Ken Griffin, CEO of Citadel Investment Fund, speaks about his early love for art: "My first love for art was that famous love that was lost." In 1999, he lost a dancer sculpture by the French Impressionist artist, Édouard Manet. Since then, he has not allowed such an opportunity to happen again. Over the past two decades, Griffin has become one of the most determined and wealthy art collectors in the world.
Griffin's Valuable Works
Griffin has valuable artworks in his collection, including abstract expressionist paintings worth nine figures, rare historical documents, and a piece attributed to Leonardo da Vinci depicting Madonna and Child.
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Developing Support for Museums
In the past, Griffin anonymously loaned many of his valuable works to museums, but last year he decided to make his activities more public. He sees this change as a way to facilitate research and education as well as satisfy public curiosity. For example, he loaned a da Vinci piece to the Metropolitan Museum this summer, doubling the number of this Renaissance master's paintings in the United States.
Griffin has also increased his support for Florida museums after his high-profile move to Miami from Chicago in 2022. Last summer, an exhibition of 10 works by Jean-Michel Basquiat from his collection was displayed at the Pérez Art Museum in Miami. In 2027, he will publicly display a sculpture by Richard Serra, which he purchased earlier this year, in a park next to the museum. Griffin describes this piece as "large and thought-provoking, and clearly, just entertaining." He also notes that the criteria for an institution to collect works differ from those of a private individual, and he places great importance on the aesthetic appeal of the works.
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