Civilizations are not remembered by their business people, their bankers or lawyers. They're remembered by the arts.
Contemporary art challenges us.. it broadens our horizons. It asks us to think beyond the limits of conventional wisdom.
Artists rarely do the same thing over and over again. Art is about the new, doing things in a new way.
Collectors become obsessive and then addicted. You become addicted to art and you can't live without it.
To me, money is a means to do good. I reached a point in my life where I had enjoyed tremendous business success that afforded my family everything we could possibly want. My wife and I then decided that we could use our wealth to make a difference. So we created the Broad Foundations to do four things: to improve urban public education, to support innovative scientific and medical research, to foster art appreciation for audiences worldwide and to support civic initiatives in Los Angeles.
Art evokes emotion. It doesn't have to be a thing of beauty.
Unfortunately, the boards of art institutions tend to be populated with well-meaning supporters of the arts who often lack any business background or appetite for imposing appropriate discipline.
My wife was the first art collector in the family, and I didn't become interested until around 1973. The first important artwork we bought was a Van Gogh drawing of two peasant houses in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.
Most museums - with all their burdens to pay for exhibitions, administration, and security - really don't have any money really to acquire art, with few exceptions.
There were periods when the art market got overheated, but there is no reason it should appreciate dramatically.
