More than $30 million in contemporary artworks by such marquee names as Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons and Cindy Sherman. Fifteen million dollars in cash. A house and gallery in Vail.
With a bequest including all those ingredients, nationally known art collectors Kent and Vicki Logan are set to become the Denver Art Museum’s largest donors ever, museum officials said Tuesday.
“It is the single biggest dose of jet-propulsion fuel that we have ever had,” said Dianne Vanderlip, the museum’s curator of modern and contemporary art.
Vanderlip called the bequest one of the two most significant developments in her department’s history, rivaled only by the museum’s $90.5 million addition, set to open this fall.
Kent Logan, who made his money in the rough-and-tumble world of investment banking, and his wife, Vicki, are relatively young – 62 and 59 respectively. But he said they were ready to make the bequest, a gift that becomes official upon their deaths.
“I’m sort of anal, so in terms of having your affairs in order, who knows in this day and age what can happen,” he said.
The Logans have spent more than 14 years acquiring work from around the world, anticipating collecting trends and tapping new sources, including the booming Chinese market. They are included on ARTnews magazine’s prestigious annual list of the world’s top 200 art collectors.
They have been Colorado residents for just six years, retiring here from San Francisco. But the Logans have fallen in love with their adopted state and want to keep their collection here.
“We’ve always wanted to make a difference, and Vicki and I consider Colorado our home,” Logan said.
In addition, he said, they believe Denver’s visual-arts scene is primed for a “quantum improvement,” especially with the opening of the museum’s addition. They want to be part of the changes.
“In many ways this is the answer to the question: What’s next? And so the timing is in connection with (continuing) the momentum, the build-up associated with the new building,” he said.
The bequest includes $10 million for an endowment supporting exhibitions, acquisitions and the hiring of an additional curator for the modern and contemporary department. With such a fund, the museum preserves the principal and uses its annual interest to cover operating costs.
Perhaps more important, the Logans have bequeathed all the artworks in their collection not already promised to another institution – more than 225 in all – including any future acquisitions.
This is not the first time the Logans have shown their generosity to the museum. In 2003, they donated 213 artworks. That collection’s estimated value is between $3 million and $5 million. Estimated worth of the latest donation is at least $30 million, bolstered by the presence of major works by such notable artists as Franz Ackermann, Katharina Fritsch, Takashi Murakami, Ed Ruscha and Sam Taylor-Wood.
The first donation consisted mostly of 1990s works by emerging artists. But Vanderlip said this group offers a broader look at contemporary art and helps link that earlier gift to the museum’s existing holdings.
“Many of the works he still has are not by emerging artists but by very established artists,” she said. “This is a much more whole group of masterworks.”
To round out the bequest, the couple plan to give the museum their house and accompanying private gallery – totaling 15,000 square feet – and a $5 million maintenance endowment. The buildings could be used as a conference facility or a small-scale regional art center.
If the property does not work out as a satellite of the art museum, the institution has the right to sell it five years after the couple’s death and divert the proceeds and endowment to the contemporary department.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
TEN KEY WORKS in the Logan bequest
Franz Ackermann, “B1 (Barbeque with the Duke),” 1999, above
Katharina Fritsch, “Monch und Doktor (Monk and Doctor),” 1997-99
Damien Hirst, “Do You Know What I Like About You?” 1994
Ed Ruscha, “Burning Gas Station,” 1965-66
Jeff Koons, “Two Balls Total Equilibrium Tank,” 1985
Koons, “Fait d’Hiver (Made in Winter),” 1988
Cindy Sherman, “Untitled Film Still #55A,” 1980
Takashi Murakami, “DOB in the Strange Forest,” 1999
Murakami, “May Sathuki,” 1988
Andy Warhol, “Brillo Box (soap pads),” 1968
