Philip Niarchos Explained

Philip Niarchos
Birth Name:Φίλιππος Νιάρχος
Birth Place:Athens, Greece
Education:Collège Stanislas de Paris
Known For:Co-president of Stavros Niarchos Foundation
Parents:Stavros Niarchos
Eugenia Livanos
Children:4
Relatives:Spyros Niarchos (brother)
Elena Ford (half-sister)
Dasha Zhukova (daughter-in-law)

Philip Niarchos (alternately: Phílippos or Philippe; Greek, Modern (1453-);: Φίλιππος Νιάρχος) (born 1952) is a Greek billionaire, the eldest son of the Greek shipping magnate Stavros Niarchos and Eugenia Livanos, herself the elder daughter of Stavros Niarchos' rival Stavros G. Livanos.

Inheritance and work

Philip Niarchos was reported to be 54 in 2008 when The Sunday Times estimated his net worth at GBP 850 million, or about $1.687 billion US at that exchange rate of that time.[1] He is a member of the board of trustees at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City[2] and an international council member of London's Tate Gallery. He was educated at Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland.

Alongside his younger brother, Spyros, Niarchos is co-president and member of the board of directors at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The foundation is one of the world’s largest global private philanthropies founded over 25 years ago with a total of $3.3 billion awarded across 5,00 grants, focuses on global funding for physical and mental health. In 2022, the foundation announced a $15 million commitment for a youth mental health program in Greece collaborating with The Child Mind institute and The Greek Ministry of Health.[3]

Art collector

Niarchos owns his late father's art collection. The late Stavros Niarchos amassed one of the "most important collections of Impressionist and modern art in private hands."[4] Among the collection's trophies are Pablo Picasso's self-portrait Yo, Picasso, which the father had bought in 1989 for $47,850,000.[5]

Niarchos has made plenty of additions to his father's legacy. He was suspected as being the anonymous buyer of Vincent van Gogh's "Self-Portrait", at a November 1998 Christie's auction; it sold for $71.5 million. He was certainly at the auction and was revealed as the anonymous buyer of Jean-Michel Basquiat's 1982 Self-Portrait, which closed at $3.3 million.[6] In 1994, he bought Andy Warhol's Red Marilyn, at Christie's for $3.63 million. Andy Warhol's skull portraits are from Niarchos' CAT scan.[6] Warhol completed these works in 1985, using silkscreens made from CAT-scan films of the skull of Philip Niarchos, who commissioned the artist to paint his portrait. Niarchos is mentioned throughout The Andy Warhol Diaries. Warhol shares details of the dysfunctional relationship Niarchos had with the divorced and widowed socialite Barbara (née Tanner) de Kwiatkowski. Her married name was Barbara Allen at the time of her relationship with Niarchos; now she is the widow of Henryk de Kwiatkowski.[6]

Marriage and family

In 1984, Niarchos married, for the third time, Victoria Christina Guinness (born 1960), daughter of Patrick Benjamin Guinness (of the banking branch of the Guinness family) and Dolores Guinness (1936–2012). Niarchos and Guinness have two sons and two daughters:

Niarchos was a first cousin, and step-brother, of the late heiress Christina Onassis whose mother Athina Livanos (1929–1974) was a younger sister of his own mother and later became his father's last wife. Niarchos is a first cousin once removed of Athina Onassis.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Times & The Sunday Times. 20 September 2018.
  2. Web site: MoMa's profile for Philip Niarchos. panacheprivee.com.
  3. Web site: How the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Supports Mental Health in Greece and Beyond. insidephilanthropy.com. 1 March 2022. Liz. Longley.
  4. Web site: Van Gogh Self-Portrait Sells for $71.5 Million. Carol. Vogel. 20 September 2018.
  5. http://www.artnet.com/magazine_pre2000/news/decker/decker11-13-98.asp Decker, Andrew: "The Basquiat Room", Art Net Magazine
  6. Web site: Kate Hudson and Gigi Hadid Are All About These Customized Bags. 17 May 2017. Dena Silver. Observer.com. 20 September 2018.
  7. Web site: Stavros Niarchos III News . Us Weekly . 9 April 2023.
  8. News: Durón . Maximilíano . Top Collectors Wed: Stavros Niarchos and Dasha Zhukova Tie the Knot . 21 October 2019 . ARTnews . 18 October 2019.
  9. Web site: McDonald, Maya Asha. A who's who of the most glamorous couples in the art world right now. Tatler. 18 May 2021. 5 May 2024.