Laura and John Arnold

HOUSTON, TEXAS– “The collection of Laura and John Arnold is comprised of masterworks by some of the greatest artists in the Western canon,” says Robert McClain, owner of McClain Gallery, Houston, who’s served as the couple’s art adviser since the inception of their collection in 2005. The intensely private Arnolds have assembled a personal trove considered by many to be the most important private collection outside the East and West coasts. The Arnolds first appeared on Artnews’ Top 200 Collectors in 2010 and have remained on the list every year since. Initial interest was devoted to early 20th-century masters such as Matisse and Picasso and African works influencing those artists. A strong figurative and emotional content runs through the collection, evidenced by Expressionist works by Munch, Soutine, Giacometti, and artists of the London School. Key Abstract Expressionist artists and contemporary masters such as Bourgeois and Richter are also touchstones. In 2010, McClain was the high bidder on behalf of the couple on an important early Richter photo-based painting, Matrosen (Sailors), 1966, at Sotheby’s November 2010 auction, hammered down for $13.2 million. Recent collecting has shifted to Renaissance and Baroque painting and sculpture.

ART:

Matisse, Picasso, and African works that influenced them; Edvard Munch, Chaïm Soutine, Alberto Giacometti, Louise Bourgeois, Gerhard Richter, artists of the London School; Renaissance and Baroque painting and sculpture

CV:

The collection of Laura and John Arnold is comprised of masterworks by some of the greatest artists in the Western canon,” says Robert McClain, owner of McClain Gallery, Houston, who’s served as the couple’s art adviser since the inception of their collection in 2005. This intensely private couple has assembled a personal trove considered by many to be the most important private collection outside the East and West coasts.