Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The electronics magnate Pierre Chen, born in 1958, is one of the richest people in Taiwan, where he built the firm Yageo from scratch in 1977. He is also a leading Asian collector of western art. In 2023, part of his impressive collection was shown in Tate Modern’s exhibition of painting and photography Capturing the Moment.And yet, sitting in front of an immense Candida Hofer photograph, “Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires I” (2006), in the Yageo office in New Taipei City, Chen strenuously denies he is a “collector”. “That’s what other people write about me,” he says. “Strictly speaking, I am more like a bon vivant, a person who appreciates life with taste and lives life to the full.” And indeed he is also a talented cook, a wine collector and owner of part of the Grand Cru Musigny vineyard in France.The first piece I bought was in my second year of college [in 1976], a small wooden sculpture by Hong Kong artist Cheung Yee that I noticed at a local gallery in Taipei. I liked it very much, but it took me two years’ savings and two part-time jobs, working as a programmer and a DJ, to finally make the purchase. It is still in my office in Xindian. I couldn’t live without Francis Bacon’s “Study for a Pope VI” (1961), which I bought in 2004. It is also my WhatsApp profile picture, and is one of my favourite works. In style, it is typical of Bacon with its intense colouring and eerie atmosphere. Bacon’s portraits attract me because of their powerful and dynamic distortion of human faces.Once I buy a work of art, I want to live with it. If I see something I like, I probably would not let it goI am fortunate to live with many paintings by Picasso, and his work is currently on show in our foundation as well as in my home. From “Le Marin” (1943) in the main hall of my Taipei residence (which is paired with the Bacon “Pope” mentioned above) to earlier female sketches hung on my washroom walls, Picasso keeps me company through the various stages of my life.I like works that are dynamic, with momentum, and are colourful, mainly painting, but my key philosophy is how the piece fits into my life and my space. I am trying to create an atmosphere, and you have to consider the surroundings when you acquire a piece.I don’t like to see myself as a collector. The word implies you are collecting to achieve a certain goal. I purchase pieces that I enjoy living with; it is a lifestyle choice and a good way for me to balance the stress from my tech company’s fast-moving environment. I also once collected Chinese ceramics and had the 10 best pieces in the field, but they are so difficult to display and so fragile. They are better in a museum, so they are no longer in my possession. In addition, Taiwan is known for earthquakes, so ceramics are really not suitable for living with, which runs counter to my ethos.Once I buy a work of art, I want to live with it. If I see something I like, I probably would not let it go, even if it was very expensive. Auction houses ask me to be the guarantor on works of art but I will only do these deals if I want the piece, not just to make money. The Leonardo [“Salvator Mundi”, which Chen underbid and guaranteed in 2017] is an important work of art and was initially estimated at about $100mn — but the price rose so far above everyone’s expectations [to $450.3mn] that I let it go easily. However, if talking of “the one that got away”, that would be Rothko’s “No. 6 (Violet, Green and Red)” (1951). It reportedly sold in a secret deal to Citadel CEO Kenneth Griffin for $100mn last year.yageofoundation.orgFind out about our latest stories first — follow FT Weekend on Instagram and X, and sign up to receive the FT Weekend newsletter every Saturday morning
