I added a bit more to this post finally
My man, Peter Lewis, is featured quite prominently in the August 2005 Vanity Fair.
I’ve never really done this kind of collection of data on any one person before. It’s turning out to be pretty fun.
Here are some Peter B. Lewis notes of interest from the article:
Peter Lewis joined the Guggenheim board in 1993 and had become it’s chairman in 1998. During his tenure on the board he had given the museum and estimated $77 million, an amount nearly four times greater than that given by any other trustee – ever.
…Lewis commissioned Gehry to design a house in Lyndhurst, Ohio, though it was never built, perhaps because, over the project’s eight-year planning period, cost estimates escalated to more than $80 million. Many of the details, however, were subsequently incorporated into the Bilbao museum.
Lewis is a difficult man to figure out. He looks and plays the part of a billionaire playboy. He has decent, if not exceptional, art in his New York Home, including works by Eric Fischl and William Baziotes. Also, he has a strong interest in modern architecture and design.
He has a yacht, named Lone Ranger, a converted tug, which he bought for $16.5 million in 1997 and which he sails around the world with a crew of 18. He likes to dress casually, in T-shirts and dark pants; he wears a Stetson hat when it’s cold. He works out obsessively, despite having had the lower half of his left leg amputated six years ago because of a congenital problem.He is an avid advocate of decriminalization of marijuana and has reportedly given at least $5 million to an A.C.L.U. project that challenges medical-marijuana restrictions and school drug-testing.
…he has given $115 million to Princeton University, where he is on the board of trustees, and was a major contributor to Democratic organizations in the last election.
This same honesty has led him to make provocative statements – he has criticized his hometown of Cleveland, which he felt, was slipping in cultural and economic terms because of an excess of lawyers with civic leadership roles.
He also told the paper he felt marginalized in Cleveland because he is Jewish.
Here’s the basic jist of the article: Thomas Krens, the director of the Guggenheim, is a spend-aholic. He’s constantly focused on global expansion with funds the Guggenheim doesn’t have, has 1 or 2 bag handlers when he travels. He also potentially exploits the museum by doing things such as curating a show for art dealer Thaddaeus Ropac – a potential ethical conflict, and promoting the museum with the Guggenheim Motorcycle Club – an overt BMW promotion.
But here’s the rub. Peter wants him out. Lewis is unanimously voted down. All other board members want Krens to stay on. They feel they can reign him in. A person who has given four times more money to the museum than anyone ever, gets denied. Peter resigned. Peter Lewis gave both financially and operationally. He is going to be extremely hard to replace.
Maybe we can convince Mr. Lewis to have Frank Gehry build a world renowned contemporary art center here in Cleveland. If he can do it in Bilboa (an industrial town in Spain) I’m certain he can do it here. Why not start the Lewis Museum of Contemporary Art here.
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Here are all of my Peter B. Lewis posts:
Sage Lewis: Peter B. Lewis Does Fast Company Interview