Curating Legacies: The Synergy of Private Collections, Market Dynamics, and Art Philanthropy

Join us for an evening at the Hill Art Foundation in Chelsea with our distinguished panel to explore the intersection where a deep personal passion for art meets market dynamics and philanthropic commitment, illuminating how these elements collaboratively shape the broader art ecosystem and lasting legacies.

PANELISTS:

J. Tomilson Hill, Collector and Philanthropist, President, HILL ART FOUNDATION

Dr. Dirk Boll, Deputy Chairman of 20th & 21st Century Art, CHRISTIE’S

Mary Kate O’Hare, Head of Art Advisory, CITI PRIVATE BANK

MODERATOR:

Fanyu Lin, Artist and Entrepreneur, Chair of the CBSACNY Art & International Committee

AGENDA:

6:00 – 6:30 pm: Exhibition viewing and networking
6:30 – 6:40 pm: Opening Remarks by Sarah Needham, Executive Director, HILL ART FOUNDATION
6:40 – 7:40 pm: Panel discussion and Q&A with the audience
7:40 – 8:00 pm: Exhibition viewing, networking with the panel & other attendees

How does a private collector’s world-class art collection and vision transform into a public treasure trove of knowledge and inspiration? Renowned collector and philanthropist Mr. J. Tomilson Hill’s journey with the Hill Art Foundation epitomizes this transformation, turning his personal passion into an organization that amplifies the artist’s voice and deepens the connection between art and its audience.

Driven by the desire to fulfill the needs of collectors and artists, the art market acts as both an economic system and a distribution system. Drawing insights from Dr. Dirk Boll’s newly published handbook, Art and Its Market, Dr. Boll will explore the delicate balance between art for sale and art not for sale, and how collectors play a crucial role in maintaining this equilibrium.

Understanding collectors who view their collections not merely as financial assets but as vital elements of personal and cultural legacy, Mary Kate O’Hare, Head of Art Advisory, Citi Private Bank, leverages her extensive art historical and museum curatorial background to help ultra-high net worth clients identify unique opportunities and manage their collections.

Our panelists’ holistic perspectives will guide a narrative that challenges attendees to consider how the synergy of private collections, market dynamics, and philanthropy creates not just legacies but living, evolving dialogues that resonate across generations.

BIOS:

J. Tomilson Hill

J. Tomilson Hill is a Managing Director at Two Sigma, Chief Executive Officer of Two Sigma Real Estate, and Chairman of Two Sigma’s Private Investments. Prior to joining Two Sigma in January 2019, Mr. Hill was the President and CEO of Blackstone Alternative Asset Management and Vice Chairman and Member of the Board of Directors of the Blackstone Group. Mr. Hill is a graduate of Harvard College and the Harvard Business School.

In 2019, Mr. Hill and his wife, Janine, opened the Hill Art Foundation in Chelsea, New York City. The Foundation, which is always free and open to the public, presents exhibitions that connect artistic movements across generations and genres. The Foundation prioritizes education and access, with a special focus on programming for high-school students. Collaborations with artists including Christopher Wool, Charles Ray, Kevin Beasley, Spencer Finch, and Sarah Crowner have made the Foundation an important cultural touchstone in the Chelsea neighborhood. Mr. Hill is on the boards of many institutions, including but not limited to, Chair of the Board of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Board of Directors at Friends of the High Line, and Chairman Emeritus of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC.

Dr. Dirk Boll

Dr. Dirk Boll studied law in Göttingen and Freiburg (Br.) and had his judicial traineeship at the Higher Court in Stuttgart and the German Chamber of Commerce in Brussels. A post graduate study in Art Management in Stuttgart-Ludwigsburg earned him a Master of Art degree. He wrote his Ph.D. thesis on distribution systems for art and the legal framework of the international art market.

He joined Christie’s in 1998 in London in the 20th Century Art Department. Following positions in Germany and Switzerland he returned to London in 2011 to serve in various management functions, from Regional Managing Director to President of the Administration in EMEA (Europe & UK, Middle East, Africa). In 2022 he was appointed Deputy Chairman of the 20th and 21st Century Art Cluster (Impressionist and Modern Art, Postwar- and Contemporary Art, Photography and Design). Dirk Boll is also a lecturer at the University of Hamburg on the subject of Art Management. He publishes regularly in various daily papers and international magazines and has a quarterly column in the Swiss paper Handelszeitung. Since 2009 he published eight books on various aspects of the art markets, collecting or museum development (with Hatje Cantz/Berlin). In 2015 he launched a publication on “Auctioneers who made Art History”. His view on the post-Corona art markets were published in December 2020 (“What’s different this time? Economical Crisis and Art Market 1990/2001/2009/2020”). His latest publication “Art and Its Market” (handbook in six volumes, December 2023) combines his background in law with his current professional area, analysing the legal and economical basis for and the distribution systems of the art market.

Dirk Boll is board member of the Friends of the Israel Museum, chairman of the Advisory Board of Haus der Kunst in Munich and member of the Advisory Board of University of Zurich (UZH for Art Market Studies). In 2017 he received the Commander Cross of the order “pro Merito Melitensi”, the order of merit of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Architectural Digest (2019) included him in the list of the 200 “most influential players in art and design.”

Mary-Kate O’Hare

Mary-Kate O’Hare is Head of Citi Private Bank Art Advisory. She leads a team of art specialists who help clients build and manage museum-quality art collections. Mary-Kate specializes in U.S. and Latin American modern and contemporary art and 19th century U.S. and European art.

Prior to joining Citi in 2013, Mary-Kate was Curator of American Art at The Newark Museum, Newark, NJ (2000-2013) where she oversaw the American art collection of 12,000 objects, published research on the permanent collection, and organized several critically lauded loan and collection exhibitions. The International Association of Art Critics (AICA-USA) honored her exhibition and accompanying catalogue Constructive Spirit: Abstract Art in South and North America, 1920s-50s (2010) with an award for “Best Thematic Museum Show Nationally.” Mary-Kate also curated exhibitions devoted to Edward Hopper, Romare Bearden, 20th century photography, and the subject of the New Woman in 19th Century American art. She began her curatorial career as an Assistant Curator and Collections Manager at The Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ.

Mary-Kate’s work has been honored by several grants and awards, including a Henry Luce Research Award and a fellowship at the Clark Art Institute, where her research focused on mid-20th century Brazilian art, music and design. She writes and lectures regularly on contemporary art and the art market and has taught many art history courses and advanced seminars at Rutgers University and William Patterson University. She serves on the Board of the Association of Art Museum Curators. Mary-Kate earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in art history from Rutgers University, writing her dissertation on the work of John Singer Sargent.

Sarah Needham

Sarah Needham has been the Executive Director of the Hill Art Foundation since 2018. Previously, she was a Program Officer at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation where she oversaw arts and education grantmaking. From 2008-2012, Needham worked at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, where she held a variety of roles in public relations and development and helped to organize the campus’ first-ever public art initiative. Needham holds a B.A. in Art History from Williams College and an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business. She serves on the Board for Danspace Project and is a member of the Education Committee at the Guggenheim Museum.

Fanyu Lin

Fanyu Lin is an artist and entrepreneur, working at the intersection of fine art, technology, architecture, and design. She is a Contributing Writer for the Financial Times (Chinese), where she interviews business and cultural leaders and produces articles with audio on global leadership, art, business, and ESG. An active voice in global dialogues, Lin serves on the Bloomberg New Economy Cities Council, collaborating on a methodical, citizen-centric approach to urbanization, and on the World Economic Forum’s Council on the Connected World, shaping governance and innovation of the Internet of Things and related technologies in the global public interest. She also serves as the Chair of the Art & International Committee for the Columbia Business School Alumni Club of New York. Lin graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts and Columbia University.