Robert Mnuchin

Robert E. Mnuchin (born 1933) is an American art dealer and former banker. After a 33-year career with Goldman Sachs, he retired to fund the Mnuchin Gallery in New York City.

Robert Mnuchin
Born1933 (age 89–90)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materYale University
Occupation(s)Goldman Sachs partner, art dealer
Known forfounder, Mnuchin Gallery
Spouse(s)Elaine Terner Cooper (divorced)
Adriana Mnuchin
Children5, including Steven Mnuchin

As an art dealer, Mnuchin is particularly known for his long association with Dutch-American abstract painter Willem de Kooning.[1][2] In 2019, he set a record for the most money paid for a work by a living artist by bidding $80 million for Jeff Koons' Rabbit.[1]

Mnuchin is the father of Steven Mnuchin, who was the United States Secretary of the Treasury in the Trump administration.[1]

Early life

Mnuchin was born in 1933,[3] and grew up in Scarsdale, New York. His parents, Harriet (Gevirtz) and Leon A. Mnuchin, were "modest collectors" of art, owning pieces by Franz Kline, Mark Rothko, and a piece by Henri Matisse later revealed as a fake.[1][4][5] Mnuchin graduated from Yale University in 1955.[4]

Career

After graduating from Yale, Mnuchin served in the US Army for two years as a private.[4] He subsequently joined Goldman Sachs in 1957, staying there for 33 years. Mnuchin was named a general partner in 1967, headed the trading and arbitrage division in 1976, and joined the management committee in 1980. He, along with his co-worker at Goldman Gus Levy, developed Goldman's block trading business and ran the firm's equities division until his retirement in 1990 to pursue his interest in art.[4][6][7] In his final year before retirement, he earned a reported $8.7 million salary.[8]

In 1992, Mnuchin opened his gallery, C & M Arts, with James Corcoran, a Los Angeles-based dealer.[4] Mnuchin became particularly known for his exhibitions of the work of Dutch-American abstract artist Willem de Kooning, including a 50-year retrospective.[1][2] Among other shows, the gallery hosted an exhibition of Jeff Koons' work that, according to Koons' biographer, helped restore the sculptor to prominence after a previous failed show.[1] His gallery has also exhibited work by Andy Warhol,[2] Donald Judd,[4] Frank Stella,[4] John Chamberlain,[9] Alexander Calder,[2] Philip Guston,[2] Damien Hirst,[2] Julian Schnabel,[2] David Hammons,[2] Sam Gilliam,[2] and Ed Clark.[2]

In 2005, the name of gallery was changed to L&M Arts when Mnuchin entered into partnership with Dominique Lévy; she left in 2013 to open her own gallery nearby.[10][11] After Levy's departure, dealer Sukanya Rajaratnam was promoted to a partner at the again-renamed Mnuchin Gallery, remaining in the position until 2023.[12]

In 2019, Mnuchin set a new record for the highest amount paid for an artwork by a living artist when he bid $80 million ($91.1 million after fees) in a Christie’s auction for Rabbit, a 1986 stainless steel sculpture by Jeff Koons, on behalf of an anonymous client later revealed to be hedge fund manager Steve Cohen.[1][13][14][15]

Mnuchin's personal collection includes work by de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko.[4]

Personal life

Mnuchin's first wife was Elaine Terner Cooper.[16] They had two children. One son, Alan G. Mnuchin, was a vice president at Goldman Sachs in 1995, when he married Kimberly E. Kassel.[17] The second son, Steven Mnuchin, also became a banker with Goldman Sachs.[7][16] and Secretary of the Treasury under US President Donald Trump.[1] In 1999 Cooper was a vice president of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum's international directors council, and a director of the Byrd Hoffman Foundation.[16] She died on May 14, 2005.[18]

Mnuchin married his second wife Adriana in 1963. Adriana Mnuchin founded retail enterprises Tennis Lady and Cashmere-Cashmere.[4] In 1995, she co-founded The Shakespeare Society (the first in the USA) and in 2009, Roundtable Cultural Seminars, an adult continuing education organization.[1] Robert and Adriana Mnuchin have one child together: a daughter, Valerie Mnuchin.[19] Robert and Valerie Mnuchin opened a restaurant together in Shelter Island, New York in 2023.[20] His step-daughter, Lisa Abelow Hedley, was nominated for an Emmy award for documentary film, and is married to the writer of Flashdance, Tom Hedley, with whom she has four children.[21]

In 1990, Mnuchin and his wife Adriana bought the Mayflower Inn, a country house hotel in Washington, Connecticut,[22] which they turned into a Relais & Chateaux 30-room hotel, spa and restaurant, before selling it in 2007.[23] In 2011, they purchased a 5,850-square-foot (543 m2) Upper East Side house at 14 East 95th Street from Solomon Asser for $14.25 million, using his company, Nuke Properties LLC.[24] Initially listed in 2014 at $17 million, it sold in January 2016 to Alastair and Alisa Wood for a reported $13 million.[25]

Mnuchin contributes to Democratic politicians in most election cycles and has declined to discuss his son's politics with reporters.[1]

References
  1. Bernstein, Jacob (May 19, 2019). "Robert Mnuchin Would Rather Not Discuss His Client (or His Son)". The New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  2. Maneker, Marion (April 2, 2021). "It Took a Lot of Courage for Robert Mnuchin to Become an Art Dealer". ARTnews. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  3. "Bob Mnuchin". ArtCaste. Archived from the original on 2016-12-03. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  4. Pogrebin, Robin (25 October 2013). "At 80, Mnuchin Remains a Passionate Promoter of Postwar Art". New York Times. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  5. Ketner, Joseph D. (2001). A Defining Generation: Then and Now, 1961 and 2001. ISBN 9780962054532.
  6. Eichenwald, Kurt (2 October 1990). "Business People; Goldman, Sachs 'Coach' Retiring After 33 Years". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  7. "Trump Names Hedge Fund Manager as National Finance Chairman". Bloomberg.com. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  8. New York Media, LLC (13 April 1992). "New York Magazine". Newyorkmetro.com. New York Media, LLC: 54–57. ISSN 0028-7369.
  9. Pogrebin, Robin (October 6, 2016). "At Frieze Art Fairs, No Frenzy but a Sense of Steady Activity". The New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  10. Goldstein, Andrew M. (2015-03-27). "Former Goldman Sachs Weather-Maker Robert Mnuchin on How He Conquered the Art Market, Too | Art for Sale". Artspace. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  11. "Bob Mnuchin". Gawker. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  12. Kazakina, Katya (January 8, 2023). "Sukanya Rajaratnam, a Change-Making Dealer Who Brought Overlooked Artists to Mnuchin Gallery, Is Departing After 15 Years". ArtNet news. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  13. "Jeff Koons' Rabbit sculpture breaks record for living artist". BBC. 2019-05-16. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  14. Reyburn, Scott (May 15, 2019). "Jeff Koons 'Rabbit' Sets Auction Record for Most Expensive Work by Living Artist". The New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  15. Levin, Bess (May 21, 2019). "Mnuchin's Dad Bought a $91 Million Rabbit for Billionaire Steve Cohen". Vanity Fair. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  16. "WEDDINGS; Heather Crosby, Steven Mnuchin". New York Times. September 26, 1999. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  17. "WEDDINGS – Alan G. Mnuchin, Kimberly E. Kassel". The New York Times. 1995-02-12. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  18. "Paid Notice – Deaths COOPER, ELAINE TERNER – Paid Death Notice". The New York Times. 2005-05-16. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  19. "Michael K. Rozen, Valerie Mnuchin". The New York Times. 4 August 1996. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  20. Porterfield, Carlie (June 6, 2023). "Dealer Robert Mnuchin and his daughter opened a restaurant on New York's Shelter Island". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  21. "For Wife of 'Flashdance' Writer, Life of Privilege Also a Call to Action – Health & Science – February 2014". Connecticutmag.com. 2014-03-03. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  22. Smith, Jack (February 22, 2005). "Once for the Money, and Once for the Fun". The New York Times. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  23. Adriana Mnuchin. "Entrepreneur, Educator, Art Collector". Adriana Mnuchin. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  24. Morgan Halberg (9 November 2015). "No More Limestone: Mnuchin Clan Sells UES Manse at a Loss". Observer. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  25. Morgan Halberg (28 January 2016). "The Mnuchins Finally Say Farewell to a Limestone…At a Loss". Observer. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
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