Patricia Phelps de Cisneros – Spanish Art Collector and Philanthropist

With one of the most respected and largest collections of contemporary and modern Latin American art, Patricia Phelps de Cisneros has a lot of responsibilities resting on her shoulders. However, she doesn’t get to see it most of the time, as her foundation has been growing fast ever since the 1970s.

Phelps de Cisneros is considered by many as a prodigious leader in the art world, deliberately avoiding the fashion that collectors use in their private institutions. Instead, her mission is to persuade museums in the region and to expand the presence of different art forms from their own collection and beyond.

Making a change alongside Phelps de Cisneros are Gabriel Perez-Barreiro and Sofia Hernandez Chong Cuy. Together they work to acquire more works of art for the foundation, get grant money, and develop education and residency programmes. In 2016, Phelps de Cisneros was named one of the year’s most influential people in the contemporary art world for her work by ArtReview magazine.

The German, Spanish, English and Late Roman given name Patricia is feminine form of Patrick or Patricius, which means “nobleman” or “noble”. The spelling Patricia is taken from medieval England and still appears in many documents in Latin. However, this version of the name was most likely not used as an actual name until at least the 18th century, in Scotland. There are many notable people with the name, from Patricia Clarkson the American actress to Patricia Owens the Canadian-born American actress.