[bill]

Hey All!

I wanted to let you guys know about an interesting conversation I had today with a very influential art collector. His name is Ralph Burnet and he is listed as being one of the top 200 Contemporary Art Collectors in the world. I had a luncheon with him today and he was talking about his art collecting of the YBA movement and it was very interesting. He is known for being a major collector of Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, Richard Phillips and etc... I asked him if he was now collecting Banksy work and he laughed and said, "Very much so." I find it very exciting that a collector of that magnitude is actively collecting Banksy pieces! Below is a link that was on the board a few months ago, but it is a hotel in my hometown that Mr. Burnet built to house "some" of his private collection! It is unreal!!!!


www.chambersminneapolis.com/

[Guest]

It's no different than those stock market sewing circles that little old ladies get involved with. It's amazing what a group of people can do when they come together for a common purpose. The Banksy scene is a quintessential example of this concept!

The people with money rule the world, as sad as it may be to those without.

[romanywg]

Of coarse he is. But was he buying 3 years ago? Probably not.

[bill]

The reason I wanted to mention it to you all was that he is someone that is very influential in the art world and it shows a lot for where his advisors think Banksy's market is going that he would invest into his work.

[curiousgeorge]

Got to ask, what was served at Luncheon?

[ABC]

I think any serious art collector would not want to be seen "NOT" buying the latest auction house mover. Banksy has created a small stir in the Art establishment but still has a very long way to go before he reaches the likes of Hirst and Koons fame.

[ABC]

Apr 4, 2008 21:00:07 GMT 1 curiousgeorge said:

Got to ask, what was served at Luncheon?

Big Mac ;D

[funyoung]

Apr 4, 2008 20:52:47 GMT 1 romanywg said:

Of coarse he is. But was he buying 3 years ago? Probably not.

why does it matter?

have the images changed?

[morrissey1]

and unlike most of the other artists listed on this thread, Banksy will likely be remembered best for the work he's done on the street, and continues to do on the street.......he may never appear in a major way in the "major" art world, but that will be because his real art can't be bought and sold by Sothebys (well, who am I kidding, they'd sell a wall and a garbage can anytime)......IMO

[reados]

im sure there was a program on the telly about that guy and his hotel, something about Hirst I remember also.

[bill]

Apr 4, 2008 21:02:47 GMT 1 ABC said:

I think any serious art collector would not want to be seen "NOT" buying the latest auction house mover. Banksy has created a small stir in the Art establishment but still has a very long way to go before he reaches the likes of Hirst and Koons fame.

I guess this is where I think I respectfully disagree. I think when you are a collector of his stature you need to be very careful with where you are investing because you could quickly lose creditability if you are just hopping on any new trend that is happening in the auction house. Not only that we are talking about a team of advisors that he employs to make very educated sound choices of where to invest into. I don't think Larry Gagosian is throwing money into any and all trends in an auction house.

[bill]

Apr 4, 2008 21:08:42 GMT 1 reados said:

im sure there was a program on the telly about that guy and his hotel, something about Hirst I remember also.

Yeah there was a bit of a while back.

[romanywg]

Apr 4, 2008 21:04:46 GMT 1 funyoung said:

Apr 4, 2008 20:52:47 GMT 1 romanywg said:

Of coarse he is. But was he buying 3 years ago? Probably not.

why does it matter?
have the images changed?

It matters in that is he a leader or a follower.

[solar77]

IMO, buying Banksy now still makes him more of a leader than a follower in the high end art community...

[bill]

I agree! Romanywg- I didn't ask him how long he has been collecting Banksy, but as for major collector go we are only about one year into major auction houses selling his work.

[mammal2]

God you lot are all so cynical. I for one have looked at Ralphs collection before and its outstanding. He's not a lucky chap, but someone who has worked extremely hard to be able to be in the position to purchase such great art. I think its great Bill that someone, regardless of whether he is the next best thing, collects his pieces. I for one love Hurst, but I wasn't there when you could pick up a spin painting for chump change. Nor where many people on this board there 6 years ago when canvas' by Banksy went often unsold for £500. Posts like Bills are great because they add something to this board. Ralph has always been a leader as far as I can see. I for one wish I could afford his stuff. Not many people on this board I suspect with original works. Infact, I only know of Moffla who has an outstanding collection. The rest must be remaining quite for fear of being chastised as being a band wagon jumper. Cheers Bill.

[bill]

Mammal, you just made my fucking night. This board get so cynical. I hate when people say things like, "he just buys it because he is rich." I would bet all of my Banksy's that 60%+ of the traffic on this board are just people that are just looking to make a buck! If some of you pull your heads out of your asses and realize that when the REAL art community hears that Ralph Burnet is buying Banksy pieces that is when a lot of you lucky bastards will really make some money. When people of this stature buy artists works it changes their game, not when chumps on a forum buy it! Don't hate on a man because he is wealthy and can afford more than you can. Thank him because he is the reason values will skyrocket!

[ABC]

Apr 4, 2008 21:09:01 GMT 1 bill said:

Apr 4, 2008 21:02:47 GMT 1 ABC said:

I think any serious art collector would not want to be seen "NOT" buying the latest auction house mover. Banksy has created a small stir in the Art establishment but still has a very long way to go before he reaches the likes of Hirst and Koons fame.

I guess this is where I think I respectfully disagree. I think when you are a collector of his stature you need to be very careful with where you are investing because you could quickly lose creditability if you are just hopping on any new trend that is happening in the auction house. Not only that we are talking about a team of advisors that he employs to make very educated sound choices of where to invest into. I don't think Larry Gagosian is throwing money into any and all trends in an auction house.

I'm not saying he buys everything, I too know a few collectors that collect art works I could never afford in my life time, what I'm saying is that he has bought Banksys, why? is he into street art? the reason most of Banksys followers can relate to his work is the general age and connection with Hip Hop, graf etc etc , I doubt he has a background of the same (I'm guessing here), what he is into is, taking a risk on something that is creating a stir within the Auction houses and has had a lot of media coverage, plus being a Hirst Client will always help too.


I not knocking him at all, I wish I had a collection the same and the money to buy whatever I wanted.

[ABC]

Apr 4, 2008 21:35:04 GMT 1 @mammal2 said:

God you lot are all so cynical. I for one have looked at Ralphs collection before and its outstanding. He's not a lucky chap, but someone who has worked extremely hard to be able to be in the position to purchase such great art. I think its great Bill that someone, regardless of whether he is the next best thing, collects his pieces. I for one love Hurst, but I wasn't there when you could pick up a spin painting for chump change. Nor where many people on this board there 6 years ago when canvas' by Banksy went often unsold for £500. Posts like Bills are great because they add something to this board. Ralph has always been a leader as far as I can see. I for one wish I could afford his stuff. Not many people on this board I suspect with original works. Infact, I only know of Moffla who has an outstanding collection. The rest must be remaining quite for fear of being chastised as being a band wagon jumper. Cheers Bill.

Make your own assumptions about who has, or who has not got originals, some just don't want to flaunt their works to burglars

[mammal2]

Banksy should never be segmented. By granny likes him and thats just fine with me.

[ABC]

Apr 4, 2008 22:32:16 GMT 1 @mammal2 said:

Banksy should never be segmented. By granny likes him and thats just fine with me.

He's certainly great for getting a debate going. I'm not sure my family know what to make of his work to be honest. I know for fact my wife hates Toxic Mary with a passion, also CWSB but thats a religious thing I feel.

[ricosg11]

Apr 4, 2008 22:26:33 GMT 1 ABC said:

Apr 4, 2008 21:09:01 GMT 1 bill said:

I guess this is where I think I respectfully disagree. I think when you are a collector of his stature you need to be very careful with where you are investing because you could quickly lose creditability if you are just hopping on any new trend that is happening in the auction house. Not only that we are talking about a team of advisors that he employs to make very educated sound choices of where to invest into. I don't think Larry Gagosian is throwing money into any and all trends in an auction house.

I'm not saying he buys everything, I too know a few collectors that collect art works I could never afford in my life time, what I'm saying is that he has bought Banksys, why? is he into street art? the reason most of Banksys followers can relate to his work is the general age and connection with Hip Hop, graf etc etc , I doubt he has a background of the same (I'm guessing here), what he is into is, taking a risk on something that is creating a stir within the Auction houses and has had a lot of media coverage, plus being a Hirst Client will always help too.


I not knocking him at all, I wish I had a collection the same and the money to buy whatever I wanted.

I dont love Banksy's work, but I gotta say it definitly has a much broader appeal than just skaters and hip hop fans. His work has a socio-political message running throughout it's whole body. I would say on the whole, art collectors, as a group are more liberal thinking and much less conservative in their views. Dont forget the 60's. Im sure a lot of people enjoy this kind of work over the old masters stuff. People connect with it in a way they connect with music. Like it or not there is no missing the message. It works very well in the present times.

[romanywg]

Banksy is extremely fashionable right now and prices have gone up 10 fold in the last year so of coarse a lot of the top 200 Contemporary Art Collectors in the world will be collecting his works and paying a premium. What I would be more interested in was if they were also buying Neate, Parla, Choe. How far does their 'enthusiasm' for street art go or do they just follow trends.

[seidbereit]

Interesting thread, but a bit confusing as to what the point is in asking whether he collects banksy now that he's become fashionable or whether he's been collecting him for some time. If this guy (and I know nothing about him other than what I've read here and a few other bits and bobs over time) is "known" to be a collector of Hirst works then surely it's reasonable to assume that he woke up to Hirst when he rose to stardom practically overnight some time ago.

If you assume that - and that this guy keeps his eye on Hirst and what goes on around him - then surely it's fair to assume that he didn't have to look very far past Hirst to spot banksy coming up too? I'm merely musing on this but it doesn't seem that far-fetched a scenario to me, thus my confusion about it being apparently unconceivable (or maybe more accurately - unlikely) to others.

Still - fascinating reading. Thanks for the topic bill.

[graeme501]

of course this guy knew who banksy was when he was up and coming, he's n art collecter, his finger is on the pulse

[EHC]

Apr 4, 2008 23:45:58 GMT 1 romanywg said:

Banksy is extremely fashionable right now and prices have gone up 10 fold in the last year so of coarse a lot of the top 200 Contemporary Art Collectors in the world will be collecting his works and paying a premium. What I would be more interested in was if they were also buying Neate, Parla, Choe. How far does their 'enthusiasm' for street art go or do they just follow trends.

My sentiments exactly. Banksy is already white hot, commanding up to seven figures, its not really a surprise that he has some serious collectors in this price range. He is an obvious choice.

What I would really like to know is what other artists in this genre is he a fan of.

[mammal2]

oh please. who cares. do you know him? who gives a monkeys. its so school yard it hurts. i knew banksy first. no me. who cares. there are people on this board who know him directly. i love hurst, but i own nothing. my friend has just got a v expensive piece. i aint got my face pressed against his window shouting you were not there first, cause baby if i was i would be writing this from my penthouse in ny. bulls**t. grow up. just be glad your here and now.

[pezlow]

Spot on mammal. Reminds me a lot of indie music in the 80's. You were only cool if you discovered some new band who no-one had ever heard of. And of course as soon as they were popular they had "sold out". It's all bullshit.

I don't know banksy, I don't own any originals, I got in to his work later than many people on this board. To be honest even if I had been around back in the day when £500 canvasses were available I probably wouldn't have had the guts or money to buy one. Big fucking deal. I still love his work and I am sure that Ralph Burnet does too.

[loucastel]

I think a lot of people seem to get tunnel vision where art is concerned and get overly protective of their favourite artist, forgetting there is a world of collectors out there whether they be the guy who will buy one piece he sees on the way home from work in a gallery, to the big name collectors like Saatchi, and one of my favorite collectors, François Pinault.
Who buy works by well known established artists to unknowns, people tend to forget sometimes that there are many genre of art and artists, we are not just limited to the next banksy or Dface print release, we werent all lucky enough to have seen the light years ago!!

[top]

Apr 5, 2008 2:49:57 GMT 1 @mammal2 said:

oh please. who cares. do you know him? who gives a monkeys. its so school yard it hurts. i knew banksy first. no me. who cares. there are people on this board who know him directly. i love hurst, but i own nothing. my friend has just got a v expensive piece. i aint got my face pressed against his window shouting you were not there first, cause baby if i was i would be writing this from my penthouse in ny. bulls**t. grow up. just be glad your here and now.

hehe! you crack me up..remind me to get you a beer sometime

..nothing to add here..