An insider's look at private collections
Customer Rating: 
Written by a senior staff member of Sotheby's, this book offers an interesting overlook on the collections and personalities of some of the most important art collectors of our time. The text itself is a collection of short pieces on each collector, describing the building and the highlights of their collection (which can be African art, Islamic art, modern paintings, rare books, old masters, contemporary art, etc). You will not find any real scoop here, since, but for a few exceptions, most of the people and collections described are already well-known , but it is still a book that is pleasant to read and full of good-quality illustrations of seldom reproduced works.
A Fine Art
Customer Rating: Will be enjoyed by those interested in the most significant collectors of great art since the end of World War II and the role each played in preserving various treasures of the world's culture.
By its nature this is a quick survey work, with short articles on each collector, along with nice photographs of important pieces within their separate collections. Each individual survey spans the time from when and how the collector started; to the collection's ultimate breadth and setting; to how it was eventually dispersed (usually to a museum or two) at death or other final point--unless the collector is still alive and still in possession.
My favorite collector in the book: The Canadian embassy worker in the Soviet Union, Mr. George Costakis.
For those really interested, you can find more detailed books on a number of these collectors, such as "Memories of a Collector" by Giusppe Panza.
James Stourton is a highly informed and interesting art expert, although certainly given to focusing on the positive about each of his selected collectors and their collections.
