I don’t want to be an annoying name-dropper, but I’ve almost had run-ins with some pretty famous people. We’re talking solid C-listers. There was the time my family saw Richard Simmons in the airport (I was asleep, but I’m still counting it.) Then there was the time I saw the mom and daughter from HGTV’s “Good Bones” in Atlanta. Or, I’m pretty sure it was them anyway. And in NYC my sister and I walked right past A-Rod getting out of his car. Jamie played it cool, but I played it even cooler since I didn’t know it was him until Jamie clued me in once we were out of earshot.
The even bigger celebrities are all dusting off their red carpet skills these days as awards season is in full swing! (What’s “full swing” for a pandemic, at least.) Below are three people who have won an award or two in their lifetime, but are also notoriously dedicated art collectors.
Leonardo DiCaprio: This guy owns over $10 million of art! What would the Seavers think?! His collection includes pieces like Basquiat’s Boxing Ring and Walton Ford’s The Tigress.
Walton Ford might be my spirit animal.
Or, he at least paints my spirit animals.
Aren’t they stunning? DiCaprio doesn’t shy away from bold colors or subjects. I never saw him in “The Great Gatsby” but I feel like Jay Gatsby would approve.
Neil Patrick Harris: It doesn’t take a child prodigy doctor to know NPH has impeccable taste, and his house does not disappoint! It appears he loves art as much as he loves magic. In fact, he named his son after Gideon Rubin. In addition to Rubin, Harris has works by Banksy and Kehinde Wiley in his Harlem townhouse.
I don’t know what Banksy work Harris has in his house,
but it isn’t this one.
Venus Anadyomene. This is from Wiley’s Haiti collection.
Isn’t is glorious?
Sofia Coppola: Oscar winner, famous since infancy, cousin to Nicholas Cage, director extraordinaire…. and collector of beautiful art. Coppola began her art collection with photographs, then began branching out. Now her home has art from painters like Elizabeth Peyton and Risaku Suzuki.
Nick by Elizabeth Peyton. 
Sakura by Suzuki. That blue! I want to swim in it! Or drink it!
I feel like I also need to give Ed Ruscha a shout-out because all three of these celebrities (and many more) have Ruscha’s work in their homes. He has quite the celebrity following. I have to wonder- did he meet them all at the airport?