VIRGINIA and BAGLEY WRIGHT
SEATTLE
MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART
Because of their exceptional collection, their unstinting generosity and their institutional loyalty, Virginia and Bagley Wright have been luminaries on the Seattle art scene for more than 30 years. And they’re first-rank collectors on the national scene. As early adopters of new art, they progressively assembled one of the great modern and contemporary art collections in America, with works ranging from Color Field artists such as Helen Frankenthaler and Morris Louis, and the major Abstract Expressionists such as Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, to younger talents like Katharina Fritsch and Meyer Vaisman. They’ve brought art-world luminaries to Seattle, acquired art for public space, made substantial loans and gifts to the Seattle Art Museum (where Virginia has served on the board since 1959) and others, and continue to show contemporary art in their own gallery. And, along the way, they’ve pushed Seattle to the forefront of artcollecting cities. The Wrights are co-chairs of and large donors to the Seattle Art  Museum’s capital campaign, and they’ve pledged major art to the new Olympic Sculpture Park, including pieces by Mark Di Suvero, Tony Smith, Ellsworth Kelly, Roxy Paine and Anthony Caro. The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., has awarded them the annual Duncan Phillips Award honoring philanthropists and art collectors.

STEVE WYNN
LAS VEGAS
IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART
Casino entrepreneur, real estate developer, Las Vegas booster and art collector supreme, Steve Wynn made a dramatic purchase at Christie’s last May, paying a recordbreaking $10.2 million for a rare early Ming vase that he described as “an extraordinarily beautiful part of Chinese history.” And then he promptly announced that he was giving it away. “I want to make it a gift to the People’s Republic of China,” he said, “a gift to the Museum of Macau so that residents of Macau and visitors can appreciate the artifact.” (The Wynn Macau Resort opened recently.) Wynn has famously assembled—and continues to augment—a significant and expensive collection of Impressionist and modern art, some of which is usually on display in Wynn Las Vegas, his newest resort. Practicing his belief in art for everyone, Wynn often installs art in public places. When he opened his Bellagio Hotel and Casino in 1998, one notable feature was the fantastic lobby ceiling—2,000 of Dale Chihuly’s signature hand-blown glass flowers.

Roberta S. Maneker, an ART & ANTIQUES New York correspondent for 10 years, has held executive positions at Christie’s and Phillips de Pury and Company.