Category: Collector
Nationality: American
Last Year: 12
In that part of the artworld where money talks and bullshit walks, Cohen, 87th on the Forbes 2009 list of billionaires (net worth $5.5 billion, down from a 2008 estimate of $8b), still dominates conversations. His acquisitions dazzle, both for quality and price, and all the more now that dosh has become a wee bit scarcer. Along with his collection, Cohen has picked up 5.9 percent of Sotheby’s common stock, and last spring the auction house mounted a show of 20 pieces from his private and rarely seen holdings. Works by Van Gogh, Modigliani, Matisse, Lucian Freud and Cindy Sherman suggested that there was more to Cohen’s hoard than sheer buying power and more to Sotheby’s than rank commerce. But the marriage ultimately indicated what cosy bedfellows art and commerce continue to make. For richer and for poorer, as the wedding vow states.