What I’m Buying and Why: Collector Mihail Lari on the Most Impractical Work in His Collection and Why He Regrets Buying a De Kooning

A version of this story
originally appeared in the fall 2019 Artnet Intelligence Report.

Mihail Lari, the chair of the board of overseers for the Hammer
Museum in Los Angeles, dishes on his edgy bathroom art and his
favorite way to buy.

What was the first acquisition you and your husband,
Scott Murray, made?

Our first serious acquisition was Byron Kim’s Permanent
Painting 7 (2004). We paid $21,700 for it in 2004.

What was your most recent acquisition?

Glenn Ligon’s Untitled (America) (2018), which is the
newest version of his iconic America, in red neon. As the
world is changing drastically, and even regressing, we are
increasingly drawn to works that are more political.

What are you hoping to add to your collection this
year?

Louise Lawler and Pae White, as well as additional works by
Analia Saban, Erin Shirreff, Liz Deschenes, and eight more panels
for our version of Byron Kim’s Synecdoche (1991).

What is the most expensive work of art that you
own?

Ligon’s Untitled (America).

Where do you buy art most frequently?

Primarily from LA or New York galleries, typically after seeing
a show.

Is there a work you regret purchasing? If so,
why?

Willem de Kooning’s Landing Place (1970–71). It is one
of the handful of works we bought because of who it was by rather
than because it was great and fit our collection.

What work do you have hanging above your
sofa?

Wolfgang Tillmans’s Greifbar 41 (2015), which is a
unique, and especially great, large abstract photograph from his
“Freischwimmer/ Greifbar” series.

Do you have any artwork in your bathroom?

In one powder room, we have Marilyn Minter’s Trump
Plaque (2017), which is a limited-edition commemoration of
Donald Trump’s infamous words on Access Hollywood, to raise funds
for Downtown for Democracy. In the second powder room, we have EJ
Hill and Texas Isaiah’s Victory Laps (Marie Fegan
Preschool) (2018), a photograph that was part of EJ Hill’s
performance at the Hammer Museum’s biennial “Made in L.A.” in
2017.

What is the most impractical work of art you own? What
makes it so challenging?

Lisa Oppenheim’s Smoke (2013), a two-channel
installation that was originally shown on two 50-foot-wide screens
at MASS MoCA.

What work do you wish you had bought when you had the
chance?

Larry Bell’s earlier glass cubes.

If you could steal one work of art without getting
caught, what would it be?

One of Ad Reinhardt’s black, 60-inch-square abstract paintings
from the 1960s.

A version of this story originally appeared in the fall
2019 Artnet Intelligence
Report. To download the full report, which has juicy details on
the most bankable artists, a look at how the art market has changed
over the past 30 years, and a deep dive into the shrinking business
of auction guarantees, click here.

The post What I’m Buying and Why: Collector Mihail Lari on
the Most Impractical Work in His Collection and Why He Regrets
Buying a De Kooning appeared first on artnet News.