How One Wall Street Bank Put Together One Of The Biggest Art Collections In The World

Wall Street has become one of art's biggest patrons, with the major corporate collections that some investment banks have gathered over the years.

J.P. Morgan, UBS, and Deutsche Bank were listed in Forbes' best corporate art collections in 2012. Deutsche Bank was included as the largest corporate art collection in the world.

And it's not just banks. Numerous Wall Street titans through history, including J.P. Morgan, Leon Black, and Robert Lehman, have also been active collectors in the art industry.

We reached out to some knowledgeable sources on Wall Street to find out exactly what it takes to amass these priceless works.

Liz Christensen is an art curator at Deutsche Bank, who started 25 years ago as an independent art advisor. At that time, Deutsche Bank in the U.S. was smaller office in Midtown. She said as the bank grew larger, her responsibilities grew with it. Now she is involved in advising, collecting, educating around, and organizing exhibitions. There are about eight curators for the bank worldwide.

"There was a historical precedent back in the 80s - early 90s. A lot of corporations, including banks, were buying art," Christensen said. "It was almost fashionable at that time, there was a bit of an economic "tech" boom, and the art boom went with it. And then there was a little bit of a bust and the art bust went with that too. So there is a correlation, at least in terms of the market."

Deutsche Bank has 57,000 works in its collection, spread across over 900 offices.

"It's something that we're quite proud of, that Deutsche Banks considers art as part of its identity. Supporting art as a creative endeavor is an important part of being a good corporate citizen, and giving back to not only to society but to the places, the cities, and communities where the bank is doing business," Christensen said.

We reached out to J.P. Morgan and UBS, but both declined to comment.