Margulies Collection at the Warehouse

The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse is the personal project of collector Martin Z. Margulies. Margulies began his art career where he grew up, in New York City. His acquisition style was — and for that matter remains — extremely eclectic, though it focuses on modern and contemporary art. As Margulies' success as a real estate developer grew, so did his personal art collection. The collector achieved prominence through his development of Miami’s Grove Isle private island community. By 1982, Margulies had created a publicly accessible sculpture garden on the island composed of his collected works. For many years the sculptures were popular attractions in Miami, and Margulies even offered tours of the works. However, hurricane damage, the somewhat isolated location, and disputes with management regarding the maintenance and upkeep of the sculptures prompted Margulies to begin searching for a new space to site them in 1992.

Florida International University (FIU) first established a relationship with Margulies in 1988, when the institution requested to borrow William Tucker’s sculpture, “The Rim.” As years wore on, Margulies never requested the return of the work and appeared content with its location on the FIU campus. Realizing that Margulies was searching for a new location for his works, FIU staff contacted him about the possibility of housing more works on the campus. Margulies was so pleased at the prospect that he ended up rehoming all of the sculptures on Grove Isle to the FIU campus. The collector felt that this was much more natural fit for the works, as they were more easily accessible to the public, and could be appreciated by all. Many sculptures and installations from Margulies’ collection continue to grace FIU’s campus today.

By 1998, Margulies felt that his collection needed a permanent space. He and longtime friend and curator, Katherine Hinds, began searching for a new location. A suitable space was found in the Wynwood district of Miami. This former industrial neighborhood was rife with abandoned factories and warehouses, one of which Margulies converted into a museum space. In 1999, the newly created non-profit, Margulies Collection at the Warehouse, opened to the public. Over the years, extensive renovations have expanded the space to over 50,000 square feet. Margulies continues to be actively involved at the museum. He leads tours, fully funds the non-profit organization, and continues to acquire art in concert with Hinds. Margulies has also involved his daughter, Elizabeth in the museum, and together they plan exhibitions and events.

As the Margulies Collection is a private collection assembled by a single individual, it displays an esoteric range of art and artists. Work in the collection is modern or contemporary, with special emphasis placed on sculptures, installations, and photography. Margulies’ assemblages of abstract and pop art are of special interest. Some of the household names represented in the over 4,000 work collection include Joan Miró, Isamu Noguchi, Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Claes Oldenburg, George Segal, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and Donald Judd. Photography exhibitions have focused on major American, contemporary experimental, and Vkhutemas and Bauhaus artists. Respectively in 2018 and 2019, two volumes cataloguing the pieces in Margulies’ collection were published. The total worth of the collection is valued at over $800 million.

An addition to exhibiting art, the Margulies Collection is heavily invested in the local and broader community. Margulies and Hinds have personally led hundreds of free museum tours for primary and secondary education students. The Margulies Collection also partners with The Lotus House by donating all proceeds from entry donations, books sales, and tour revenue. The Lotus House provides support to homeless and vulnerable women in the Miami area through traditional housing support, job coaching, and other life skills programs. The museum also hires staff from Lotus House alumni, and the museum’s security guards are exclusively staffed via the program. On a broader scale, the Margulies Collection is renowned for its generous loans to other institutions, despite the fact that the museum borrows relatively little in return. The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse is a remarkable blend of philanthropic enterprise and personal passion project.

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