New York. Christopher Tsai, a New York-based fund manager, is planning to open a museum dedicated to Ai Weiwei, probably in New York. But it is “early days”, he says, as he is still building his collection. Tsai (above) already owns 40 works by Ai from the 1970s onwards. He says that he has been inspired by private museums dedicated to a single artist, citing the Cy Twombly Gallery, which is linked to the Menil Collection in Houston.
Tsai, who is half-Chinese, says that the “explosion in prices has fostered work of lower quality” by other contemporary Chinese artists, but he believes that “a lot are already falling by the wayside”.
Works in the Stockamp Tsai Collection—Tsai collects with his husband, André Stockamp—include rare early ink drawings by Ai, such as Street on Shanghai, 1979, and more familiar pieces such as Map of China, 2006, made using wood from destroyed Qing Dynasty temples. He also owns an edition (number four of eight) of Circle of Animals/Zodiac Head: Gold, 2010.
Originally appeared in The Art Newspaper as 'Collector wants to open first Ai Weiwei museum'
