Some Pictures Stay Put: When the Biggest Buyers Name the Museum Piece They Admire Most

ARTnews asked the 200 collectors on its ranking of the field's most active buyers which museum piece they would take home if they could. The answer is a list of paintings and objects that will stay where they are, whatever anyone is willing to pay. For readers who follow the salesrooms from Palm Beach to Los Angeles, that is the appeal of the question. It shows the taste of people who buy at the very top, measured against works that will never come to auction, and it leaves the masterpieces themselves on public walls for everyone to see.

With reporting from ARTnews.