Eli Broad
I along with most, do not like Indian Givers. Typically, when you say you are going to do one thing and then suddenly pull out, it most likely means you have ulterior motives. So is the case with billionaire art collector and philanthropist Eli Broad. He recently committed to donating 2,000 works of art to the almost one year old ($56 million) museum for contemporary art right next door to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and it was to be named after him-but it turned out that he woke up the next morning and had a sudden ‘change of heart,’ (in all fairness The Broad’s have made incessant contributions to art education, and to countless organizations)….BUT he just pulled a “shady one” by backing out of an agreement just as LA was glowing with excitement over the access to one of the most select and powerful contemporary art collections in the world.
He now plans on keeping it all to himself (greedy bastard) and has started making moves to open a public museum in Beverly Hills. Premature plans for the museum are in discussion, and a possible location might be the corner of Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevards, where the current Starbucks Coffee stands. So after all…. I guess it turns out we did not get completely screwed, and will in fact be getting our stimuli within the next 3 to 4 years.
The new meseum would house works from Broad’s personal collection which includes artists: Damien Hirst, Robert Rauschenberg, Jeff Koons, Ed Ruscha, Jasper Johns, Cindy Sherman and Andy Warhol. Word to Broad: Next time you make a promise, KEEP IT.