Gwyneth Paltrow doesn’t just act like she’s into art, even though she will play Pablo Picasso’s muse Dora Maar alongside Antonio Banderas in the upcoming Picasso biopic 33 Días.
The Hollywood actress is a self-confessed art aficionado and enthusiastic art collector. Before embarking on her career as an actress, she was an art history major at the University of California at Santa Barbara. She eventually dropped out of college to pursue acting. The rest, as they say, is history, although her appreciation of art never went away.
“I love to collect art,” Paltrow told the Associated Press. “I’ve spent my life in museums and love the whole art world.”
Paltrow’s younger brother Jake is married to star artist Taryn Simon. Courtesy of JIMI CELESTE/Patrick McMullan Photo.
Together with art consultant Mario Brito—who also advises celebs including hip hop mogul P. Diddy—Paltrow has assembled an eclectic collection. The actress has bought photographs by British artist and photographer Darren Almond. She recently told Elle Décor that the artist’s “arresting, large-scale artworks bring a sense of majesty to a room.”
Paltrow also collects work by Ann Carrington, according to Artspace—a needlepoint work by the artist adorns the actresses Hamptons home. She reportedly also owns works by Kenny Scharf, and blue-chip artists Jean-Michel Basquiat and Yayoi Kusama.
Yayoi Kusama at David Zwirner Art Gallery in 2013 in New York City. Courtesy of Andrew Toth/Getty Images.
The actress is often seen at art fairs, events, and art-related fundraisers and galas including the opening of the Broad museum in Los Angeles, and the Art and Film Gala at LACMA, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art gala.
Additionally, Paltrow’s sister-in-law is the high-profile artist and conceptual photographer Taryn Simon, who is represented by Gagosian Gallery and is married to her younger brother Jake.
Although it’s fair to say that the Academy Award-winning actress’ collection is on the modest side with a few big-name pieces here and there, she is part of a growing list of film stars that are taking an interest in the visual arts.