Women Art Collectors and Legacy: Two Case Studies Examining the Legacy-Building Strategies of Australian Women Art Collectors of Contemporary Art

This paper examines two Australian women art collectors of contemporary art, Sydney-based Gene Sherman, and Melbourne-based Naomi Milgrom, each of whom is subject to case study analysis, interrogating their role and participation in arts-related scenarios, to highlight collector behaviour and discern legacy building strategies and mechanisms. Using observations from these trajectories and case study scholarship of historically significant women collectors as a category of evidence, in addition to theoretical concepts to frame the analysis, I argue that women collectors hold inherent ambitions to construct a legacy. By employing strategic mechanisms in the form of publishing and archiving protocols, collaborative exhibitions with museums and institutions, and philanthropic initiatives, women collectors advance legacy building. Further, women collectors develop innovative and unorthodox programs incorporating multi-disciplinary approaches to facilitate legacy. Finally, I assert that women collectors leverage their positions, connections, and collections to support these legacy-building aspirations. Through a consideration of the women collectors’ active engagement with the art market, together with a comparative analysis of historical collector behaviour present within the relevant literature, this study has revealed several key findings. Collector behaviours discerned in the case studies comprise clearly articulated and intentional legacy building, sustained archival practices to preserve histories, innovation, collaboration with actors to facilitate legacy, and assertive leveraging of position, status and collections to strengthen legacy objectives.