Eli Broad

Usually, Eli Broad's trajectory as an art collector is traced to mentoring by the late Taft Schreiber. Broad himself has talked admiringly of what he learned about art from the MCA Inc. executive (and Ronald Reagan's former Hollywood agent), whose small but extraordinary trove of works by Jackson Pollock, Piet Mondrian, Alberto Giacometti and 10 others was a magnanimous 1989 gift to the Museum of Contemporary Art from the estate of Schreiber's widow, Rita. Still, another, even more celebrated name in the annals of Los Angeles art collecting ought not to be discounted, even if the influence was perhaps more indirect.

For more than half a century, Eli Broad has taken inspiration from a paperweight on his desk, a gift from his wife, Edythe, that has become the cornerstone for a new "how to" book for anyone who might wonder "What would Eli do?" On it is a quote from George Bernard Shaw: "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. " Broad has called his 165-page text, written with former Los Angeles Times staffer Swati Pandey, "The Art of Being Unreasonable: Lessons in Unconventional Thinking.

For more than half a century, Eli Broad has taken inspiration from a paperweight on his desk, a gift from his wife, Edythe, that has become the cornerstone for a new "how to" book for anyone who might wonder "What would Eli do?" On it is a quote from George Bernard Shaw: "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. " Broad has called his 165-page text, written with former Los Angeles Times staffer Swati Pandey, "The Art of Being Unreasonable: Lessons in Unconventional Thinking.

Five years after his partnership lost a bid to buy Tribune Co.and the Los Angeles Times, billionaire businessman Eli Broad said he remains interested in joining with others to restore local ownership to The Times. The issue arose this week with the pending release of Broad's book, "The Art of Being Unreasonable: Lessons in Unconventional Thinking," in which the onetime home builder and investment services magnate speculates that the newspaper will be sold after the resolution of the bankruptcy of its owner, Tribune.

Eli Broad, Los Angeles' leading philanthropist, is asking the city and county to give him a piece of property downtown for an art museum to house his collection — a museum he's offering to build and endow. As they consider that request, the Board of Supervisors, the City Council and other agencies of local government should base their decisions not on what is best for Broad but on what best serves the public. And they should approve this deal. There is no direct cost to the public in Broad's proposal.

There's a misguided notion in the land that baseball games last too long. It's really the proposed sale of the Dodgers that threatens to drag on past endurance. Fortunately, Los Angeles philanthropist Eli Broad has offered a good solution: He will spend the necessary $430 million, most of it cash, to buy his hometown team if the current proposed buyer cannot. It should mean there's no need to extend the Jan.

Backing for Broad Re "Museum plan is in eye of the beholder," April 30 With the local economy locked in the grip of a deep recession, it is unfortunate that some find fault in Eli Broad's generous offer to pay for the construction of a world-class museum, donate a 2,000-piece art collection and fund its endowment for a cool $200 million. What's not to like? Broad's long-standing commitment to Los Angeles' cultural assets have secured L.A.'s enviable position on the world's cultural map. Investing in the city's core improves the entire Los Angeles County economy because tourism is our No. 1 industry.

"This is not a one-philanthropist town," Eli Broad wrote in an op-ed for The Times in 2008. Architects who have closely followed the billionaire's civic activities over the last two decades might disagree. As a donor, client and behind-the-scenes power broker, Broad has had a hand in a remarkable number of high-profile buildings in Southern California during that period, including projects by Renzo Piano, Richard Meier, Cesar Pelli and Frank Gehry. Broad hopes to add to that list by hiring a top-tier architect for a museum on Bunker Hill holding his own extensive art collection, the first art museum built downtown since architect Arata Isozaki's 1986 Museum of Contemporary Art. (As MOCA's founding chairman, Broad had a hand in that one too.)

The news that New York firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro has finally, officially been named architect of the new Broad Collection museum in downtown Los Angeles proves a couple of things quite clearly. One is that in a design competition as constrained and carefully controlled as the one Eli Broad has been running, a few big conceptual ideas dramatically presented — rather than an inventive treatment of a building's shape — can go a long way. Another is that a little flattery never hurts.

Eli Broad, the L.A. businessman who has given tens of millions of dollars to cultural, educational and medical causes, was honored Wednesday with a Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, presented every two years to "families and individuals who have dedicated their private wealth to the public good and who have sustained impressive careers as philanthropists." Also receiving medals at the ceremony in Pittsburgh were the Heinz family, the Mellon family and the Tata family.

A new $12.3-million building is set to rise next to the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica, allowing the organization to expand its cultural offerings and host more events. On Wednesday officials with the Broad will announce the new wing, with construction on the two-story structure expected to begin next year and be completed in 2014 at the earliest. The new complex, which will be situated on the east side of the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center, comes at a time when the Broad is looking to expand its programming.

Jessica Penner and Zuzana Moravcikova breezed into the Beverly Hills Hotel, hockey sticks in hand. One stick belonged to Jessica's husband, Dustin Penner of the Los Angeles Kings, the other, to his teammate, Zuzana's fiancé, Michal Handzus. Stacia Robitaille brought a Hall of Fame jersey from her husband, hockey legend Luc Robitaille. A steady stream of women followed, bearing sports tickets, autographed equipment and other memorabilia from the Lakers, Dodgers, Clippers, Kings, Galaxy and Chargers.

Eli Broad is not known for being effusive, not even when talking about one of his greatest passions: collecting contemporary art. The billionaire philanthropist generally seems more comfortable talking about museum buildings than about the artworks that go inside them. But earlier this month, Broad opened his Brentwood hilltop home to this writer ? and opened up a bit about his personal journey as an art collector, which is expected to culminate in early 2013 with the completion of his new museum downtown.

Los Angeles redevelopment commissioners agreed Thursday to spend up to $52 million to build parking and other improvements around billionaire Eli Broad's planned downtown art museum, an action characterized by some as an attempt to keep future tax dollars out of state hands. The deal was put together so quickly that the final agreement was still being drafted as the commission, which oversees the Community Redevelopment Agency, prepared to cast votes. Initially, commissioners were asked to vote without reviewing it. But they backtracked after one commissioner, Madeline Janis, said it was unwise to move so quickly without first seeing an agreement in writing.

Usually, Eli Broad's trajectory as an art collector is traced to mentoring by the late Taft Schreiber. Broad himself has talked admiringly of what he learned about art from the MCA Inc. executive (and Ronald Reagan's former Hollywood agent), whose small but extraordinary trove of works by Jackson Pollock, Piet Mondrian, Alberto Giacometti and 10 others was a magnanimous 1989 gift to the Museum of Contemporary Art from the estate of Schreiber's widow, Rita. Still, another, even more celebrated name in the annals of Los Angeles art collecting ought not to be discounted, even if the influence was perhaps more indirect.

If you were paying fairly close attention to the design renderings released at last week's elaborate Broad museum press conference, you might have noticed something a little unusual. While there were several images showing what the museum will look like inside, and of its honeycombed cast-concrete exterior rising above the corner of Grand Avenue and 2nd Street, there wasn't a single view of the building's southern or western facades. If you were hoping to get a sense of what it will be like to approach the museum from a planned subway stop along Hope Street, for example, you were out of luck.

The influence that Eli Broad has had on the built landscape of Los Angeles over the last two decades has been wide-ranging, as I pointed out in a piece on Sunday exploring his legacy as an architectural patron. Yet Broad, 77, has hinted that the museum he hopes to build on Bunker Hill may be among his final major civic projects. If Broad does begin to move away from the public stage, who might step in to take his place, or to fashion a new kind of architectural patronage in Los Angeles?

Eli Broad wants the New York firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro to design his art museum on Bunker Hill, according to several sources. The sources, all of whom asked to remain anonymous, citing the confidentiality of the private architectural competition Broad has been overseeing for the museum, said the billionaire philanthropist had indicated that he favored the firm after hearing pitches late last month from six of the leading architecture offices...

In John Deasy, the Los Angeles Board of Education selected a new superintendent who is seemingly a man of contradictions. He was raised in a strong union household yet challenges work rules fiercely defended by unions. He supports making it easier to dismiss teachers but also insists that a school system cannot fire its way to success. He's going to be accused of being a tool of the Gates Foundation, billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad and L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa ?

There is much to admire in the design, to be released Thursday, for the $130-million museum Eli Broad plans to build on Bunker Hill downtown, including a dramatic honeycombed cast-concrete skin, a glass-enclosed lobby with an undulating ceiling and a column-free top-floor exhibition space covering nearly an acre. The unveiling of the design will also bring with it some encouraging news about the relationship between the building and the public realm. Broad is expected to announce Thursday that he is nearing an agreement with the Community Redevelopment Agency, developer Related Cos. and city officials to build a new public plaza wrapping the southern and western sides of the museum and to widen the sidewalks on both sides of Grand between 2nd and 4th streets.