Corporations own and manage some of the world’s finest art collections. Unfortunately, these gems are often kept away from the public, stashed behind the doors of offices and safes. Until now.

Supported by AXA Art, Art Finance (Gazprombank Group), and Sotheby’s, the German publishers Deutsche Standards celebrated the launch of a book project entitled Global Corporate Collections at an exclusive VIP breakfast gala in South Beach on December 4, coinciding with the start of Art Basel in Miami Beach.

The 700-page book  provides a rare glimpse into the world’s 100 finest active corporate collections. And it explores and analyzes why corporations spend such large sums of money on artworks in a series of accompanying essays and interviews.

A group of leading experts consider if artworks in the workplace inspire creativity and intellectual stimulation, the extent to which corporate collections determine brand image, and if potential recruits are enticed to come work at a company due to its art collection.

Editor in chief of Deutsche Standards, Olaf Salié describes the book as “an active discourse between companies already collecting and those making their first steps towards employing art in their business environment.” Explaining the significance of corporate collections, CEO of AXA ART, Kai Kuklinski said that “[Art] is what differentiates us from our competitors.”

The featured corporate collections have been selected by a panel of art experts including the CEO of AXA Art, Kai Kuklinski; the executive vice-president of art finance at Gazprombank Group, Marina Sitnina; and the chairman of Sotheby’s Europe, Dr. Philipp Herzog von Württemberg. You’ll have to buy the book when it’s released at Art Basel in June 2015 to see the full list, but a few of the highlights include: AXA, Deutsche Bank, Microsoft, Daimler, and Gazprombank.