Gil Bronner on The Philara Collection

What motivates people to collect art? And what paths lead them there?
In our Private View series, art collectors provide insights into the personal stories behind their collections: What sparked their interest in art? Which works have accompanied them over the years? And how do artists, social developments, and individual life paths shape their collections?

In this issue, we speak with Gil Bronner, collector and founder of the Philara Collection, one of the largest and best-known private collections in Düsseldorf. As an integral part of Düsseldorf’s contemporary art scene, the exhibition space, housed in the former Lennartz glassworks, has established itself and presents a wide range of solo and group exhibitions, as well as dance, theatre, concerts, talks, and symposia. The Philara Collection will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2026.

For generations, your family has had a passion for art. How has that shaped your understanding of art, and when did you yourself begin to actively collect contemporary art?
At first, I was only marginally interested in art. But of course, it was always there, and I used to go to art fairs with my parents even as a child. I suspect that, through my upbringing, art indirectly became an essential part of my life. Much like it probably is for our own children. After finishing my studies, I first worked in Toronto for two years, and after returning to Germany, I began collecting. I was 27 years old at the time. However, things didn’t get serious until the early 1990s, when I started my own business in Leipzig.

Your collection now includes over 2,000 works. Do you remember your first art purchase, and why you chose that particular piece back then?
I remember it quite clearly. In 1991, I was in a small gallery in Barcelona and was instantly captivated by a work by Miguel Ángel Campano. It cost the equivalent of 5,000 DM. I had an old, crumpled check in my wallet, which, to my surprise, the gallery owner accepted without hesitation. He wrapped up the painting and handed it to me. In fact, Campaño is now a fairly well-known Spanish painter. So I had beginner’s luck.

Many of the works are by young artists, including some from the Düsseldorf Art Academy. How do you select the artists you support? And do you have a specific strategy for collecting in this context?
I don’t understand why people always say “support” when they buy art from young artists. You get something in return, which is the artwork. To me, “support” means giving money without receiving anything in return. I make a conscious effort not to buy from the academy. I’ve only done that two or three times. I believe that it rarely benefits young artists when you buy something from them while they’re still in school. Once they’ve graduated, that’s a different story. That’s why I prefer to buy from galleries. The selection criterion is always the same: no matter what art I buy, I try to buy based on quality.

You have a degree in business administration and are a real estate developer: Was the connection between space, architecture, and art part of your vision from the very beginning?
I never had a vision. When people see Philara, many can’t imagine it, but I actually go through life pretty much without a plan. I also didn’t really know what to expect when I started the project. I had just bought these properties and was tired of always driving out to Reisholz, where we’d been running an off-space for eight years. But when we were planning Philara, we naturally had ideas about the connection between architecture and art. We wanted to create a museum-like space that neither obscures nor overemphasizes the building’s origins.

From the first public presentations in 2008 to the opening at the Glasfabrik Lennarz in 2016: How did the Philara Collection come to be, and what is the story behind the venue and the name?
When I held my first exhibition under the collection’s name in 2008, it was inspired by a friend who was awarding an art residency on the same floor under the name Pilot Projekt and had organized an exhibition for his first resident at the end of her stay. I had taken a room on the same floor in our studio building to hang the ever-growing collection for myself. I had given another room in the same building to the City of Düsseldorf free of charge (I actually still do that, but I’m not sure if exhibitions are still held there), and I let artists from the building use a fourth room to curate an exhibition there alongside the other presentations. And so it came to be that in 2008 we opened four exhibitions simultaneously in the building on Walzwerkstraße in Reisholz. After that, our collection continued to grow steadily, and in 2010 or 2011 I purchased the property on Birkenstraße and eventually developed a plan to move there.

The name Philara, however, originated quite a bit earlier. There was an exhibition at the Kunstpalast featuring local collections. It was called “The Art of Collecting.” At the time, we were asked under what name the works we were exhibiting should be credited. I wanted an acronym that would suit our family but wasn’t quite so obvious. Our children are named Philip and Lara, and at the same time, “Phil” means “to love” in Greek and “ars” means “art” in Latin. That’s how the name Philara was born.

Why did you decide to make your private collection accessible to the public, and specifically in Düsseldorf?
The fact that we chose Düsseldorf is actually quite understandable. We live here, and I work here. I never felt the need to open an exhibition space in Berlin or anywhere else. Perhaps it would have been different if we had been in a smaller city that isn’t as closely connected to the art world as Düsseldorf. But Düsseldorf and art go very well together. From my (admittedly not entirely neutral) perspective, Düsseldorf is one of the most important cities in the world when it comes to art since World War II.
The fact that this collection is on public display is more the result of a natural development that began quite innocently on Walzwerkstraße. But once you’ve decided to run an off-site space and later move into a larger venue, it would be strange to suddenly withhold it from the public.

What role does the Philara Collection play in Düsseldorf’s art scene today?
Philara is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. I would like for us to be seen as an integral part of Düsseldorf’s art scene. But I really can’t answer that question myself. I’ll leave that to others.

You’re well-connected in the scene—how crucial are personal relationships in the art world, really?
Personal relationships are just as important in the art world as in any other profession or within other art forms like music or even sports.

How do you balance established artists and emerging talent in your collection?
I don’t even try to balance it; it’s simply a matter of chance.

In your opinion, what responsibility do collectors bear in today’s art market?
It’s not so much about the responsibility collectors have to support the art market, but rather about something else. It’s about taking responsibility for what you do with the art you’ve already purchased. It’s important not to view art as a commodity bought for speculative purposes. One must avoid burdening artists by selling too many of their works at once for too low a price.
So, what I’m trying to say is that you only bear responsibility for something you already own. You have no responsibility to acquire new artworks or to support the market.

Looking ahead: What challenges do you foresee for the collecting community, and what three pieces of advice would you give to someone who wants to start collecting today?
I don’t see any challenges for the collecting community itself. For the art market, however, there are a few. I believe that, unfortunately, times are becoming more difficult economically, and as much as I love art and as essential as I find it to my own life, one must honestly admit that art is a luxury item that most people will likely be the first to do without in difficult times.
The three pieces of advice for aspiring collectors are very simple to put into words: look, look, look!

GIL BRONNER
Sammler | Founder
Sammlung Philara

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✉️ info@philara.de
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Die Sammlung Philara feiert 2026 ihr 10-jähriges Jubiläum. Die erste Ausstellung zum Jubiläum HEIMSPIEL startet am 21.März 2026. Mehr Informationen zu ihrem Besuch finden Sie hier.