Donald L. Bryant Jr.

Donald L. Bryant Jr.
Born1942 (age 82–83)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesDon Bryant
Alma materDenison University
Washington University in St. Louis
Occupation(s)Vineyard owner
Art collector[1]
Board member ofFormerly on the Board of Trustees of MoMA[1][2]
SpouseBarbara Bryant (1982–2007) Bettina Sulser Bryant (2009)

Donald L. Bryant Junior (born 1942) is an American businessman, art collector, vineyard owner and philanthropist.[3][4][5] He is the chairman emeritus of The Bryant Group, a St. Louis–based wealth management firm. His Bryant Family Vineyards in Napa, California, produces some of the country's most highly-rated wines.[6]

Early life and education

Bryant graduated from Denison University in Ohio in 1964, and from the Washington University School of Law in 1967.[7]

Career

He is owner of Bryant Family Vineyard, a boutique winery in Napa, California, and The Bryant Group, an executive compensation and wealth management firm in St. Louis, Missouri.[4][8][9] As a vintner, he purchased his first vineyard in the late 1980s and initially replanted it entirely with cabernet sauvignon vines to both reflect the terroir of California and the traditions from Bordeaux.[7]

Art collection

Bryant moved to London for a year when he was 51 in order to study art history. He toured 47 different museums and employed a curator from Tate Museum to teach him about twentieth century art. He later became a trustee of the Tate;[7] as well as being formerly on the Board of Trustees of MoMA in New York.[1][2] He has several times been named among the world's top 200 collectors by ARTnews magazine.[10][11] The Bryant collection includes works by Jasper Johns, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock,[12] Alberto Giacometti, Jean Dubuffet, Robert Rauschenberg, Ellsworth Kelly, and others.[11] An Andy Warhol portrait of Marlon Brando, purchased by Bryant for $5 million just a decade before, was sold by Bryant in 2013 for $23.7 million.[11]

In 1999, Bryant purchased Christopher Wool's painting Apocalypse Now, but sold it two years later to Christie's chairman François Pinault, allegedly because his wife could not live with a work that said "SELL THE HOUSE SELL THE CAR SELL THE KIDS".[13]

Personal life

Bryant's marriage to Barbara Bryant ended in divorce in 2007.[5] The couple had three children.[5][10] In April 2009, he married Bettina Sulser Bryant, an art consultant and former ballet dancer, with the couple reportedly living in New York.[6][12]

References

  1. ^ a b c Cohen, Patricia (1 February 2013). "Collector Says He Will Donate Johns Works to MoMA as promised". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  2. ^ a b Ross, Barbara (January 25, 2013). "Deal between MoMA bigs goes bad". New York Daily News. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  3. ^ Pomorski, Chris (26 June 2014). "Embattled Art Collector Sells UES Gallery-Apartment for $12.975 M. – Observer". The New York Observer. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  4. ^ a b Neuman, William (30 July 2006). "A Private Gallery Is Born". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  5. ^ a b c Peterson, Deb (May 2, 2009). "A glitzy wedding at Napa vineyard". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  6. ^ a b Chung, Juliet (September 11, 2009). "The Museum Downstairs: Donald Bryant's Upper East Side Duplex Doubles as his personal art gallery". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  7. ^ a b c "Entrepreneur Donald L. Bryant Jr. '64 awarded alumni citation – Press Releases". Denison University. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  8. ^ Schlachter, Kyle (30 December 2012). "Interview: Don Bryant of Bryant Family Vineyard". Decanter. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  9. ^ Kussin, Zachary (26 June 2014). "Donald Bryant Jr – Donald Bryant Art". The Real Deal New York. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  10. ^ a b Morgan, Mary (31 July 2006). "Box Step". St. Louis Magazine. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  11. ^ a b c "The Top 200 Collectors: Bettina and Robert L. Bryant Jr". ARTnews Magazine. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  12. ^ a b Desloge, Rick (September 6, 2009). "Don Bryant files lawsuit against Bryan Cave, Brody". St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  13. ^ Silver, Vernon; Tarmy, James (October 9, 2014). "The 350,000 Percent Rise of Christopher Wool's Masterpiece Painting". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved December 31, 2015.