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Guy Ullens

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Baron
Guy Ullens
Portrait picture in quarter-profile of Guy Ullens
Ullens at the 2014UCCAexhibition
Born
Guy François Edouard Marie Ullens de Schooten Whettnall

(1935-01-31)January 31, 1935(age 89)
San Francisco,USA
NationalityBelgian
Occupation(s)Businessman, art collector, philanthropist
Known for
Spouse
Micheline Franckx
​
​
(m.1955;div.1999)​
​
​
(m.1999; died 2023)​
Children4

BaronGuy François Edouard Marie Ullens de Schooten Whettnall(born 31 January 1935) is a Belgianart collector,philanthropist,and former businessperson.

Following his business career, he has with his wife,Myriam Ullens,established the Guy & Myriam Ullens Foundation, known for theUllens Center for Contemporary ArtinBeijing,China, and for founding the Ullens School inLalitpur,Nepal.

Early life

[edit]

Guy Ullens was born inSan Francisco,California,as the third child to Baron Jean Marie Joseph Anne Mathilde Alphonse Ullens de Schooten Whettnall (1897–1950), a Belgiandiplomat,[1]and a member of thenoble familyUllensof theSouthern Netherlands.His mother was ethnographic photographer, writer, andRoyal Geographical Societyfellow, Baroness Marie Thérèse Pauline Francis Ullens de Schooten WhettnallnéeWittouck (1905–89), of the Belgium noble familyWittouck family,a daughter of distilling and sugar magnateFélix Wittouck[fr],who together with his brothersFranz[fr]andPaul Wittouckowned theSugar refinery of Tienen.[2][3]

The family moved toOslo,Norway shortly after Guy was born, where Jean Ullens took up the diplomatic position of actingMinisterfor Belgium.[4]Over the course ofWorld War II,the family was confined to Berlin,[5]and later lived inIndia,Pakistan,andIran.[2]

Education and career

[edit]

After a degree in law from theCatholic University of Louvain,Belgium, in 1958,[6]Ullens obtained an MBA atStanford Universityin 1960.[7]He started[citation needed]Eurocan inMechelen,Belgium, a company that specialized in the manufacture of metal packagings for preserved foods and beverages.[8]

In 1973, he joined the management of the family company R. T. Holding, a conglomerate in food industries,[9][10]and played asCEOa central role in the company's expansion into Asia.[11]In 1989, theRaffinerie Tirlemontoisewas sold to German companySüdzuckerin a €1 billion deal.[12][13][14]

Proceeds from the sale were reinvested in food businesses via the holding company Artal Group, which Ullens served as president and CEO for.[15][16][17][18]In 1999, following a change in strategy, Artal entered the textile industry buying French company Albert,[19]and took control ofWeight WatchersInternational in a US$735 million 1980s-style leveraged buyout in September 1999 buying fromHeinz94% of Weight Watchers' equity.[20][21]Artal Group subsequently earned US$3.8 billion by selling stocks while retaining a 52% majority stake in Weight Watchers.[22]Guy Ullens toldForbesin 2012, that the initial US$224 million direct investment in Weight Watchers had returned US$5.2 billion to Artal Group.[23]

Philanthropic projects

[edit]

In 2000, Guy Ullens retired from business to devote himself to philanthropic projects with his wife, Myriam Ullens.[24]

In 2002 they set up the Guy & Myriam Ullens Foundation.[25]One of the first purposes of the Foundation was to sponsor and organize exhibitions of Chinese art, and to lend pieces to museums and cultural centres around the world.[26]

Guy and Myriam Ullens helped children in Nepal by establishing orphanages and two intensive care centres for children with malnutrition.[27]They also set up the Ullens School Kathmandu, partnering with the Bank Street College of Education to train Nepalese teachers.[28]The Ullens School Kathmandu is the only school in Nepal to be IB certified.[29]

When Myriam Ullens was diagnosed with cancer in 2003,[30]Guy Ullens took over the development of the Nepal project.[31]

Art collection

[edit]

In the early 1980s,[32]Ullens initiated a collection of Chinese art that is one of the world's largest and by 2007 included nearly 1,700 pieces.[33][34][35]The Ullens Collection is managed by the Guy and Myriam Ullens Foundation.[36]

In 2007, the Foundation established theUllens Center for Contemporary Art(UCCA) in theDashanzidistrict of Beijing.[37][38]In order to establish UCCA, Ullens sold off his collection ofJ. M. W. Turnerwatercolourpaintings for £10.76 million at aSotheby'sauction inLondonin July 2007.[39][40]UCCA was the first not-for-profit art centre in China dedicated to contemporary art.[41][42]

In a Sotheby'sHong Kongauction in April 2011,[43]exclusively featuring 106 works from the Ullens Collection,[44]Zhang Xiaogang's 1988triptychoil workForever Lasting Love,of half-naked figures in an arid landscape suffused with mystical symbols, sold for HK$79 million (US$10.1 million), a record auction price for a contemporary artwork from China, in Hong Kong.[45][46][47]

In October 2013, Sotheby's Hong Kong at the Asian Contemporary 40th Anniversary Sale, Ullens put up for saleChen Yifei's political realist workRed Flag 1(1971), andThe Last Supper(2001) by contemporary Chinese artistZeng Fanzhi.[48]The Last Supperwas sold for US$23.3 million, setting a new record for contemporary Asian artwork.[49]

In 2016, Ullens, now in his 80s, announced that he was looking to hand over the UCCA and would sell his art collection at auction.[50][51][52][53][54][55]

On 11 February 2017, theUllens Center for Contemporary Artreceived the 2016 Global Fine Art Awards for Best Contemporary / Postwar / SoloArtist “Rauschenberg in China”.[56][57][58]

Personal life

[edit]

Ullens married Micheline Franckx (1932–2015) in 1955 and divorced in 1999. They had four children, three sons Philippe, Yves, Nicolas, and a daughter Brigitte.

In 1999, Ullens marriedMyriam "Mimi" Lechien(1952–2023), a Belgian entrepreneur.[59]As of her shooting death in 2023, his son, Nicolas, has been under investigation for the homicide.

Ullens is ayachtsman,and owns the 170 ft (51.77 m) longflybridgealuminiumsloopRed Dragon IIwithinterior designby French architectJean-Michel Wilmotte.[60][61]Build byAlloy Yachtsin New Zealand in 2007 and commissioned in 2008,[62]the yacht was put up for sale for US$28 million in 2015.[63]

Ullens lives inVerbierin south-westernSwitzerlandin the canton ofValais,where he has been a member of theVerbier Festivalfoundation,[64][65]and was, according toHet Laatste Nieuws,worth an estimated €250–330millionin 2012.[66]

Honours

[edit]

Ullens was appointed Officer of theLegion of Honouron 4 June 2003,[citation needed]Commander of the Legion of Honor on 1 February 2010,[citation needed]and Commander of theOrder of Leopold IIon 5 October 2011.[67]

References

[edit]
  1. ^Western Machinery and Steel World...Vol. 37. 1946. pp. 118–.... Jean Ullens de Schooten. former Belgian Consul to the Port of San Francisco...
  2. ^ab"Marie-Thérèse Ullens de Schooten - Archnet".Retrieved21 July2016.
  3. ^"The Marie-Thérèse, Baroness Ullens de Schooten Collections at Harvard University: original ethnographic sound recordings, radio transmissions, and film soundtracks, ca. 1951-1972".Harvard University.Retrieved21 July2016.
  4. ^Weekly Commercial News.Vol. 89–-90. 1935. pp. 163–.Jean Ullens de Schooten, consul general for Belgium at San Francisco during the past three years, will leave for home next Saturday preparatory to assuming the position of actingMinisterfor Belgium at Oslo, Norway. He will be accompanied by Mrs. Schooten and three children, the youngest of which, a son, was born here about one month ago.
  5. ^Marie Thérèse Ullens de Schooten (baroness) (1 April 1989).In perspective.United Writers. pp. 41–.ISBN978-1-85200-018-9.
  6. ^Berkenbaum, Philippe (29 October 2007)."L'acteur: Guy Ullens de Schooten".Le Soir(in French).Retrieved21 July2016.
  7. ^Yatsko, Pamela (February 2008)."Stanford Smarts in China's Art Marts"(PDF).Stanford Business.Vol. 76, no. 2.Stanford University.Retrieved21 July2016.
  8. ^Belgium, Economic and Commercial Information.Belgian Foreign Trade Office. 1987. pp. 28–.Eurocan specializes in the manufacture of metal packagings for preserved foods, soups, pet foods and beverages. The company, which is now 25 years old, is one of...
  9. ^Klaus Günter Grunert; Bruce Traill (6 December 2012).Products and Process Innovation in the Food Industry.Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 176–.ISBN978-1-4613-1133-1.
  10. ^Milling and Baking News.10-18. Vol. 67. Sosland Pub. May 1988. pp. 108–.
  11. ^R. M. Whiteside; A. Wilson; S. E. Hörnig (6 December 2012).Major Companies of Europe 1990/91: Volume 1 Major Companies of the Continental Europe Economic Community.Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 46–.ISBN978-94-009-0797-3.
  12. ^"Guy Ullens: Wij weten niet wat er gebeurt".Tijd.be(in Dutch). 29 August 2013.Retrieved21 July2016.
  13. ^"Germany's Suedzucker AG To Acquire Belgian Sugar Refinery".AP.Retrieved21 July2016.
  14. ^Verduyn, Ludwig (7 July 2015)."De suikerzoete miljarden van Guy Ullens".De Rijkste Belgen(in Dutch).Retrieved21 July2016.
  15. ^Economic Review.Vol. 28. Economic & Industrial Publications. 1997. pp. 112–.Guy Ullens, the President and Chief Executive of Artal Group, has said that the Group would invest $1 10 million in Pakistan over a period of three years, and establish 30 Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants...
  16. ^Pakistan & Gulf Economist.Vol. 17. S. Akhtar Ali. May 1998.Addressing the investment conference, Guy Ullens, CEO of the Artal Group worldwide described Artal's activities in Pakistan. Highlighting his experiences, he said that he was deeply committed to Pakistan and believed that the country has a...
  17. ^Aspden, Peter (26 May 2007)."That is the life of a collector".Financial Times.Retrieved21 July2016.
  18. ^Thibaut, Matthias (18 February 2011)."Hongkong: Guy Ullens lässt chinesische Kunst versteigern".Handelsblatt(in German).Retrieved21 July2016.
  19. ^"CHILDRENWORLDWIDE FASHION - Une logistique tirée à quatre épingles"(PDF).supplychainmagazine.fr.2015. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2018-02-18.
  20. ^BusinessWeek.3760-3764. McGraw-Hill. 2001. pp. 100–.In September, 1999, Heinz sold control to a private Luxembourg firm, Artal Group, which...
  21. ^Business Review Weekly: BRW.32-38. Vol. 24. Business Review Weekly. 2002. pp. 58–.... Weight Watchers is owned by Artal Group, a private company based in Luxembourg.
  22. ^"The Mystery Man Behind Weight Watchers And The Private Equity Deal Of The Century".Forbes.4 September 2012.Retrieved21 July2016.
  23. ^Clerix, Kristof."Belastingen afslanken via Luxemburg".MO*(in Dutch).Retrieved21 July2016.
  24. ^Georges Bernier; Rosamond Bernier (2008).L'Oeil.598-601. pp. 13–.2000 Guy se retire de la scène commerciale et se consacre avec son épouse à des activités humanitaires et...
  25. ^"Fondation Guy et Myriam Ullens, Orsières – trade register data and business information".
  26. ^Art and AsiaPacific.Vol. 3. Fine Arts Press. 2008. pp. 164–.
  27. ^"Aristocratic Style – Global Citizen".29 March 2015.
  28. ^"Teach the children well".
  29. ^""There is no reason why Nepal can't prosper" - Nepali Times ".Archived fromthe originalon 2018-02-26.Retrieved2016-07-14.
  30. ^"This Heartwarming Cancer Charity Promo Won 9 Of The Ad World's Most Prestigious Awards".Archivedfrom the original on 2016-06-03.Retrieved2016-07-14.
  31. ^Ullens School (30 November 2014)."Speech by Baron Guy Ullens"– via YouTube.
  32. ^Lane, Mary M. (19 October 2013)."Guy Ullens de Schooten Speaks on Asian Art".Wall Street Journal.Retrieved21 July2016.
  33. ^Art and AsiaPacific.53-56. Fine Arts Press. 2007. pp. 83–.The center's staff will have access to the Ullens' collection of approximately 1,700 pieces of Chinese art, including 200... the Ullens Center as well as other philanthropic activities, including the Happy House Foundation for children in Nepal.
  34. ^Don Thompson (27 May 2014).The Supermodel and the Brillo Box: Back Stories and Peculiar Economics from the World of Contemporary Art.St. Martin's Press. pp. 220–.ISBN978-1-137-46413-2.Baron Guy Ullens is the son of a Belgian diplomat; his wealth came from the food industry. In 1984 Ullens and his wife Myriam began to collect Chinese contemporary art in depth. They assembled what was probably one of the two best private...
  35. ^"Myriam and Guy Ullens – ARTnews".8 June 2015.
  36. ^Sus Van Elzen (31 May 2010).Dragon and rose garden.Modern Chinese Art Foundation.ISBN9789081450300.However, the Center will regularly hold exhibitions that will include works from the Ullens collection.... The Guy and Myriam Ullens Foundation, which owns the art collection and founded UCCA, will probably manage to keep this considerable...
  37. ^Kennedy, Randy (26 July 2007)."A Belgian Couple Will Give Beijing a New Home for Contemporary Art".The New York Times.Retrieved21 July2016.
  38. ^Youssi, Yasmine (17 October 2009)."Passionnés d'art contemporain chinois, Guy et Myriam Ullens..."La Tribune(in French).Retrieved21 July2016.
  39. ^"Turner watercolours sold for a 'painful' £10m".Telegraph.co.uk.5 July 2007.Retrieved21 July2016.
  40. ^Iain Alexander Robertson; Derrick Chong (2008).The Art Business.Routledge. pp. 86–.ISBN978-0-415-39157-3.Others, like Belgium-born, Baron Guy Ullens – sponsor of China's first ever Pavilion at the 2005 Venice Biennale, auctioned fourteen Turner watercolours, at Sotheby's London in July 2007, to realize his dream of the Ullens Center for the Arts...
  41. ^"Our Future: The Guy and Myriam Ullens Foundation Collection – e-flux".Archived fromthe originalon 2014-09-22.Retrieved2016-07-14.
  42. ^"Institutional Fever in China".
  43. ^The Ullens Collection - The Nascence of Avant Garde China: auction, Hong Kong, Pacific Place, Sunday 3 Avril 2011.Sotheby's. 2011.
  44. ^O'Dea, Madelaine."Behind the Ullens Collection's Planned $16.7 Sale at Sotheby's Hong Kong".Artinfo.Retrieved21 July2016.
  45. ^Record price paid for contemporary art,RTHK News, 4 April 2011
  46. ^Triptych by Chinese artist Zhang Xiaogang sets record,BBC News, 4 April 2011
  47. ^"Ullens Collection Sets a Chinese Art Auction Record".WSJ.Retrieved21 July2016.
  48. ^"Sotheby's to offer two masterpieces from the Collection of Guy and Myriam Ullens de Schooten".Retrieved20 July2016.
  49. ^"Zeng's 'Last Supper' Sells for Record $23.3 Million at Sotheby's Auction".WSJ. 7 October 2013.
  50. ^"Top Chinese art contemporary collector Guy Ullens to hand over UCCA museum, sell works".South China Morning Post.1 July 2016.Retrieved21 July2016.
  51. ^"Le collectionneur Guy Ullens vend son musée d'art contemporain de Pékin".Culturebox.1 July 2016.Retrieved21 July2016.
  52. ^"Guy Ullens va vendre son centre d'art de Pékin"(in French).Retrieved21 July2016.
  53. ^"UCCA; Guy Ullens cerca un compratore - News ArtEconomy24".ArtEconomy - Il Sole 24 ORE(in Italian).Retrieved21 July2016.
  54. ^Boucher, Brian (30 June 2016)."Guy and Myriam Ullens Seek New Owner for UCCA".Artnet News.Retrieved21 July2016.
  55. ^Arnold, Frances (1 July 2016)."What Will Guy Ullens's Sale of the UCCA Mean for the Museum's Future?".Artsy.Retrieved21 July2016.
  56. ^"Winners of 2016 Global Fine Art Awards Revealed".Archived fromthe originalon 2017-02-28.Retrieved2017-02-27.
  57. ^"Rauschenberg in China - UCCA".11 December 2015.
  58. ^"2016 Award Winners ‹ Global Fine Art Awards".globalfineartawards.org.Archived fromthe originalon 2017-02-28.Retrieved2017-02-27.
  59. ^"Myriam Ullens, la dame de cœur".Madame Figaro(in French). 6 January 2014.Retrieved20 July2016.
  60. ^Yachting.March 2008. pp. 156–.
  61. ^"Superyacht owner Myriam Ullens opens first London fashion store".Boat International.Retrieved20 July2016.
  62. ^Yachting.June 2008. pp. 88–.
  63. ^"New Zealand-built yachts for sale: six of the finest specimens".Boat International.Retrieved21 July2016.
  64. ^Duplat, Guy (16 August 2007)."Le beau rêve chinois de Guy Ullens".La Libre(in French).Retrieved21 July2016.
  65. ^"L'homme le plus riche de Suisse".7s7.Retrieved21 July2016.
  66. ^"Belgische baron op lijst van 300 rijksten in Zwitserland".Het Laatste Nieuws(in Dutch).Retrieved21 July2016.
  67. ^"Koninklijk Besluit nationale orden leopoldsorde bij koninklijk besluit van 13 juli 2012 werden benoemd: commandeur de heer ferdinand carlos leopold de trazegnies granda, oud-minister van buitenlandse zaken van peru, bestuurder van het peruaans filiaal va ridder de heer"(in Dutch).Retrieved19 July2016.
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