At 87 years old, Frank Brabant has amassed one of Germany's most significant private collections of classical modern art, worth an estimated $40 million and containing approximately 700 masterpieces by artists like Picasso, Kirchner, and Kandinsky. What makes his collection even more remarkable is not just its value, but the extraordinary story of how a man who started with nothing built this artistic empire, and where he keeps it – stacked in his attic apartment in Wiesbaden.
Brabant's living situation defies every expectation of how multimillion-dollar art should be stored. Rather than being housed in a pompous villa behind thick glass, his priceless paintings hang in every room of his modest attic apartment, including the bathroom and kitchen. "I didn't collect for a portfolio, but to live with the art," Brabant explains in the new documentary "Brabant – From Nightclub to Million-Dollar Collection," available on ARD Mediathek. Million-dollar masterpieces casually hang next to toothbrushes and kitchen towels.
The international art world has taken notice of Brabant's exceptional collection. He regularly lends pieces to exhibitions worldwide, with his works recently displayed in Vienna, Copenhagen, London, New York, and Montreal. Nearly every week, Brabant loans pieces for exhibitions, as his collection of classical modern art is highly sought after in the art world. Just recently, 90 works returned from a traveling exhibition, demonstrating the global demand for his carefully curated pieces.
Classical modern art, the period from approximately 1900 to 1945, represents a revolutionary era when artists like Picasso, Kandinsky, and Chagall radically broke with traditional art forms. While previous art focused on depicting reality as accurately as possible, classical modern artists sought new ways to represent their experiences, giving birth to movements like Cubism, Expressionism, and Surrealism.
Brabant's journey to becoming one of Germany's most celebrated art collectors began in the most unlikely circumstances. Born in Schwerin and raised by his mother after his parents separated, Brabant's early life in 1950s East Germany was marked by political defiance. At a Free German Youth meeting, he stood up and challenged the organization: "You constantly agitate against the West. How do you expect to reunify this way?" Shortly after this bold statement, the Stasi secret police came for him. Following an interrogation, Brabant fled to West Germany.
Life in the West proved equally challenging for the young refugee. His father, already living in the West, refused to help him, forcing Brabant to share cramped quarters with 18 other people. His struggles intensified when his landlady intercepted and read a love letter from a man, immediately evicting him upon discovering his homosexuality. Since Brabant was still considered a minor at 20, his father was contacted about the situation. "My father listened to everything and I never heard from him again. It was terrible," Brabant recalls. The rejection was so devastating that he briefly considered suicide, but thankfully changed his mind.
Brabant's entry into the art world happened purely by chance and involved alcohol-fueled spontaneity. While waiting for a date, he wandered into the prestigious gallery of art dealer Hanna Becker vom Rath in Frankfurt. "These were elite people. I really had no access to them," Brabant remembers. However, the gallery was serving appetizers and drinks, and after a second glass of wine, "I became a bit reckless." He selected the cheapest work in the gallery and asked if he could pay for it in installments. This impulsive decision led to his first art purchase: "The Speaker" by Max Pechstein, a woodcut that cost 300 Deutsche Marks.
In the early years, Brabant bought his collection pieces on credit, paying them off gradually over time. "The real peak period for me was the 1970s," Brabant says, referring to the profits he made from his legendary nightclub, the Pussycat, which he opened in the late 1960s. The Pussycat was the first club for gay men in the Rhine-Main area and attracted many celebrities, making it a cultural landmark during a time when homosexuality was still illegal and largely socially unaccepted.
Running the groundbreaking club came with significant personal risks. "I was beaten up twice and received a death threat at home," Brabant recalls. He believes that a brothel would have been more socially acceptable than the Pussycat during that era. Despite the dangers and social hostility, the club's success provided Brabant with the financial means to seriously expand his art collection throughout the 1970s.
While the Pussycat nightclub has long since closed, Brabant's art collection continued to grow exponentially over the decades. His passion for collecting became an obsession, as he puts it: "Once you get a taste for collecting, it just keeps going." This dedication to acquiring masterpieces has resulted in one of the most comprehensive private collections of classical modern art in Germany.
In 2017, Brabant made his final philanthropic decision regarding his life's work. He announced that upon his death, his entire collection would be split between two institutions: half will go to the Museum Wiesbaden, and the other half will go to the State Museum Schwerin. This ensures that his remarkable collection, built from nothing through determination, risk-taking, and an eye for exceptional art, will continue to educate and inspire future generations.
The 45-minute documentary "Brabant – From Nightclub to Million-Dollar Collection" by filmmaker Wero Jägersberg captures the extraordinary life of this unconventional art collector. Watching Brabant casually move through his apartment, pointing out "a small Picasso here and a bit of Kirchner there," provides entertaining viewing for art enthusiasts and general audiences alike. The documentary airs Tuesday, September 9th at 9 PM on hr-television and is available on ARD Mediathek. Additionally, pieces from Brabant's collection are currently on display from September 5th through April 26th in the exhibition "Feininger, Münter, Modersohn-Becker... Or How Art Comes to the Museum" at Museum Wiesbaden.
