Eugenio López Alonso
Eugenio López Alonso is the founder of the Colección Jumex. It is one of the largest private modern art collections in the Americas, and said to be the largest in Latin America. His first museum space is within the Grupo Jumex’s food-processing plant in the suburbs of Mexico City. It now comprises around 1,200 works, about half by Latin American artists, most younger than 45. International artists collected by López include Olafur Eliasson, Francis Alÿs, Doug Aitken, and Maurizio Cattelan, among many others. As of 2013, the collection is reportedly worth at least $80 million.[1] López divides his time between Mexico City and Trousdale Estates,[2] Los Angeles.[3]
López studied business administration at the University of Mexico. In 1993, while visiting a gallery in Beverly Hills, he met art dealer Esthella Provas, whom he later invited to become his art consultant.[4] Together they opened the Chac Mool Gallery, a dealership focussing on contemporary Latin American art, on Robertson Boulevard in West Hollywood.[5] In 1994, López began buying work by Mexican conceptual artist Gabriel Orozco, then relatively unknown.[6] By the end of the 1990s, he had acquired a reputation as one of the most important contemporary art collector in Latin America.[7]
Between 2000 and 2004, López spent, through his arts foundation, $12 million to underwrite Latin-focused museum programs in the United States, lend art to American and European exhibitions, publish catalogs and fund Latin arts courses at U.S. colleges and art schools.[8] In 2006, his foundation underwrote a major exhibition of work by Ed Ruscha at Mexico City's Museo Rufino Tamayo. By that time, the foundation was said to award about $3.5 million in scholarships every year.[9]
In 2006, López gave up Chac Mool Gallery to join the board of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.[10] He was included in the 2009 edition of the ARTnews list of the world's 200 top collectors.[11]
References
- ^ Daniel Hernandez (April 12, 2013), Art market doldrums exhibited at Mexico City's annual bazaar Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Guy Trebay (May 16, 2004), The Art Buyers' Club Of Los Angeles New York Times.
- ^ Booth Moore (June 7, 2000), Brunch Was Quite the Spread of Appetizing Art Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Dirk Smillie (December 27, 2004), Mexican Medici Forbes.
- ^ Reed Johnson (June 18, 2006), A patron with all the juice Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Dirk Smillie (December 27, 2004), Mexican Medici Forbes.
- ^ Reed Johnson (June 18, 2006), A patron with all the juice Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Dirk Smillie (December 27, 2004), Mexican Medici Forbes.
- ^ Reed Johnson (June 18, 2006), A patron with all the juice Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Reed Johnson (June 18, 2006), A patron with all the juice Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Suzanne Muchnic (July 7, 2009), Quick Takes Los Angeles Times.