U.S. actor Leonardo DiCaprio, China’s media mogul Wang Zhongjun and real estate businessman Wang Jianlin were among the world’s top art collectors in 2015, according to a report released by ARTnews magazine July 7.

    Chairman of Huayi Brothers Media Wang Zhongjun, one of China’s largest entertainment companies, is a new addition to the Top 200.

    Wang purchased a van Gogh painting, “Still Life, Vase With Daisies and Poppies” for US$61.8 million at a Sotheby’s auction in 2014. In May, Wang bought a van Gogh painting, “Femme au Chignon Dans un Fauteuil” (“Woman With a Hair Bun on a Sofa”), at a Sotherby’s sale for US$29.9 million.

    Also in May, Wang Jianlin, president of Dalian Wanda Group and one of the richest men in China, purchased Monet’s “Bassin aux nymphéas, les rosiers” for US$20.4 million at the New York Impressionist & Modern Art auction. This is the second time Wang Jianlin was included in the Top 200.

    Other Chinese collectors on the list include art collector Qiao Zhibing, entrepreneur Liu Yiqian and businessman Joseph Lau.

    DiCaprio has been an ardent collector of contemporary art as well as comics, rare books and fossils. “One of his first major purchases was a Basquiat drawing,” the magazine said. Over the years, “The Wolf of Wall Street” actor has purchased renowned works by Picasso, Andreas Gursky, Takashi Murakami, Ed Ruscha, Elizabeth Peyton, Sara Lucas and others.

    The actor has been active in the art sector in Los Angeles, where he was born. He has co-chaired the annual Art + Film Gala with the LA County Museum of Art and also agreed to donate a work by artist John Garrard to the museum. In 2013, DiCaprio’s foundation teamed up with Christie’s to organize an environmental charity art auction, which brought in US$38.8 million in funds.

    (SD-Agencies)