In a sharp reversal of oft-stated intentions, financier and philanthropist Eli Broad has decided to keep his collection of contemporary art instead of giving it to museums, a move likely to be interpreted as a blow to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
A leading collector of late 20th and 21st century art, Broad has amassed a 2,000-piece collection under a foundation that functions as a lending library and study center.
For years he has said he did not want to establish a private museum and ultimately would distribute the works to other institutions.
His agreement to finance the Broad Contemporary Art Museum -- a $50-million building opening in February at LACMA -- and to stock it with works from his collections and establish a $10-million acquisitions fund fueled hopes that the Wilshire Boulevard institution would be a major recipient of art gifts.
But the new development, reported Tuesday in the New York Times and confirmed in a printed statement and an interview, turns the Broad Art Foundation into a permanent repository of artworks available to museums around the world.
The reversal of Broad's strategy might seem to put a damper on LACMA's introduction next month of its expanded and reconfigured campus.
He said he didn't plan to announce his decision now -- the news just leaked out in an interview -- but that the museum's leaders and staff were aware that his plans had changed over time.
"It's true that in the past, when asked, 'What are you going to do?' I said we will give the collection to one or several museums," Broad said by telephone Tuesday morning.
"The collection was significantly smaller then. Now it's 2,000 works and we are continuing to collect, so we started to think about our options.
"One is to build our own museum as others have done. We chose not to do that. But we were concerned that if we gave our collection to one or several museums, 90% or so would be in storage all the time.
"Our goal was to have the broadest possible public view what we have. We came up with expanding the foundation's function to include the personal collection.
"It sort of evolved," he said of the new plan. "Part of the evolution is, if you get asked often enough, 'What are you going to do?' you come up with an answer. This is our present thinking, and we think it's the right way to go."
