Fintech Executive Nick Themelis on his search for new artists and Keith Haring who started his collection

Nick Themelis knows his way around a high-stakes transaction. An early adopter of fintech, he helped transform trading platform MarketAxess from a small start-up into one of the world’s largest electronic marketplaces. After just 20 years, it has a place on the S&P 500 – thanks in large part to Themelis’ tirelessness.

Themelis has harnessed business rigor and nimbleness with numbers (he’s a “tech and math genius,” according to his art advisor) and combined it with a lifelong appreciation of art and respect for underrepresented groups to build a formidable collection of roughly 100 works of art .

Born in Queens and now primarily based in Palm Beach, Themelis is so steeped in collecting that he installed some of the original graffiti art he acquired—by the likes of Crash, Phoebe and Cope2—at MarketAxess’s Hudson Yards headquarters, with the goal of promoting creativity among his team.

Themelis told Artnet News that in the beginning, in the late 1990s, he mainly collected street art, starting with a Keith Haring. This focus has evolved over the years, under the guidance of art advisor Maria Brito, who said: “About 75 percent of the acquisitions in his collection come from my recommendations,” adding: “I love working with him because his openness and willingness to take chances.”

Brito estimated that over the past few years she has helped Nick acquire Derrick Adams, his amazing Kehinde Wiley on glass, Jamea Richmond-Edwards, Cristina BanBan, Wynnie Mynerva, Summer Wheat, Natalie Frank, Elizabeth Glaessner, Raúl de Nieves, Chelsea Culprit, and a dozen more female artists and artists of color.” Not to mention the Alex Katz deal – his biggest to date. “So there’s a mix of emerging, mid-career and established artists in his collection,” she noted.

Additionally, just retired, Themelis will likely venture even further into fundraising and philanthropy. You could say he’s just getting started.

We took him to count.

What was your first purchase (and how much did you pay for it)?

Growing up in Queens, New York, in the 1980s, I was constantly exposed to graffiti while traveling to school on the subway or walking around Manhattan. I was immediately drawn to the obvious skill of the artists, but also the boldness, color and energy of the street art movement. Not everyone saw it this way, but I felt it was beautiful work by artists who didn’t have access to art schools or art materials. The streets were their galleries.

Keith Haring’s Tin Can (1982). Courtesy of Nick Themelis.

In 1998 I was able to make my very first art purchase. I acquired a very special and early Keith Haring painting on a tin can. I believe Keith made less than 10 of these unique pieces and gave them as Christmas gifts to family members. It remains one of my most prized possessions! Although not my recent focus, my collection continues to include legendary street artists such as Futura, A-One, Crash and Richard Hambleton.

What was your last purchase?

My latest acquisition is Alice Biko with crown by Tavares Strachan. It is a majestic sculpture depicting Alice Biko, the influential mother of South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko.

Tavares Strachan, Alice Biko with crown. Courtesy of Nick Themelis.

There are so many extremely talented and ambitious artists working today, but I believe that Tavares Strachan thinks and executes at the top of his craft. I was very impressed when art advisor Maria Brito introduced her work to me. Tavares’ endless curiosity and impeccable execution are clear reasons why he was recently selected as a MacArthur Genius Fellow.

What works or artists are you hoping to add to your collection this year?

Jordan Casteel would be top of the list for an artist I would very much like to add to my collection. She paints the people in her community in a powerful and vivid way that challenges traditional notions of gender, race and social justice. I think her work will continue to grow in importance and she is still very young.

I would also very much like to add the abstract artist Jadé Fadojutimi to my collection. She brings a woman of color experience to produce beautiful abstract dreamlike paintings.

What is the most expensive piece of art you own?

I recently acquired an exquisite painting by Alex Katz that really required me to step up! The painting is titled Double Sarah B (2011) and it is quite large at 120″ x 84″. It was one of the highlights of the Alex Katz retrospective at the Thyssen Museum in Madrid last year. I really like Alex’s scale, palette and beautiful simplicity and love that the 95 year old also grew up in Queens.

Alex Katz, Double Sarah B (2011). Courtesy of Nick Themelis.

Where do you most often buy art?

My preference is to acquire primary works from the gallery that directly represents the artist, and I usually use an art advisor to provide up-to-date market information, access to galleries I may not have a relationship with, and just good guidance. If you don’t mind, I’m going to give a plug to my favorite art advisor, Maria Brito, who has helped me build my collection and has been a reliable, brilliant and persistent advocate!

For artists who are no longer alive or working, I will bid on works I love at major auction houses. This is where I acquired sculptures by John Chamberlain, works by Keith Haring and a kinetic sculpture from the 1960s by George Rickey.

I visit art fairs often. They are so much fun socially, but it’s not usually the place I use to add to my collection.

John Chamberlain, Crystal Catfish III (1987). Courtesy of Nick Themelis.

Is there a work you regret buying?

I currently have about 100 pieces of art in my collection and often when gallery shows are in other countries where I can’t see in person I rely on high resolution images to make the decision. The vast majority of the time I’m so much happier with the art I see in person than what the PDF was able to convey.

It is a rare occurrence when I do not enjoy the work when I live with it. This has happened two or three times, but I prefer to keep the details to myself. I have never sold any art from my collection, so you may find these hanging in one of the kids’ houses.

What is the work hanging above your sofa? How about in your bathroom?

I have a few living rooms, ha! But two paintings hanging above my favorite sofas are Moon dreams by Hiba Schahbaz, and another entitled Fountains and flowers (2022).

Hiba Shahbaz, Moon dreams (2022). Courtesy of Nick Themelis.

I also recently installed a really beautiful piece of work by Summer Wheat in my living room. She has a very unique style where she uses an aluminum mesh as a base and pushes acrylic paint and gouache through it to create beautiful, colorful and textured scenes.

A work by Summer Wheat. Courtesy of Nick Themelis.

In my bathroom I have an absolute gem by the figurative painter Jenna Gribbon called Childhood neighborhood breakers from her breakout show at Fredericks and Freiser in 2019. Please note this is just a powder room in my house and there is no shower creating steam or moisture to affect this beautiful work. I take very good care of my art.

Jenna Gribbon, Childhood neighborhood breakers (2019). Courtesy of Nick Themelis.

What is the most important piece of art you own?

Well, that’s a very difficult question to answer, but perhaps I can name three that I feel will grow in importance over time and enter the art history books.

Kehinde Wiley, Saint Mary (2016). Courtesy of Nick Themelis.

Kehinde Wiley created a total of 10 unique paintings on stained glass for his retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum in 2015. I purchased the over 8 feet tall Saint Mary, which depicts a beautiful urban black woman with her child transposed on a traditional stained glass background, like those you find in European churches. Saint Mary was also shown at the Petit Palais in Paris in 2016, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels (BOZAR), and at the Center d’art La Malmaison, Cannes, in 2020.

Cristina BanBan, Le Déjeuner in Park Güell (2021). Courtesy of Nick Themelis.

I also love my Cristina BanBan from her debut show with Perrotin in Shanghai in 2021. It’s a massive 90″ x 72″ canvas. Since I love art history, but also love the story of each individual artist, I appreciated how she made a déjeuner scene her own, using Park Güell in Barcelona, ​​where she originally comes from.

Finally, I would like to mention Kevin Beasley, whose use of everyday materials, such as house dresses, kaftans, T-shirts, du-rags, pillowcases and socks as a way of sharing with the viewer his life experience. Beasley was included in the Whitney Museum 2014 Biennial and he continues to do great work experimenting with technology and performance.

Kevin Beasley, Untitled (2020). Courtesy of Nick Themelis.

What work do you wish you had bought when you had the chance?

I honestly don’t have any major regrets, but the easy answer would be Basquiat! I saw a large painted plane at what used to be Christie’s East. I bid on it, but backed off when my $8,000 max budget was exceeded. I think the Basquiat eventually sold for $10,500.

I was an early fan of artist Shara Hughes and watched her hone her skills and build her confidence. Due to timing, a busy and chaotic life, I ended up passing on some spectacular works. There is still time!

If you could steal one piece of art without getting caught, what would it be?

In the mid-1990s I was spending time in London for work and one day stumbled upon the Tate Modern. I was completely blown away by the Francis Bacon paintings that were on display. I would steal without remorse Painting 1946, which is currently in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It hangs on the fifth floor – grotesque, deeply meaningful and beautifully executed.

If I could steal another painting, it would possibly be one of Richard Prince’s “Nurses” paintings.

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