ARTnews’s “Top 200 Collectors” Issue Features 37th Annual List, Conservation Tips for Caring for Your Collection, and More

There is never a dull moment when we are putting together ARTnews’s annual Top 200 Collectors issue. We get to find out who acquired some of the incredible art we’ve seen over the past year. One thing that caught my eye is that Emily Wei and Mitchell Rales, who built the Glenstone museum in Potomac, Maryland, own Kerry James Marshall’s triptych made up of the three connected paintings Haul, Outbound, and Cove (2023–25). It’s an enormous piece made specifically for Marshall’s survey at the Royal Academy in London, and one that looks unflinchingly at the transatlantic slave trade. (If you missed that show, you can see the work on view at the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris from September 18 to January 24.)

As interesting as the acquisitions were collectors’ answers to a question that has always fascinated me: What artwork would you own if you could own any artwork in the world, inclusive of those in museum collections? The answers, which you’ll find here, include some of art history’s greatest hits: Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights (chosen by two collectors surveyed), Édouard Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère and Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe, Picasso’s Guernica. But there were also some real surprises. Two collectors chose works of Land art: Jenny Yeh told us she would happily own Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty, and Jarl Mohn pledged his desire for Walter De Maria’s The Lightning Field. (“I’m not sure where I’d put it,” Mohn added cheekily.)

Maybe the best answer, however, came from Cheech Marin. What artwork would he love to own? One that actually used to be his: John Valadez’s 1987 painting Pool Party, which Marin donated to the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. “I loved that painting so much that I donated it to the museum because I wanted more people to experience it,” he said. “That’s the funny thing about collecting. You sometimes realize that the greatest joy isn’t owning a work forever, it’s helping make sure it has a life beyond your walls.”

FEATURES

The ARTnews Top 200 Collectors
by The Editors of ARTnews

Introduction: The Year of the Trophy
Our Top 200 Collectors respond to our annual questionnaire.
by Maximilíano Durón

What the World’s Top Collectors Bought in 2025
A look at what the Top 200 acquired in the past 12 months.
by Maximilíano Durón

What’s One Museum Work the Top 200 Collectors Would Own If They Could?
The world’s most voracious art buyers covet artworks they’ll never own.
by Maximilíano Durón

In Memoriam
Remembering art collectors lost this past year, from Agnes Gund to Dorothy Vogel.
by Maximilíano Durón and Alex Greenberger

It’s Yours Now
A look at important art donations from top collectors to museums around the world.
by Alex Greenberger

Story Time
A curator at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art talks about 11 treasures going on view.
by Andy Battaglia

The Man Who Bought The Scream
Leon Black spent millions on artworks by Picasso, Raphael, and Munch; he also paid Jeffrey Epstein millions for financial advice. Then he faced a reckoning that is far from over.
by William D. Cohan

Mr. Fix-It
The Philadelphia Museum of Art, one of America’s oldest and largest institutions, is in trouble. Can Daniel Weiss right the ship?
by Hilarie M. Sheets

Stay Fresh
A conservation studio offers pro tips for caring for your collection.
by Annika Svendsen Finne

The 150 Top Art World Professionals
Industry leaders in 12 categories within the United States.

DEPARTMENTS

Open House
Jill and Peter Kraus have filled their expansive Upstate New York property with nearly 20 site-specific commissions.
by Maximilíano Durón

Case Study
Elisa Nuyten’s Vega Foundation is quietly reshaping the world of moving-image art.
by Alex Greenberger

Best Practices
Doris Salcedo spent three years crafting a monumental structure out of human hair.
by Emily Watlington

Perspectives
As federal support for the arts falls, American culture needs both top-down philanthropy and a new generation of giving built from the bottom up.
by Kimberly Pirtle

The ARTnews Accord
J. Tomilson Hill and Lonti Ebers discuss the art spaces they created and what it means to support art today.
by Sarah Douglas

Collector’s Diary
A young collector reflects on what it means to see art with fresh eyes after years of looking.
by Purat “Chang” Osathanugrah

Insights
What changing views of the Young British Artists say about Britain and the art world.
by Eliza Goodpasture