Donald L. Bryant Jr.

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]

Donald L. Bryant Jr.
Born1942 (age 80–81)
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)

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. 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. 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. Neuman, William (30 July 2006). "A Private Gallery Is Born". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  5. Peterson, Deb (May 2, 2009). "A glitzy wedding at Napa vineyard". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  6. 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. "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. Morgan, Mary (31 July 2006). "Box Step". St. Louis Magazine. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  11. "The Top 200 Collectors: Bettina and Robert L. Bryant Jr". ARTnews Magazine. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
  12. 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.
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