“Art has meaning only when it is in reconciliation, in communication with its recipient, with man.” Having operated for more than 30 years with responsibility and love as a custodian rather than an owner of important works of art, the Dimitris Daskalopoulosas he often repeats in his interviews, considers that “a work of art by itself does not exist, if it is not exhibited, if it does not interact with the viewer, so as to provoke reflection and emotions”.

The uniqueness of his private Collection was based on this deep conviction, which two years after the announcement of its donation, acquires a “new life” and becomes a public good: it gradually enriches the permanent collections with more than 350 works of contemporary art by 142 artists. collections of the four international museums (National Museum of Contemporary Art of Athens, Tate London, Guggenheim New York and MCA Chicago) that were its recipients.

In this way, the vision of its founder to spread art to the largest possible audience around the world and to initiate new dialogues and interpretations between exhibits, artists and visitors as well as with the art of the future is realized.

It is an act of high symbolism and generosity that abolishes borders and cultivates new collaborations, offering the international public cultural goods of high artistic as well as economic value. In this way, Dimitris Daskalopoulos sheds the costume of the collector and emerges as a great benefactor, creating a huge public legacy and putting into practice his deepest belief that “art is a basic human need that acquires and develops its meaning not as the property of the few but as the privilege of the many”.

Her guests Tate Modern they can now admire important works of art, such as Pipilotti Rist’s immersive environment (Lung Lobe, 2009) which plays with bright colors and distortions and encourages the audience to lie down on the floor to enjoy a non-anthropocentric view of world, Louise Bourgeois’ “Little Girl”, a phallic sculpture that highlights the sensitivity of male nature, the crossed wooden frog (“Fred The Frog Rings the Bell”, 1990) – the alter ego of the subversive Martin Kippenberger, the “Possible Background’ (1974) by Vlasis Kaniaris, a large-scale sculptural installation composed of natural objects and building materials, as well as a black handmade silkscreen with printed genitalia by Robert Gober. These are just some of the total of 110 works of art by 53 artists that make up the donation of the D. Daskalopoulos Collection to the Tate museums (Modern, Britain and St Ives).

As one of the world’s largest art lenders, Tate will make the donation available to other museums and galleries in the coming years. In fact, Maria Balsou, director of Tate, characteristically states: “The Tate collection is a good for all to enjoy and has been significantly enriched by the extraordinary generosity of D. Daskalopoulos. We have spent the last two years integrating these incredible works of art into the national collection and I am very pleased to see them begin to be exhibited. But this is just the beginning, over the coming months and years many more works from the donation will be on public display across the Tate’s galleries and other venues in the UK and beyond.”

New life for the Collection

“I have a Tom Friedman work on my desk. From a distance you read the word “ego”. But when you get close, the word disappears and only some signs remain. This is exactly what happens to our “I”. You realize it doesn’t mean much. I was lucky enough to be financially successful, so it was rather easy for me to share a part of this success for the common good”, said Dimitris Daskalopoulos in the discussion on the occasion of the presentation of the book “Reflections of the collector. Irini Paris talks to Dimitris Daskalopoulos” which took place last Thursday (10/10) at Tate Modern.

“We knew from the beginning that it was very close to his heart to take this step and donate his Collection. However, it is one thing to think about doing something and another to do it. It was not an easy process, it took time and many discussions. I think he made a decision when he realized that with this donation, his Collection will not die but will acquire a new life, a new breath”, explained the author of the book and companion of the collector, Irini Paris.

“Especially in times of crisis, such as those we live in today with wars, being in a museum in front of a work of art gives you an opportunity to escape from everyday life and at the same time brings you closer to reality and in contact with your own feelings. Art goes beyond words and speaks directly to the soul” said Irini Pari. And D. Daskalopoulos added that “art does not discover things, it does not give answers to big questions, but it makes people more open-minded, curious and innovative. This is what he has to offer to society.”

Deeply Greek, the collection focuses on human existence

Dimitris Daskalopoulos declares himself self-aware and rather cynical regarding his relationship with contemporary art. “You often see many pages written, big words for small things. That’s why you have to be self-aware. Once I was in a museum and bought a card with a work by Tintoretto. I sent it to my colleagues and wrote “Be humble”. Be humble about the works in the collection.”

His collection is focused on human existence, its action, how optimistic and creative it is, despite its fragility and mortality. As D. Daskalopoulos said at the presentation of the book, he considers that the word “reflections” fits very well with what he feels he is doing, as it reflects his thoughts and concerns. After all, he never chose artists himself, but chose works based on emotion, which he believed matched what he wanted his collection to express.

“It is a collection of reflections, which “embodys” the creation of the last decades. The collection is deeply Greek because it focuses on the human being. At the same time, it is also deeply political!” noted Irini Paris.

An unconditional donation

“For us, the whole process of the donation, as well as the fact that these works now meet the public of the museums, carries a great emotional load,” said Ioanna Vryzaki, director of the D. Daskalopoulos Collection, noting that each donation to the four major international public institutions was designed with the prospects of a sustainable future in mind, so that it can be used to the fullest by every organization.

As Katie Wan, Tate’s donation manager, told Greek journalists in London, D. Daskalopoulos and his team took into account the particularities and personality of each museum, and created a “small collection’ for each recipient with respect to the existing collections, their character and the artists themselves. In accordance with this philosophy, no conditions were placed on the acceptance of the donation at the level of exhibitions or presentation of works. On the contrary, due to its nature, partnerships and collaborations are created between museums, either at the level of cultural exchanges (EMST – Tate) or for joint maintenance and presentation (joint Guggenheim Gift – MCA Chicago).

When asked why he did not ask for something in return from the museums for his huge donation, D. Daskalopoulos emphasized: “It is enough for me to see the smiles and satisfaction of the people when they see the works. I’ve been on museum boards where lawyers show up and say, “According to the wishes of the donor you have to do this or that.” That was not the idea behind the donation. Museums know how to use the collection and introduce it to the public, and I have complete confidence in them!”

Interesting conversations

Seeing the works from the donation of the D. Daskalopoulos Collection to Tate Modern, one is impressed by how organically they have joined the museum’s collections and by the dozens of extremely interesting dialogues that unfold in front of him. Placed alongside other works already in the British Museum, they create new visual conditions and open up a new ongoing conversation bringing together different artists, eras and styles.

Thus the sculptural, and with humble materials, installation “Possible background” by Vlasis Kaniaris has been placed opposite a brutal and with heavy materials installation by Joseph Beuys. The two artists, who worked against the backdrop of nationalism in their homelands, are in the same space several years after their deaths and “talk” about the political issues that preoccupied them during their lives: post-war Germany, the Greek civil war and the junta that followed. The vulnerability of Kaniaris’s mixed media installations contrasts with Beuys’ rigid bronze and aluminum works. And yet both demonstrate the political, timeless and universal power of art.

Another fascinating “conversation” takes place in the room entitled “Monsieur Vénus” between Louise Bourgeois’s “Little Girl” and works by Max Ernst, Man Ray and Salvador Dali that explore different approaches to identity and the human form by examining new subjectivities and the unconscious.

On the other side of the Thames, at Tate Britain, four donated works have already joined the museum’s collections. Among them, Paul Pfeiffer’s video-installation at the Clore Gallery “Morning After the Deluge” (2003) which “converses” with the painting of the same name by William Turner that inspired it and hangs just outside the room that hosts it as well as the electrified room with 240 lamps by Palestinian Mona Hattum “Current Disturbance” (1996) which explores control systems, political unrest, but also the human body when it is under surveillance.

However, it is Damien Hirst’s famous “The Lovers”, 1991, which are made up of four display cases with jars containing cow organs preserved in formaldehyde, that win the impression. The work is part of the museum’s ‘End of a Century’ presentation and is displayed opposite Hirst’s ‘Away from the Flock’ (1994) and next to Sarah Lucas’ messy toilet (Inferno, 2000) , another work of the donation. In fact, as the collector himself mentioned, this particular work by Hirst was once located in Vivartia’s offices. At the meetings of the Board of Directors of the company, he remembers, the members of the Board hurry to arrive first so that they sit with their backs to the project so as not to be disturbed!