Collector’s Birthdate: NAvon Habsburg, daughter of renowned European collector Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, whose collection dwells within its own museum in Madrid, has created her own foundation committed to funding young artists’ ambitious projects.

Married to Karl von Habsburg, eldest son and heir to Austria’s Imperial family, she has retained her identity and command of her own foundation, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (T-B A21) which collects important and untraditional pieces.

Her collection contains famous works like Ólafur Elíasson’s “Your Black Horizon”.

On art and collecting:

“I would like to overcome the permanence of museum structures.” “I don’t buy any more, I commission unique, large-scale projects from Ólafur Elíasson, Doug Aitken, Matthew Ritchie, Janet Cardiff, Ernesto Neto, Kutlug Ataman, Diana Thater, Cerith Wyn Evans, Jim Lambie, Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba, and recently a selection of young emerging East European artists.”

Lindemann, Adam. Collecting Contemporary: Los Angeles, Taschen GmbH 2006.