I first began to wonder about corporate art collections last summer, when I was au pairing for a family in Geneva. The father of the family was the CEO of a private Swiss bank, and, upon finding out I study History of Art, the family offered to show me around the bank’s private art collection. Walking along the corridors, in the meeting rooms and even the basement vault behind heavy-duty locked doors, I was astounded by what I saw – masterpieces from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and contemporary works from the biggest names in the art world today.
However, as I was leaving the bank the security advisor pulled me to one side after asking me if I had taken any photos and made me promise not to post about my visit online, or tell anyone what I had seen in their collection. It dawned on me that not only was this collection private – it was also secret.
So I began to wonder why such corporate companies that are not obviously linked or interested in the artworld possess such collections, and whether it is ethical that such wealthy businesses house, and keep private from the public, such expansive art collections.
Corporate art collections can have significant strategic and financial advantages. Art, especially well-known and expensive art, can be a seriously beneficial long-term investment, whose value often appreciates over time and remains largely unaffected by market fluctuations. In short, art can be a serious tactical financial move. This risks skewing the artworld towards the tastes and interests of corporate leaders, potentially sidelining independent artists and fuelling higher prices, making it more difficult for public museums or small galleries to acquire works.
What’s more (if rather a cynical view), businesses have been known to use their cultural investment to detract attention from unethical business practices – what has come to be known as “artwashing” – and instead present an image of their company as a custodian of culture.
Despite these ethically dubious incentives for the collection of art, for me, the key concern is, as I experienced first hand, that private corporate collections often limit public access to important artworks. Contrary to museums, who largely exist to safeguard artworks and share them with the public, often the artworks that businesses acquire remain hidden in meeting rooms, private offices or warehouses. While some companies, such as Deutsche Bank regularly lend their artworks to museums or put on their own public exhibitions, on the whole, corporate art collections aid in the concentration of elitist ownership where cultural heritage is hoarded rather than shared. This does not sit well with me: art is meant to be experienced, not locked away for the sake of enhancing a company’s image or investment portfolio.
That being said, perhaps it is naive to too harshly condemn the corporate procurement of art. Put in rather unromantic terms, ultimately art is a product which is made to be sold. Whether that takes away from the romanticised idea of the artist making art for art’s sake, art needs to be funded; for art to continue to be made, art needs a financial motivation.
Moreover, art has always been a tool of the wealthy: from the pyramids of Egyptian Pharaohs, to the Medici’s patronising Michaelangelo, to Ray Simon’s recent, rather kitsch portrait of Trump, The Awakening – The Best is Yet to Come’, art has always been a symbol of property, status, influence, power and wealth.
However, with the wealth gap widening and corporate giants growing in magnitude, there appears to me more danger of a concentration of art and influence in the art world in the hands of the few wealthy elites. While I don’t pretend to be very business-minded, government bodies should introduce stronger incentives for art collections to be more transparent, accessible and ethically managed by providing tax breaks for exhibited works, while enforcing stricter rules on acquisitions to avoid unethical sourcing or tax loopholes. While it appears private collecting will always exist, steps can be, and should be, taken to ensure that art is not hoarded in boardrooms, but seen and shared beyond the walls of the elite.
“Deutsche Bank – One Brindleyplace – Broad Street – sign” by ell brown is licensed under CC BY 2.0.