Christian Levett’s art collection on show at King’s College London

FINANCIAL TIMES
By Harriet Fitch Little

Former trader, Christian Levett on why he buys both ancient and contemporary works

Christian Levett collects classical antiquities, contemporary art and — ideally — works that reveal some interplay between the two. In his West London kitchen, a large calico embroidery by Tracey Emin hangs above the mantelpiece. On the countertop, a first-century BC Roman marble head of a woman averts her gaze. Behind her, a more involved spectator: a bronze torso by Cuban artist Yoan Capote that looks classical until you notice the man’s body has a brain where his genitals should be. Levett began his collection while working as a financial trader in his twenties. His flat is packed — even his teenage sons’ bedrooms contain exhibition-quality works. But for Levett, who estimates that he has made more than 3,000 purchases over 25 years, the works in London are considered offcuts: “What’s in here is nice, but it’s a lot of bits and pieces really,” he says. [More]