How celebrity collectors are shaking up the art world, from Swizz Beatz and his wife Alicia Keys, to Leonardo DiCaprio, Jay-Z and Madonna

Mar 23 , 2025

Celebrity couple and art lovers Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys at “Giants”, a major exhibition of works from their extensive art collection, which was held at the Brooklyn Museum last year. Photo: Getty Images

Pharrell Williams and Steve Martin are two more famous collectors courted by the likes of the Brooklyn Museum and Minneapolis Institute of Art, and even staging their own shows

In the late 90s, when rapper and record producer Kasseem Dean, aka Swizz Beatz, was still a teenager, he tried to buy an artwork from a gallery. “But they didn’t take him seriously,” says Kimberli Gant, curator of modern and contemporary art at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. “He wasn’t a typical collector – he was this young man who they didn’t really know.” But that didn’t deter Dean. He kept attending openings and museum shows, demonstrating a serious interest to gallerists who eventually ushered him into their inner circle. His first major acquisition was a photograph by legendary American artist Ansel Adams.

Fast-forward to the present, and Dean – alongside his wife, Grammy Award-winning Alicia Keys – are among the most prominent celebrity collectors in the US. In 2019, the power couple made it onto the esteemed art publication ARTnews’ Top 200 Collectors list.

Alicia Keys at the “Giants” exhibition, which featured about 100 works and attracted more than 125,000 visitors. Photo: Getty Images

Last year, the Brooklyn Museum staged “Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys”, a sprawling exhibition of about 100 artworks, which is travelling to the Minneapolis Institute of Art this month. The show features just a fraction of their expansive collection.

The Deans are among a growing number of celebrities who are gravitating towards collecting contemporary art. Stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Jay-Z, Madonna, Pharrell Williams and Steve Martin are all known to share a similar passion for collecting. “They have homes, boats, exotic cars, staff, clothing and jewellery … once they have everything, they often add the art,” says New York-based art adviser Maria Brito, who has worked with the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Diddy and celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson.

Leonardo DiCaprio is another avid art collector. He’s pictured here with Amazonian artists Nixiwaka Yawanawá, and Isku Kua Yawanawá at the Re:wild’s “Art of Nature Basel” event in Miami, in 2023. Photo: Getty Images

Celebrity collecting isn’t a new phenomenon but what has changed is that it’s now becoming much more visible. Stars are getting involved in exhibitions, posting more on social media and making appearances at major art fairs. “What is happening is that the worlds are merging,” says Gant. “I think we’re going to see more exhibitions like ‘Giants’, as celebrities who are serious collectors decide to put their collections out there.”

Museums and other art world institutions have become increasingly interested in collaborating with celebrities to attract a broader audience. The “Giants” show pulled in more than 125,000 visitors, including people who travelled from California, Georgia and Maryland. Gant explains that the exhibition injected new life into the museum, offering a non-traditional experience: “The art world has cultivated an expectation of what museum shows should look or feel like, with purely white walls and silence, but this was different.”

The “Giants” exhibits included Arthur Jafa’s sculpture made of monster truck tyres shrouded in iron chains evoking a giant gong. Photo: Handout

The exhibition featured several mini living room vignettes with sofas where visitors could lounge and browse through catalogues of artists’ work. Swizz Beatz also created a soundtrack for the show, which was playing in the background: “So there was a lot of Marvin Gaye and smooth music, which creates a beautiful energy when you walk through … and people could get the idea of what it could be like to live with art in their own home,” says Gant.