career managing a wealth fund and producing films. He also played a role in creating WireImage, a celebrity and sport-photo syndication agency that sold for $200 million to Getty Images. His vast collection, housed in sprawling 11,000-square-foot Los Angeles warehouses, ranks among the largest private art troves globally, and includes works by Tauba Auerbach, Sterling Ruby, Jon Rafman, Julian Pace, Serge Attukwei Clottey, Jonathan Monk, Cameron Platter, Zachary Armstrong, Petra Cortright, Lily Ramírez, Tyler Macko, Lera Derkach, Marc Horowitz, Emanuel Leutze, and Adonis Sutherlin. Simchowitz’s collecting method is unorthodox, as he bypasses galleries and directly collaborates with emerging artists, offering to purchase or finance entire bodies of work, which he then resells to new collectors. His approach has drawn significant criticism from the art establishment, particularly for the speculative nature of these transactions. |
