A major body of important contemporary artworks from the D.Daskalopoulos Collection will be donated to 4 museums, in 3 countries over 2 continents to create a pioneering network of collaborations and synergies.

A private collection will become a resource for the public benefit through leading institutions in Athens, Chicago, New York and the United Kingdom.

Over 350 works by 142 artists from the Collection are to be giſted, including 140 to EMST, around 100 jointly to the Guggenheim and MCA Chicago, and 110 to Tate.

Started in 1994, the D.Daskalopoulos Collection is today an extended yet focused collection of contemporary art by leading international and Greek artists. The artworks included in the Collection are drawn from the artistic practice of recent decades and focus on the human body as a source of creativity and the vessel of existential, social and ideological struggle. The Collection’s inner compass is orientated towards the most elemental and universal issues of the human condition. The Collection gives particular prominence to large scale installations and sculptures, as well as drawing, collage, film and video.

Important artists in the Collection include; Marina Abramović, Kutluğ Ataman, Matthew Barney, Louise Bourgeois, Vlassis Caniaris, Helen Chadwick, Paul Chan, Bruce Conner, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Robert Gober, David Hammons, Mona Hatoum, Isaac Julien, Jannis Kounellis, Stathis Logothetis, Sarah Lucas, Paul McCarthy, Steve McQueen, Ana Mendieta, Marisa Merz, Annette Messager, Wangechi Mutu, Ernesto Neto, Rivane Neuenschwander, Cornelia Parker, Pipilotti Rist, Dieter Roth, Doris Salcedo, Kiki Smith and Paul Thek

“I believe that collectors bear a responsibility towards the artworks in their collection and their artists: collectors are beholden to attend to the future of their collection with the same care and attention they invested in creating it. Art takes its meaning and exerts its influence only through its interaction with the public. This has led to my decision to giſt the better part of my collection to important contemporary art museums, so that they are cared for and preserved for future generations, so that the works are accessible to a broad audience, and so that they will remain in dialogue with the art of the future. This act transforms a private collection into a public resource” Dimitris Daskalopoulos.

In the press: Financial Times, The Art Newspaper