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Arts & Communication The rise and fall of global art worlds

Richter’s panel Strip is one such example, which was marketing of Liu and Wang’s holdings, emphasizing the
created in 2015. It was presented in Marian Goodman’s cultural capital, impeccable provenance, and prestige
booth at Art Basel in 2016 (valued at €3 million) and later associated with Olbricht’s significant collection of old and
acquired by Liu at an undisclosed amount. This brief new art. The appeal of this collection was broad, attracting
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holding period is insufficient for a collector to benefit from 1,300 bidders from 31 countries, including new and online
the appreciation of such an asset (especially contemporary bidders. The collection’s appeal was clear as the sale of 370
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art), thereby raising further questions about the collectors’ artworks and objects from the Wunderkammer collection
financial viability and true motivation for buying it and generated a total of approximately €3.4 million above the
other artworks in the first instance. estimate. The total estimate was around €4.9 million, and
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The Art Basel and UBS Survey of Global Collecting the overall result (including premiums) was €8.4 million.
2023 report indicates that 39% of high-net-worth Notably, works from Olbricht’s collection continued to
individual collectors noted a resale period of up to three sell well after the inaugural auction of 2020. Parts III – VI
years and 83% did so within five years. Liu and Wang’s auction lots commenced in October 2020 and continued
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decision to sell some of their holdings appears consistent through June 2021 and June 2022.
with current market trends and other investor-collectors It is unlikely that Olbricht needed an instant cash
(including Guy Ullens). The “A Long Journey” auction injection as he is the heir to the Wella Corporation.
sheds light on changing global attitudes and motivations However, it remains unclear why he chose to sell much
in collecting and establishing private museums, where of his collection, which comprised approximately 2,000
artworks are viewed as assets that can be quickly works. Although the COVID-19 pandemic was thought
converted to cash and museums can transition to to have prompted the temporary closure of me Collector’s
spaces for hire, thereby diminishing the symbolic value Room, it does not explain the permanent closure and
associated with both collecting and museum-building. subsequent sale of the collection. I would argue that the
Even so, I question the motivation to construct not one final exhibition entitled “moving energies – 10 Years me
but three private museums if the value of art and the Collector’s Room Berlin” (February 29 to May 17, 2020)
notion of museums are seen as short-term investment- provided some clues as to what lies ahead. The art space
collecting and museum-building strategies for creating
short-term value. draws its name from the exhibition title, expressing
Olbricht’s desire to share his art with the public. The final
2.2. Sell the collection at auctions and close the exhibition looked back over time and was thus “partly
museum: me Collector’s Room, Germany monographic and partly thematic” and set up as private
German collector Thomas Olbricht began collecting “staged sets” that mapped the collector’s “inspirations and
contemporary art in the 1980s and established the me ideas” over time. Presented as a collector’s retrospective,
Collector’s Room in Berlin in 2010 (2010 – 2020). He the curators showcased a complete display of Gerhard
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also developed one of the largest private Wunderkammer Richter’s editions, including over 170 works, to demonstrate
collections, comprising 300 objects dating back to the Olbricht’s comprehensive approach to collecting and
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Renaissance and Baroque periods. me Collectors Room amassing a single artist’s works in depth. This was not the
presented 41 exhibitions over a decade, wherein Olbricht only artist represented in such a comprehensive manner,
exhibited works from his holdings, specific artists he which added to its appeal. Olbricht’s collection was viewed
collected in depth, other private collections, and, more as unique and of significant artistic and cultural value to
recently, international (state) collections. This included the market.
exhibitions such as “Contemporary Art from the United The moving energies exhibition presented personal
Arab Emirates” (September 13 to October 29, 2017) and insights into Olbricht’s collection, recreating private spaces
“Indigenous Australia” from the National Gallery of and serving as a farewell to that chapter of his collecting
Australia (November 17, 2017, to April 2, 2018). history, which ended in 2020. The closure seems to align
In May 2020, Olbricht announced the sudden closure with the findings presented in Beyond the Global Boom:
st
of me Collector’s Room, and by the end of September, Private Art Museums in the 21 Century report, which
approximately 500 works from his Wunderkammer, observed, “10 years is the period that most museums were
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modern, and contemporary art collections were presented in operation before closing.” Even so, the swift decision
at the Van Ham auction house in Cologne. Van Ham’s surprised the market and sent a strong message to other
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promotion of the sale “From a Universal Collector: The private collectors and their museums when planning the
Olbricht Collection” was not dissimilar to Sotheby’s future of what they had created.

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 4 doi: 10.36922/ac.2880