William Cook

Art and soul

William Cook meets one of Europe’s most influential art collectors Frieder Burda, a man who likes paintings, not pickled sharks

Imagine you had £20 million to spare, burning a big hole in your pocket. What would you spend it on? You could buy a stately home or a private jet, but that would be so boring. Surely the nicest way to spend it would be to ask one of America’s greatest architects to build a new museum in your hometown, to show the world your favourite paintings. Now that really would be fun.

For the man I’ve come to meet today, this is no idle fantasy. It’s the story of his life. Ten years ago, Frieder Burda invited Richard Meier to design a gallery to house his art collection, here in Baden Baden. Since it opened in 2004, the Frieder Burda Museum has transformed this sedate spa town into a cultural oasis in the Black Forest. Marlene Dietrich said Baden Baden had the world’s most beautiful casino. It now has one of the world’s most beautiful galleries — a sleek glass sanctuary in a leafy valley, flooded with natural light. ‘It’s a little masterpiece,’ says Herr Burda, a boyish septuagenarian with a thick mop of silver hair. Flanked by a pair of Miró sculptures, which guard the entrance like two jolly sentries, his museum is a wonderful place to while away a few hours. And, remarkably, in Britain it’s still virtually unknown.

We’re sitting in the drawing-room of Brenners, one of Germany’s most famous hotels. There’s a Reynolds above the fireplace, but the most striking artwork on view is Meier’s gallery, a shiny white cube bathed in sunshine, a short walk away across the park. David Hockney is a familiar guest at this grand hotel and at that gallery. The English brought golf and tennis here, the French brought roulette and racing. Burda has given this historic resort the one thing it’s always lacked — a proper forum for fine art.

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