A SPIRIT NOW LONDON EVENT
Online event: 26 April 2021
Introduction written Marie-Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (Founder & Director of Spirit Now London)
Published by Spirit Now London
Good morning to all of you,
This morning we are travelling to Florence in the beautiful Palazzo of Christian Levett.
As you know, SNL also wants to unlock the doors of the best private and public collections.
When Beatrice Ridley, one of a dear member of our community, proposed to me to share this extraordinary art collection with you, I was attracted by the collection's theme focused on “female in abstraction “.
From major female abstract expressionist artists to more contemporary ones, the collection covers names like Lee Krasner, Tracy Emin, Louise Bourgeois, Joan Mitchell, Barbara Hepworth. Also, and, excitingly, artists who have not yet received their due recognition when they have marked art history.
Many of the hanged works have been exhibited in museum and most have also been published in numerous books and articles.
Therefore, we have the great pleasure to be welcomed by this committed collector for a live visit of these treasures.
It is a foretaste before coming to Italy in September to visit the Palace with him.
By chance, I was fortunate to discover in Mougins last summer the Museum de Mougins in the south of France that CL established in 2009 to place his antiquity and classical art collection on public display. The diverse collection includes Roman, Greek and Egyptian sculpture, vases, coins, and jewellery, and the world’s largest private collection of ancient arms and armour, all interspersed with works by artists such as Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Cézanne, Auguste Rodin, Marc Quinn, Antony Gormley, and Damien Hirst among others.
As you can imagine, Chris Levett is a prolific and, one could say, addictive collector. He is A former British investment manager, but he has always had a passion for history, art and collecting.
Levett is also a great philanthropist, as he is a significant sponsor of different museum and institutions. He has also financed archaeological digs at Naucratis in Egypt and Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli alongside the British Museum and a dig at Maryport Roman Fort on Hadrian’s Wall. He has funded classics courses at Wolfson College, Oxford, where he is an Honorary Fellow, and sponsored one of the Egyptian galleries at The Ashmolean Museum.
Before leaving the floor to our host, I would like to welcome for this webinar :
The collectors from our community Spirit Now London
The collectors from the Art Circle Abu Dhabi
And the benefactors of The Palais de Tokyo