Daniel Levinas, art collector and citizen of the world, died

Argentine collector Daniel Levinas died at the age of 75 in his home in Miami., former chairman of the board of trustees of the Phillips Collection. Levinas, who lived for a long time in the United States, was also an emeritus professor at the European University of Madrid and had a column on art and patronage in “El País” of Spain. One of his brothers, the journalist Gabriel Levinasreported that Daniel suffered cardiac decompensation.

Art was such an inseparable part of their daily lives. that his home in Georgetown, Washington, where he resided for years with his wife Mirellawas an example of this passion. “The house as a work of art”, this newspaper titled an article about the tour we took there, to which we had been invited with the usual warmth of both. We remember the most salient paragraphs:

The collection of Argentine and international contemporary art owned by Mirella and Daniel Levinas surprises the visitor at every step.. In every corner there are details that reveal the visual training of these collectors who began buying contemporary works three decades ago and today, with the security of connoisseurs, give themselves the pleasure of being daring.

Part of this daring consists of the double readings that are established between the meaning of the works and the place chosen to exhibit them. A good example is a diptych of Vik Muniz painted with chocolate syrup, which dominates a dining room furnished with a Murano glass table and wooden chairs. Mies van der Rohe.

As a stimulus to the senses, a strange velvet doll with steel feet from Valeska Soares, is mounted as if carelessly on a transparent panel, and a bronze by Edgar De Souza, which represents a man with his head buried between stones, appears planted in the middle of the garden. There are the stairs Cildo Meireles With the steps broken, both rest on an exterior wall, as if ready for an escape. Humor runs throughout the house, but many of these daring actions bear the signatures of artists whose works are valued at fortunes, such as Jeff Koons’ rabbitwhich welcomes visitors in the entrance hall next to a sensual ceramic by the artist Anish Kapoor.

The true heart of the house is art. Wisely remodeled by the architect Salo Levinasbrother of Daniel, the 19th century house has a legendary history: one of its owners was the owner of the famous and fateful Hope diamond. But with the arrival of art, it became a coveted setting for collectors, diplomats and businessmen who, when they arrive in Washington, without any hesitation ask to be invited to discover that ideal conjunction between contemporary works and architecture.

Although the house preserves the charm of the colonial style of its origins on the façade, its interior stands out for the purity of its modernist lines. The remodeling and expansion required, first of all, the authorization of the Old Georgetown neighborhood council and the Federal Commission of Fine Arts, institutions that, careful of their heritage, demanded that the façade be respected. The exterior appearance has remained the same for more than a century, the immaculate white was renewed and the construction was elevated, respecting the lines of the traditional American houses of Maryland or Virginia.

A story of glories

Salo Levinas, along with his peers Cesar Pelli, Emilio Ambasz and the Uruguayan Rafael Viñoly who studied at the University of Buenos Aires, also based in the United States, is an Argentine who has lived in Washington since the 1970s. and has gained international recognition. Among his works, two religious temples in Maryland stand out and, precisely, the challenge of the Georgetown house was to build an authentic temple for art and provide it with the qualities of a museum.

His brother Daniel has once again sealed the old alliance between art and money, which has a notable history with bankers such as the Rothschilds and the Rockefellers.. But the Argentine collector knew how to give a small twist to the banking system. He is the head of the MiCash firm, a debit card designed for Latin American residents and other nationalities who, without having a bank account, can carry out fund transfers and monetary operations.

Businesses occupy an important place in the lives of Danielwhich is also representative of the glamorous brands Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier, but always finds time for artpassion that he inherits with his brothers Salo and Gabriel, editor and gallerist based in Buenos Airess, from her artist and fashion designer mother. Along with other prominent Washington collectors, he was invited to present an exhibition at the Arlington Arts Center, and to illustrate his preferences, he chose a work from the “art by mail” series by the Argentine León Ferrari, an artist who has just won the Lion of Gold at the last Venice Biennale, the most coveted award in the arts.

Lying on a hill, the house has a large terrace where the swimming pool is located. From there, as if it were an immense painting, you can see the colorful living room through a large window that frames it as if it were a painting. Like a work of art that houses another work of art. In the park, the colonial bars resemble abstract paintings. Everything is beautifully studied and everything is where it should be, just like the photographs in the video “Love Lettering” by Rivane Neuenschwanderwhich frame the calm of the master bedroom.

The white house, abstract and aestheticized, configures with its neutrality the ideal continent for a collection where works by international artists such as Olafur EliassonAmericans like Matthew Barneywith Latin Americans, especially from Brazil and Argentina, like a box with the first lead rose he modeled Victor Grippoand works of Fermín Eguía, Liliana Porter, Cristian Segura or, among others, Leon Ferrari.

To determine the assembly of the works, we consulted Olga Viso, director of the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden Museum, but the playful tricks of art and architecture betray the Levinas brothers’ singular ingenuity. When you finish touring the house, you are certain that art is there because it brings a certain degree of happiness, which in the end turned out to be a good companion for the house and also for life. It is known that no collection is the same as another, some use art as a hierarchical product that helps consolidate prestige, but Levinas’s radiates the energy and passion that comes with collecting art that makes one a citizen of the world.