The couple Susan and Michael Hort live in a house in which three of the four floors are practically a museum and they have 50,000 works of art to enjoy every day.

It all started in 1985 with the Italian artist Paolo Icaro, Susan collected some 19th century works but Michael didn't see them as anything more than ornaments. The night they bought the piece they had dinner with the artist and his dealer Jack Tilton, who completely charmed Michael with their wit and fun, and once they left he said to his wife "you know, I might start to get interested in contemporary art". 

"You know, I might start to get interested in contemporary art"

"If a contemporary artwork moves you in some way and it's within your budget, buy it and enjoy living with it for a long time. The only things we regret are the things we didn't buy"

This is how they have stood out among the most influential international collectors of the last 50 years. Knowing that contemporary art can't tell you how much a work will be worth in five or ten years, if you're looking for that you'd better invest in a Picasso or a Polock, but as Susan explained to Fineartmultiple: "if a contemporary artwork moves you in some way and it's within your budget, buy it and enjoy living with it for a long time. The only things we regret are the things we didn't buy".

The couple's weakness is emerging artists, whom they try to get to know in depth and provide them with a network. Among the up-and-coming artists are Charlie Billingham, Louise Gagliardi (France), Doron Langberg (New York) and Marisa Takal (Los Angeles). Another artist who had a brutal importance in their personal lives was Jack Person, since when Rema, the Hort's daughter, died of cancer at the age of thirty and left them devastated, he was the one who made them return to collecting, with some letters that today are the protagonists of their living room on which can be read Being Alive. A message that reached them deeply due to the vital moment in which they found themselves.

Thus was born the Rema Hort Foundation, which makes unrestricted grants and community grants to promising emerging artists who demonstrate the ability and commitment to make substantial contributions to the arts

With cancer, Rema talked in the months before about how essential the support of loved ones was in the chemotherapy process, and how an artist could be lost when they finish their studies and not immediately be in a gallery. Thus was born the Rema Hort Foundation, which makes unrestricted grants and community grants to promising emerging artists who demonstrate the ability and commitment to make substantial contributions to the arts. In addition, it supports cancer patients in treatment by awarding grants to help strengthen their emotional and family support.