The Collection: Marcia & Frederick R. Weisman

The Collection05.05.2025

The late Frederick R. Weisman made his fortune developing Hunt foods and acting as a distributor for Toyota when it was still a little-known Japanese auto company. He and his first wife, Marcia, began collecting art in the 1950s. Initially, he pursued European modernists—his first major purchase was Jean Arp's "Self-Absorbed." ("We bought it at a Parke Bernet auction for $6,500," he recalled in a 1985 interview. "That was a lot of money then".) Soon, Weisman was avidly collecting post war artists like Franz Kline, Clyfford Still, and Mark Rothko.

In 1982, Weisman purchased a Spanish Colonial in Los Angeles' Holmby Hills neighborhood to display a slice of his eclectic personal collection. Now known as the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, the villa embodies the late businessman's joyful, intuitive approach to collecting."If something turns me on, I buy it," he once said. The home is filled with lifelike figurative works by John De Andrea and Duane Hanson. "This is a big house," he once said of his plastic companions. "I'm here alone and I like having people around." In 1991, the Weismans added a contemporary annex, designed by Franklin D.Israel, to accommodate larger-scale works by Donald Judd, Claes Oldenburg, and Morris Louis.

Image: Every room in Weisman’s home is covered in art. This one features James Rosenquist’s “Time Flowers,” 1973; John De Andrea’s “Mona,” 1984; Laura Grisi’s “Apollinaire’s Secret,” 1985; and Max Ernst’s “Lit-cage et son paravent” (“Folding Bed and Its Screen”), 1974-75.

Sandro Chia’s 1983 piece “Man on Rock” announces your arrival at the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation. On the right are a mosaic by Fernand Léger and a statue of Picasso by Marisol.
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Guests are then treated to an actual Picasso, 1901’s “Mother and Child,” alongside a 1986 sculpture by Beverly Pepper and Willem de Kooning’s 1945 work “Pink Angels.” Weisman bought the Picasso from the Marlborough Gallery for over $1,000,000 USD. “How did I pay for it?,” he once mused. “Well, I try to get the best price, and the best way is to pay cash and then go home and worry about it.”
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This room includes works by Franz Kline, Isamu Noguchi, Adolph Gottlieb, Bryan Hunt, Anthony Caro, Duane Hanson, Helen Frankenthaler, Keith Haring, and Francis Bacon.
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Another view of the same space reveals a closer view of Roy Lichtenstein’s “Modern Painting with Floral Forms,” 1967 and “Studio Wall with Hanging Pencil and Three Sketches,” 1973 alongside a sculpture by Jim Dine and a painted Sandro Chia.
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A bedroom featuring Helen Frankenthaler, “Magic Carpet,” 1964; Diego Giacometti, “Square Low Table with Knotted Crossbrace,” 1929-40; Yves Klein, “Vénus,” 1982.
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From left: a late work by Paul Cézanne; a sculpture by Henry Moore; Paul Klee, “High Group,” 1931; Clyfford Still, “Untitled,” 1954. Weisman once traded this Still painting for $50,000 and a Sam Francis painting. He later bought the painting back at auction, playing in the high six figures for a work that originally cost $70,000.
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he annex is big enough for several gigantic works including Donald Judd, “Untitled,” 1967-80; Andy Warhol, “Flowers,” 1980; Ron Arad, “Sofa,” 1994; James Rosenquist, “White Dreams,” 1983; Andy Warhol, “Frederick R. Weismann,” 1974; George Segal, “Woman in Coffee Shop,” 1983; Morris Louis, “Mu,” 1961; Donald Judd, “Untitled,” 1978; Lita Albuquerque, “Reflection,” 1990; Frank Stella, “Madinat as-Salam 1,” 1970; Peter Erskine, “Slice of Heaven Series,” 1991; Claes Oldenburg, “Typewriter Eraser,” 1970-75; Motorcycle painted by Keith Haring, 1987; Duane Hanson, “Rocker,” 1972; Motorcycle painted by LA II, 1987
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