46 g a r y n a d e r the latin lebanese He may have been born in the Dominican Republic, but Gary Nader has key Lebanese characteristics – he is a shrewd businessman, a keen collector and a family man. Amassing one of the world’s largest collections of Latin American art, Nader sets his sights ardently on the Middle East. Not that they were never there in the first place. 48 he manner in which Gary Nader delicately handles painting after painting can only be described as the gesture of a man who knows his trade all too well. He shuffles back and forth, all the while knowing exactly where to put the pieces that the workmen have brought to his residence. Over 20 artworks from Nader’s personal collection have been brought from his Miami-based gallery, Gary Nader Fine Art, for this Canvas shoot. It is the first time any form of press has been allowed to enter his home. Nader is a collector through and through – besides showing his personal collection at his gallery, he donates artworks to colleges, small institutions and over 30 museums. “A collection is not only for you. It should also be for the community and art lovers,” he stresses. “Daddy, are you changing the paintings again ?” asks his six year old, Milla. I can only wonder what creative impact it would have for a child to literally live in a home-cum-gallery. Nader beams, “I remember when Noah [Nader’s son] was almost two. He was sitting on my lap while I was at the computer and suddenly he pointed to the screen and said, ‘Papi, Botero!’” Indeed, Fernando Botero would have been proud. After all, Lebanese-born Nader owns one of the world’s largest collection of works by the famed Colombian artist. Somewhere in the frenzy of lights, cameras and artworks, two-year-old Lola waddles in and Nader’s face breaks into a great big grin. “ Una beso para el papi ,” (one kiss for daddy) he says elatedly, leaving his pose beside an artwork by Wilfredo Lam and swinging Lola up in the air in fits of giggles. The children are ushered away and Nader resumes his pose for the camera, halting in between to tell me, “The most important thing you can do for your children is bring them up around art. I guarantee they will have a better life. You enhance their souls and give them the art patron T E X T B Y M Y R N A A Y A D P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y R E Y N A L D O A L E S A N D C O u R T E S Y O F G A R Y N A D E R F I N E A R T Previous pages: Gary Nader amongst some pieces from his collection. From left to right: Armando Morales. Nature Morte: Pommes, Pobres, Olives. 1984. Oil on canvas. 55 x 46 cm; Fernando Botero. The Beach. 2005. Oil on canvas. 115.8 x 184.8 cm; Joaquin Torres-Garcia. Grafismo Magico (Magic Graphism). 1938. Oil on cardboard. 100 x 87 cm; Roberto Matta. Untitled. 1950. Oil on canvas. 198.1 x 208.3 cm; Fernando Botero. Leda et le Cygne . 1997. Bronze. 29.2 x 57.2 x 25.4 cm. Above: Wifredo Lam. Figure . 1949. Oil on canvas. 105 x 80 cm. 33 Above: Angel Acosta Leon. La Grua. 1961. Oil on board. 47 1/8 x 95 ½ inches Below: Fernando Botero. Cavallo Medio Tirato. 2000. Bronze. 102.9 x 94.6 x 49.9 cm. Signed and numbered Botero 4/6. 35 (Detail) Fernando Botero. Cavallo Medio Tirato. 2000. Bronze. 102.9 x 94.6 x 49.9 cm. Signed and numbered Botero 4/6. “A collection is not only for you. It should also be for the community and art lovers.” 49 art patron opportunity to appreciate beauty.” He says this out of a deep conviction, having been brought up in an extended family of art aficionados. “I am living proof,” he admits, as he takes a sip of his espresso, thanks the cameraman and workmen and says he must leave. “What about the rest of the interview?” I ask, almost panicking. “Oh, don’t worry about that, we’ll finish it in the car,” he answers casually. The car turns out to be a loud sports car, but Nader assures me that he will tone it down as much as possible. The Making of Latin-Lebanese Born and raised in the Dominican Republic, it was Haitian art, strongly supported by a gallerist uncle, that intrigued the young Nader. In the 1940s the American artist DeWitt Peters opened an arts centre, Le Centre d’Art, in the heart of Port Au Prince offering painting classes to artists from all walks of life. The late 1940s, also known as the ‘Haitian Renaissance’, cultivated a stream of notable artists, namely Philomé Obin who, along with his peers, implemented the ‘naïve’ style that was to classify Haitian art. The 1960s witnessed an incredible level of tourism in Port Au Prince, with sophisticated European travellers and major museums purchasing works by Haitian greats like Hector Hyppolite, Rigaud Benoit and Obin. The attraction spread across the Caribbean and in the early 1970s, Nader’s parents opened a gallery in the Dominican Republic. “We took a huge space in the colonial city of Santo Domingo and that space became the meeting point of culture and personalities and everybody who was somebody. Every president, artist, singer, prime minister – you name it – the government would send them to the gallery,” recalls Nader. Encouraged to work at the gallery at least once a week, the young Nader took an instant liking to art and the art world, making his first sale at 12, his first purchase at 13 and assuming the role of gallery director at 18. For four years, from 10 am to 6 pm, Nader worked at the gallery and afterwards attended classes until 10 pm. “So, how Middle Eastern are you?” I ask. The sports car slows down and Nader says to me with all seriousness, “100 percent.” His four grandparents are Lebanese; “we have no other blood, we were never mixed,” he stresses, adding that his grandparents’ immigration to the Dominican Republic did not dampen his and his siblings’ Lebanese upbringing in any way. “We were raised, fed and educated as Lebanese,” he says of his childhood spent with Lebanese and Palestinian friends. “You have to understand one thing,” underlines Nader, “you are Middle Eastern no matter where you live and what you do.” Having been to Lebanon a number of times, Nader is keen on reconnecting with his roots, so much so, that his visits to the Middle East are driven by a want to show his collection in the region and represent more Middle Eastern artists at his gallery – he currently represents his niece Soraya Abu Naba’a and Iranian Iran Issa Khan. A museum of Latin American art and a sculpture park are also among his ambitions in the region. “I love Lebanon. It is a gorgeous country with beautiful people and the best food in the world,” he says, “If I knew Lebanon would be in peace, I would have a summer house there.” Viva South America In 1984, he moved to Miami to seek medical treatment for his firstborn daughter from a previous marriage and opened the Nader Art Gallery in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighbourhood. “The art world in Miami was practically non-existent then,” says Nader, who closed the gallery five years later and chose to work as an art dealer – a profession that enabled him to tour the world in his quest to further his art knowledge. “I spent months in Paris, Madrid, every major museum in the USA and Latin America. I remember spending 17 days at the Louvre from 10 am until they closed, reading everything. I did the same at the Musée d’Orsay, Centre Pompidou and Museo Reina Sofia.” A passionate admirer of Chilean artist Roberto Matta and Cuban Wilfredo Lam, Nader had read that they lived in Paris, and so began his hunt through every Parisian gallery in search of their works. After buying everything he found by two of the most important artists of the Surrealismo movement of the 1940s and 1950s, “the two most international artists of Latin America and two of my favourites,” Nader returned Facing page: Fernando Botero. Le Déjeuner Sur L'Herbe 1969. Oil on canvas. 180 x 190.3 cm. 50 Left: Julio Larraz. The Narrows at Point Loup. 2003. Oil on canvas. 182.9 x 152.4 cm. Right: Walter Goldfarb. A Passion in the Lysergic Garden I. 2006. Fusian, lacquer, acrylic and aniline on raw canvas. 194 x 495 cm. 52 From left to right: Carlos Alfonso. God in Studio. 1989. Oil on canvas. 213.4 x 213.4 cm; Jose Bedia. Tronco Ceiba. 1998. Oil on canvas. 249.2 x 176.5 cm; Fernando Botero. Cavallo Medio Tirato . 2000. Bronze. 102.9 x 94.6 x 49.9 cm. Signed and numbered Botero 4/6. “The most important thing you can do for your children is bring them up around art. I guarantee they will have a better life. You enhance their souls and give them the opportunity to appreciate beauty.” 55 to Miami, opened a larger gallery – the largest in the world at a staggering 5100 square metres – in Coral Gables and did a show for each. In fact, to date, Nader has held over 40 exhibitions for Latin American artists. And what of Botero? “You have to understand that 22 years ago, the average age of buyers at auctions was 65 or 75, so when this gorgeous girl passed by, we all turned to look.” The gorgeous girl was Botero’s daughter Lina, who is married to a friend of Nader. At the time, Nader had been selling works by Botero, and managed to pull together a fantastic show with works from private collections in the early 1990s. “Even then, Botero was famous all over the world. From the guy who delivered flowers to the guy who cleaned the floors – everyone identified a work by Botero!” laughs Nader. A while later, a Colombian man sold 10 Botero drawings to Nader, who contacted the artist for verification. Initially, he was told they might be fake, so he hopped on a plane to see Botero in New York, where he was reassured that they were originals and promptly asked to represent the artist. Botero told Nader that he did not sell on consignment but gave him a few pieces. “I sold them the day they arrived at the gallery,” says Nader, who flew to Paris a month later to bring some more works, and so began his representation of Botero. Among Nader’s stable of Western artists are Frank Stella, Picasso, Jean- Michel Basquiat, Sam Francis, Henri Matisse, Damien Hirst and Robert Rauschenberg. The Latin American art collection, however, is what he is best known for, boasting names like Agustin Cardenas, Jesus Rafael Soto, Rufino Tamayo, Walter Goldfarb and Guillermo Kuitca. Marhaba Middle East Having been to Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar and the UAE, Nader is “dying” to go to Iran for the “great, great artists” he has seen emerging from this culturally rich nation. “There is so much history in Iran. I want to go and see the young artists, ask them how they feel, what they can and cannot do and what their expectations are, because after all, the most fascinating thing for a collector is to meet the artists,” he says. Nader first encountered Iranian artist Shirin Neshat at a Documenta show and her works have since become part of his private collection. “I got goose bumps when I saw one of her videos. It’s as though she told the story of the Middle East in that video,” says Nader, who met Neshat at the Abu Dhabi Collectors Programme in November 2008. He admits he is still educating himself on Middle Eastern artists, preferring not to make the same mistakes he made when he first began collecting. Training the eye is fundamental to Nader. “The eye is knowledge and education. It’s like people who don’t know how to dress – you can give them clothes but can they dress elegantly? It’s exactly the same with the eye, you’ve got to educate it,” he asserts. Education is something Nader is terribly passionate about and is also a primary concern of his with regard to the Middle East’s cultural initiatives. The lack of regulation in the region's cultural industry alarmed him. “A lot of people who have no knowledge of art have opened galleries and misled collectors, which has naturally created a lot of problems. You can’t be a gallerist the day you open a gallery!” he insists. With the creation of numerous cultural events and activities now taking place across the region, Nader emphasises the need for Middle Eastern protagonists to achieve a well-rounded, quality-trained education in the West. “This is why I went to the Middle East; not to sell because I only sell to buy more, but because the Middle East has to understand that managing a collection, museum or art in public spaces needs education.” “Know this,” he says, “the easiest customer is the educated customer. It’s not the one who doesn’t know; it’s the one who knows.” So, how does one know? Nader’s number one rule is to love what you buy, regardless of its price, its value as a long-term investment or how ‘hot’ it may be. Enjoying art defines the whole purpose behind buying art for Nader, while the artist or artwork’s success is secondary. “If you really enjoy a piece of art, can you put a price on it?” he asks, as his hand rests on a rare marble Botero sculpture in his office. No, there can be no price on something you love. art patron Facing page: Ignacio Iturria. Untitled . 1991. Oil on canvas. 130.24 x 97.8 cm.