On 1st September 2005, Altius Associates staged the first ever private equity art exhibition at Christie’s on London’s King Street. Unlike any exhibition held before this was a unique display of visual art created exclusively by people within or connected to private equity.

The event was extremely well attended, will nearly 200 tickets being pre-ordered, with around 40 of our artists attending. Canapés were rolling out and the wine was flowing, courtesy of deWinton’s, as Vivien Altman of infinancials excited the background ambience with her exquisite piano accompaniment. The evening then continued with the focus that Christie’s is most famous for – its auctions. Once all guests had found their way into the main auction room, then began the donated items auction, where 9 lots were offered, courtesy of people and companies associated with the private equity world and beyond. Our auctioneer for the evening, Dermot Chichester of Christie’s, put his skills to work and generated a staggering £15,500 for the charity fund, enticing bidders to exceed and even treble the estimates!

The interest and support we received from artists from across the private equity industry was absolutely phenomenal. We were able to boast over 110 donated artworks from a truly global list of participants with contributions from nearly 70 artists in Australia & Israel and across Europe and the US. The event was also extremely well attended by those in the industry, with over 200 tickets being pre-ordered and around 40 of our artists in attendance.

Through the lottery system we employed, guests were given the chance to leave at the end of the night with one of the displayed artworks. Six of the donated artworks were also made into limited edition prints and these were available to guests that did not receive an original.

The substantial amount raised from the auction has now been added to the amount raised from ticket sales and donations, creating an amazing grand total of £25,000, which has been divided equally between our two charities, Multiple Sclerosis International Federation and Shelter.

Why a private equity art exhibition?
During the course of our work, over a number of years, we have discovered the latent creativity buried beneath private equity desks across the world. Unable to turn a blind eye to such repressed talent, we decided to organise a social evening with the crucial attraction being the work of artists from the private equity arena. Altius’ John Hess, Steen Villemoes and Marcus Simpson, all contributed a number of their own paintings.