A recent tour to LA for a European museum patrons group included valuable special access to artists’ studios and collectors’ homes. The breath-taking studio of Sterling Ruby, one of America’s most successful contemporary artists, covers over 4 acres with 122,000 sq. ft of workshops and exhibition space, housing Ruby’s monumental sculptures, fashion design studio, kilns and colossal installations. At Thomas Houseago’s studio, the artist gave us a preview of the towering sculpture which will sit outside the renovated Los Angeles County Museum of Art. One evening, we made our way up to a mid-century modern home in Beverley Hills to explore a private collection which includes works by Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Louise Bourgeois, Donald Judd and countless others. Close by we visited another stellar private collection, in a remarkable contemporary home built into the hill, with a collection that included four Picasso paintings, four Mark Rothko paintings, and a sculpture garden with works by Calder and Miro framing the views over Los Angeles.

A 2019 tour to Japan for a London patron group offered a wonderful and varied insight into the complexities of Japan, ranging from the starkly modern to the old-school traditional. Highlights of the former included visits to the extraordinary Enoura Observatory, founded by noted contemporary photographer and architect Hiroshi Sugimoto to promote Japanese culture and aesthetics on an international level. The islands of Naoshima, Teshima and Inujima in the Seto Inland Sea have acquired pilgrimage status with their remarkable site-specific art installations by leading Japanese and international artists, including several buildings designed by Tadao Ando and works by James Turrell, Lee Ufan, and Ryue Nishizawa.  Kyoto offered a change of pace, with special visits to the house and studio of Kawai Kanjiro, noted early 20th-century Japanese potter and key figure in the mingei (folk craft) movement; the atelier of Kondaya Genbei, renowned for the exquisite obi’s they have been designing since the 1730s; and Ginkaku-ji, where the gardens designed by the great 16^th century landscape artist Sōami are considered to represent the height of temple garden design in Japan.