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Robert E. Mnuchin (born 1933) is an American art dealer and former banker. After a 33-year career with Goldman Sachs, he retired to fund the Mnuchin Gallery in New York City.

As an art dealer, Mnuchin is particularly known for his long association with Dutch-American abstract painter Willem de Kooning.[1][2] In 2019, he set a record for the most money paid for a work by a living artist by bidding $80 million for Jeff Koons' Rabbit.[1]

Mnuchin is the father of Steven Mnuchin, who was the United States Secretary of the Treasury in the Trump administration.[1]

Early life

Mnuchin was born in 1933,[3] and grew up in Scarsdale, New York. His parents, Harriet (Gevirtz) and Leon A. Mnuchin, were "modest collectors" of art, owning pieces by Franz Kline, Mark Rothko, and a piece by Henri Matisse later revealed as a fake.[1][4][5] Mnuchin graduated from Yale University in 1955.[4]

Career

After graduating from Yale, Mnuchin served in the US Army for two years as a private.[4] He subsequently joined Goldman Sachs in 1957, staying there for 33 years. Mnuchin was named a general partner in 1967, headed the trading and arbitrage division in 1976, and joined the management committee in 1980. He, along with his co-worker at Goldman Gus Levy, developed Goldman's block trading business and ran the firm's equities division until his retirement in 1990 to pursue his interest in art.[4][6][7] In his final year before retirement, he earned a reported $8.7 million salary.[8]

In 1992, Mnuchin opened his gallery, C & M Arts, with James Corcoran, a Los Angeles-based dealer.[4] Mnuchin became particularly known for his exhibitions of the work of Dutch-American abstract artist Willem de Kooning, including a 50-year retrospective.[1][2] Among other shows, the gallery hosted an exhibition of Jeff Koons' work that, according to Koons' biographer, helped restore the sculptor to prominence after a previous failed show.[1] His gallery has also exhibited work by Andy Warhol,[2] Donald Judd,[4] Frank Stella,[4] John Chamberlain,[9] Alexander Calder,[2] Philip Guston,[2] Damien Hirst,[2] Julian Schnabel,[2] David Hammons,[2] Sam Gilliam,[2] and Ed Clark.[2]

In 2005, the name of gallery was changed to L&M Arts when Mnuchin entered into partnership with Dominique Lévy; she left in 2013 to open her own gallery nearby.[10][11] After Levy's departure, dealer Sukanya Rajaratnam was promoted to a partner at the again-renamed Mnuchin Gallery, remaining in the position until 2023.[12]

In 2019, Mnuchin set a new record for the highest amount paid for an artwork by a living artist when he bid $80 million ($91.1 million after fees) in a Christie’s auction for Rabbit, a 1986 stainless steel sculpture by Jeff Koons, on behalf of an anonymous client later revealed to be hedge fund manager Steve Cohen.[1][13][14][15]

Mnuchin's personal collection includes work by de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko.[4]

Personal life

Mnuchin's first wife was Elaine Terner Cooper.[16] They had two children. One son, Alan G. Mnuchin, was a vice president at Goldman Sachs in 1995, when he married Kimberly E. Kassel.[17] The second son, Steven Mnuchin, also became a banker with Goldman Sachs[7][16] and Secretary of the Treasury under US President Donald Trump.[1] In 1999 Cooper was a vice president of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum's international directors council, and a director of the Byrd Hoffman Foundation.[16] She died on May 14, 2005.[18]

Mnuchin married his second wife Adriana in 1963. Adriana Mnuchin founded retail enterprises Tennis Lady and Cashmere-Cashmere.[4] In 1995, she co-founded The Shakespeare Society (the first in the USA) and in 2009, Roundtable Cultural Seminars, an adult continuing education organization.[1] Robert and Adriana Mnuchin have one child together: a daughter, Valerie Mnuchin.[19] Robert and Valerie Mnuchin opened a restaurant together in Shelter Island, New York in 2023.[20] His step-daughter, Lisa Abelow Hedley, was nominated for an Emmy award for documentary film, and is married to the writer of Flashdance, Tom Hedley, with whom she has four children.[21]

In 1990, Mnuchin and his wife Adriana bought the Mayflower Inn, a country house hotel in Washington, Connecticut,[22] which they turned into a Relais & Chateaux 30-room hotel, spa and restaurant, before selling it in 2007.[23] In 2011, they purchased a 5,850-square-foot (543 m2) Upper East Side house at 14 East 95th Street from Solomon Asser for $14.25 million, using his company, Nuke Properties LLC.[24] Initially listed in 2014 at $17 million, it sold in January 2016 to Alastair and Alisa Wood for a reported $13 million.[25]

Mnuchin contributes to Democratic politicians in most election cycles and has declined to discuss his son's politics with reporters.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bernstein, Jacob (May 19, 2019). "Robert Mnuchin Would Rather Not Discuss His Client (or His Son)". The New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Maneker, Marion (April 2, 2021). "It Took a Lot of Courage for Robert Mnuchin to Become an Art Dealer". ARTnews. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  3. ^ "Bob Mnuchin". ArtCaste. Archived from the original on 2016-12-03. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pogrebin, Robin (25 October 2013). "At 80, Mnuchin Remains a Passionate Promoter of Postwar Art". New York Times. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  5. ^ Ketner, Joseph D. (2001). A Defining Generation: Then and Now, 1961 and 2001. ISBN 9780962054532.
  6. ^ Eichenwald, Kurt (2 October 1990). "Business People; Goldman, Sachs 'Coach' Retiring After 33 Years". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Trump Names Hedge Fund Manager as National Finance Chairman". Bloomberg.com. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  8. ^ New York Media, LLC (13 April 1992). "New York Magazine". Newyorkmetro.com. New York Media, LLC: 54–57. ISSN 0028-7369.
  9. ^ Pogrebin, Robin (October 6, 2016). "At Frieze Art Fairs, No Frenzy but a Sense of Steady Activity". The New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  10. ^ Goldstein, Andrew M. (2015-03-27). "Former Goldman Sachs Weather-Maker Robert Mnuchin on How He Conquered the Art Market, Too | Art for Sale". Artspace. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  11. ^ "Bob Mnuchin". Gawker. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  12. ^ Kazakina, Katya (January 8, 2023). "Sukanya Rajaratnam, a Change-Making Dealer Who Brought Overlooked Artists to Mnuchin Gallery, Is Departing After 15 Years". ArtNet news. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  13. ^ "Jeff Koons' Rabbit sculpture breaks record for living artist". BBC. 2019-05-16. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  14. ^ Reyburn, Scott (May 15, 2019). "Jeff Koons 'Rabbit' Sets Auction Record for Most Expensive Work by Living Artist". The New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  15. ^ Levin, Bess (May 21, 2019). "Mnuchin's Dad Bought a $91 Million Rabbit for Billionaire Steve Cohen". Vanity Fair. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  16. ^ a b c "WEDDINGS; Heather Crosby, Steven Mnuchin". New York Times. September 26, 1999. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  17. ^ "WEDDINGS – Alan G. Mnuchin, Kimberly E. Kassel". The New York Times. 1995-02-12. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  18. ^ "Paid Notice – Deaths COOPER, ELAINE TERNER – Paid Death Notice". The New York Times. 2005-05-16. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  19. ^ "Michael K. Rozen, Valerie Mnuchin". The New York Times. 4 August 1996. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  20. ^ Porterfield, Carlie (June 6, 2023). "Dealer Robert Mnuchin and his daughter opened a restaurant on New York's Shelter Island". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  21. ^ "For Wife of 'Flashdance' Writer, Life of Privilege Also a Call to Action – Health & Science – February 2014". Connecticutmag.com. 2014-03-03. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  22. ^ Smith, Jack (February 22, 2005). "Once for the Money, and Once for the Fun". The New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  23. ^ Adriana Mnuchin. "Entrepreneur, Educator, Art Collector". Adriana Mnuchin. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  24. ^ Morgan Halberg (9 November 2015). "No More Limestone: Mnuchin Clan Sells UES Manse at a Loss". Observer. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  25. ^ Morgan Halberg (28 January 2016). "The Mnuchins Finally Say Farewell to a Limestone…At a Loss". Observer. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
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