The first global guide to private and publicly accessible art collections.
Basel. On the occasion of Art Basel on June 12, 2012, Independent Collectors, Hatje Cantz and BMW proudly present the first global guide to private and publicly accessible collections of contemporary art: The BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors. As the first book of its kind, the guide provides an international overview of 173 publicly accessible private collections of contemporary art. Concise portraits of each collection, replete with color illustrations, take the reader to over 30 countries and through regions and neighborhoods sometimes quite off the beaten path.
“Owning works of art changes most collectors as deeply as creating them does the artist. As an expression of a collector’s personality, an art collection can also kindle the desire to share such private treasures with the public. This is what the BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors is all about,” reads the cover text on this new publication by BMW and Independent Collectors. An extensive network of collectors, gallerists, artists, and journalists assisted with the research and compilation of this new standard work, which will be published in June 2012 by the internationally renowned art-book publisher Hatje Cantz. Neither online nor in book form will you find such a list of international private collections—some of which will open their doors to art lovers and connoisseurs for the first time.
“A very useful book without any rococo verbiage,” says Anna Somers Cocks, founding editor of The Art Newspaper.
The BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors is the first joint publication by BMW and Independent Collectors, a partnership that began in 2009. Like other collaborative projects, this guide serves a collective goal: making private contemporary art accessible to the public.
“This project is a milestone for our Independent Collectors platform, which has until now only been online. I think it’s a milestone for BMW, too,” says Christian Schwarm, founder of Independent Collectors. “Absolutely,” says Uwe Ellinghaus, Director Brand Management BMW and Marketingservices BMW Group. “We loved the idea of the Art Guide from the start. To underline this interest, we decided to co-publish such a book for the first time.”
Among the collections featured are Sammlung Boros (Germany), Fundación Chirivella Soriano (Spain), Devi Art Foundation (India), Essl Museum (Austria), Fondation Francès (France), Sammlung Goetz (Germany), Collezione Gori (Italy), The Hess Art Collection (Argentina, South Africa, USA), Instituto Inhotim (Brazil), Sammlung Majerus (Luxembourg), MALBA—Fundación Costantini (Argentina), The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse (USA), Museum of Old and New Art (Australia), Rennie Collection (Canada), Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Italy), Sammlung Schroth (Germany), Vanhaerents Art Collection (Belgium), Zabludowicz Collection (Finland, Great Britain, USA), and many more.
For more than 40 years now, the BMW Group has initiated and engaged in over 100 cultural cooperations worldwide. The company places the main focus of its long-term commitment on modern and contemporary art, jazz, and classical music as well as architecture and design. In 1972,
three large-scale paintings were created by the artist Gerhard Richter specifically for the foyer of the BMW Group’s Munich headquarters. Since then, artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Olafur Eliasson, Jeff Koons, Zubin Mehta, Daniel Barenboim, and Anna Netrebko have cooperated with BMW.
In 2011, the BMW Guggenheim Lab, a global initiative of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the Guggenheim Museum, and the BMW Group, celebrated its world premiere in New York. The BMW Group takes absolute creative freedom in all the cultural activities it is involved in for granted—as this is just as essential for groundbreaking artistic work as it is for major innovations in a successful business.
Independent Collectors is the first international online network for collectors of contemporary art. Since 2008 the platform has provided collectors the opportunity to present their private art collections online and to interact with like-minded people from around the world. Today,
more than 4 000 collectors from over 90 countries are registered with Independent Collectors, making publicly accessible more than 18 000 works of art in roughly 1 800 online exhibitions. As such, Independent Collectors counts as the largest online resource of contemporary art in private hands.
Hatje Cantz, based in Ostfildern, near Stuttgart, and with a branch in Berlin, is one of the leading specialist publishers of art books. In close cooperation with international museums and artists, around 250 new releases appear each year, more than half of them in English or in multiple languages. Aside from its artist monographs, the publishing house cooperates with established art institutions to produce catalogues with academic merit. Hatje Cantz sees itself as a facilitator of art whose goal is to inspire and disseminate knowledge about art and artists. Its publishing program brings together the most compelling international titles on art, photography, and architecture. Its high-quality production and worldwide distribution of individually designed, carefully produced books are the publisher’s core brand and passion.
The BMW Group
The BMW Group is one of the most successful manufacturers of automobiles and motorcycles in the world with its BMW, MINI, Husqvarna Motorcycles and Rolls-Royce brands. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 29 production and assembly facilities in 14 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.
In 2011, the BMW Group sold about 1.67 million cars and more than 113,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax for the financial year 2011 was euro 7.38 billion on revenues amounting to euro 68.82 billion. At 31 December 2011, the BMW Group had a workforce of approximately 100,000 employees.
The success of the BMW Group has always been built on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy. As a result of its efforts, the BMW Group has been ranked industry leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for the last seven years.
