In 2011, Christian Levett achieved what many avid collectors aspire to do one day and opened his own museum. Located in central Mougins, a medieval town in southern France, the Mougins Museum of Classical Art exhibited the British former investment manager’s broad-ranging holdings that span antiquity, Modernism and contemporary art. In a surprising turn of events, the four-storey institution shut its doors in 2023 and was replaced by Female Artists of the Mougins Museum, which burgeoned from Levett’s snowballing interest in works—abstraction in particular—by women artists of the Modern and contemporary periods.
Levett began his collecting journey in his early twenties and he now owns around 1,700 works. A focus on prior centuries and civilisations has eventually expanded to pillar movements and geographies that have defined the art of the 20th and 21st centuries. In addition to abstraction by women, substantial real estate in his collection is given to post-war American art and the most cutting-edge works from Africa and the Zero movement. The collector displays a hefty portion of his recent acquisitions in the Florence palazzo where he also resides. A frequent attendee of Tefaf fairs, Levett is one of the speakers in this year’s Tefaf Talks in New York, where he will join a panel titled Collecting with a Mission for Public Access.
The Art Newspaper: What is the most recent work you bought?
Christian Levett: I bought a 1942 painting, titled Geneviève Pensive, by Françoise Gilot, privately from Christie’s. One of Gilot’s earliest pictures, it is a fantastic portrait from the time when she first met Picasso. It was exhibited with Madeleine Decré in Paris in 1943, and, among many other exhibitions and publications, it is featured in the third episode of the 2018 National Geographic TV series Genius: Picasso. For me, provenance and story can be almost as important as the piece itself, and their combination can be the perfect storm.
What do you regret not buying when you had the chance?
I regret not bidding higher for two early works by Dorothea Tanning that went to auction in the past two years. The first was at Sotheby’s New York in November last year, where I was also the guarantor, and the other at Piasa auction house in Paris. That’s not to say that I would have got them, but I should have had a stronger go.
What he really really wants: Joan Mitchell’s Mon Paysage (1967)
© Estate of the artist, courtesy of Fondation Maeght
If you could own any work from any museum in the world, what would it be?
Joan Mitchell’s Mon Paysage from 1967 in the Fondation Maeght, Saint Paul de Vence, in southern France, and Cecily Brown’s 2001-dated painting Figures in a Landscape 2, which is in the Broad in Los Angeles. Both are total masterpieces by each artist.
What tip would you give to someone visiting Tefaf New York for the first time?
Be sure to visit the Armory’s historic period rooms on the second floor—access to these spaces is a privilege uniquely granted to Tefaf, which creates one of the only opportunities to experience them, especially when they are filled with exceptional works of art. And of course, don’t miss the oysters!
What are you looking forward to seeing at Tefaf New York?
By coincidence, on the theme of Françoise Gilot, I bought a great, large-scale 1944 drawing of her by Picasso from Almine Rech at Tefaf New York in 2022, and I always enjoy seeing her stand. I also love the flower arrangement at Tefaf art fairs—they always help to make the whole experience so beautiful and special.
• Tefaf New York is open at the Park Avenue Armory 15-19 May
