Mega-collector Ken Griffin revealed in a July interview with Stanford Business School Insights that his favorite artwork is Jackson Pollock's 'Blue Poles' (Number 11, 1952), currently owned by the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra. Griffin admitted he once offered the museum several hundred million dollars to buy the painting, but the Australians refused to sell. The interview, which went largely unnoticed by the art press, also features a playful exchange with the Australian interviewer, Michael Liu, who gloats that the painting remains in his home country.
This story matters because it underscores the immense financial power of top-tier collectors like Griffin, who is willing to spend hundreds of millions to acquire a single masterpiece already held by a national museum. It also highlights the enduring cultural and national significance of 'Blue Poles' for Australia, where its controversial 1973 purchase nearly toppled the government. The anecdote reveals the tension between private wealth and public cultural heritage, and the lengths to which collectors will go to own iconic works.