Collector Dimitris Daskalopoulos donates 51 contemporary works to four museums in Greece and Scotland – The Art Newspaper

The Greek collector Dimitris Daskalopoulos is donating 51 works—mostly by Greek artists—from his vast contemporary art collection to four museums in Greece and Scotland as part of an ongoing philanthropic campaign. “The inclusion of works by Greek artists within the collection’s museum donations reflects a commitment to promoting contemporary Greek creativity and increasing its visibility on the global cultural stage,” a statement says.

The National Gallery of Greece in Athens will get the largest portion comprising 29 pieces; the other museums receiving donations are Momus-Museum of Contemporary Art Thessaloniki, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete and National Galleries Scotland in Edinburgh. “This initiative seeks to ensure the long-term preservation of the works while sustaining an ongoing dialogue with the art of the future,” a statement says. A project spokesperson adds that “Daskalopoulos will not claim any tax advantages in any jurisdiction in connection with this gift.”

Daskalopoulos made his fortune in the Greek food industry and is the founder and chairman of Damma Holdings, a financial services and investment company. He established his Athens-based foundation Neon in 2013, which is due to close later this year.

The National Gallery of Greece donation includes 29 works by leading Greek Modern and contemporary artists dating from the 1960s to the 1990s, such as Io Angeli, Konstantinos Andreou, Spyros Vikatos, Alekos Fassianos, George Vorres and Kostis Georgiou. Works by Jay Heikes, Subodh Gupta, Seth Price, Catharina Van Eetvelde and Kelley Walker are among the 16 items donated to Momus.

The Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete receives three works by the artists Nobuko Tsuchiya, Ioanna Pantazopoulou and Nana Sachini; National Galleries Scotland also gets three works by the artists Mike Kelley, Bruce Nauman and Margarita Myrogianni.

Daskalopoulos previously told The Art Newspaper: “These [works] are creations of gifted humans, those people we call artists—they thought of them and they made them. The fact that I purchased them does not make me the sole owner. There is no meaning in an art work if it is not interacting with somebody—it’s in a box, it doesn’t even exist. That’s where I become just an intermediary.”

Daskalopoulos is meanwhile funding the construction of a new arts building at Athens College called the D.Daskalopoulos Arts Building, which is due to open in June next year. He will also continue to finance ‘diaNEOsis’, a non-profit research-based think tank based in Athens as well as individual curatorial posts in museums.

In 2022, he announced plans to donate more than 350 works from his holdings to four international museums. Tate received more than 110 works and the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens (EMST) gained 140 pieces. The Guggenheim in New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA Chicago) assumed joint ownership of around 100 works. Six further works were donated to Guggenheim Bilbao in 2025, a statement says.