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Arts & Communication

ARTICLE
From here to eternity: The rise and fall of global

art worlds and the contemporary private
museum

Georgina S. Walker*

Art History and Curatorship, School of Culture and Communication, Faculty of Arts, The University
of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Re-globalization: Practices from the Art Market)

Abstract

The process of converting a private collection into a public museum is often
presented as a means of ensuring a collection’s future by transforming it into an
enduring asset for future generations. This case study assesses contemporary
collection models as well as entrepreneurial investor-collectors and their respective
museum-building strategies by addressing two fundamental questions: (1) What is
the role of the contemporary art collector and private museum and (2) How do their
interactions with art markets challenge the established protocols and hierarchies
of the global art network? It shall be argued that private collection museums often
*Corresponding author: have a limited lifespan. Furthermore, the future of private collections and museums
Georgina S. Walker is often determined within the lifetimes of their creators. This can play out in one of
(walker.g@unimelb.edu.au) four ways: first, collectors may offer artworks at high-profile auction houses; second,
Citation: Walker GS. From they may sell the art collection and close the museum or collector’s exhibition space;
here to eternity: The rise and third, they may sell the museum or exhibition space. Alternatively, private collectors,
fall of global art worlds and the
contemporary private museum. Arts along with their museums and art collections, can play an important role on the
& Communication. 2025;3(2):2880. global stage. However, more rigorous planning is necessary for these collectors to
doi: 10.36922/ac.2880 distinguish themselves, expand the cultural landscape, and ensure their collections
Received: February 2, 2024 endure within or beyond their creators’ lifetime.
1st revised: April 1, 2024
2nd revised: April 7, 2024 Keywords: Contemporary private museum; Art collectors; Private collection;
Contemporary art; Global art worlds; Here to eternity
Accepted: April 11, 2024
Published online: October 14,
2024
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). 1. Introduction
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms In the past, individual collectors determined their “philanthropic” gesture and the
of the Creative Commons future of their collection, private museum, or mansion museum toward the latter
AttributionNoncommercial License, part of their lives. Earlier benefactors often gifted and endowed their museums to the
permitting all non-commercial use,
distribution, and reproduction in any public upon their death; for example, Henry Clay Frick, Isabella Stewart Gardner, and
medium, provided the original work Dominique de Menil transitioned their art and museums to the public through private
is properly cited. non-profit foundations. In doing so, they memorialized their cultural achievements and
Publisher’s Note: AccScience ensured their respective art collections remained intact beyond their lifetime, albeit at
Publishing remains neutral with considerable personal expense. The process of converting a private collection into a
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional public museum is often presented as a means of ensuring a collection’s eternal future,
affiliations. transforming it into an enduring asset for future generations. However, this study shows

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 1 doi: 10.36922/ac.2880