Nasser Khalili Explained

Honorific Prefix:Sir
Nasser David Khalili
Native Name:Persian: ناصر داوود خلیلی
Honorific Suffix:KCSS
Birth Date:1945 12, df=yes
Birth Place:Isfahan, Iran
Occupation:Scholar
Art collector
Philanthropist
Alma Mater:Queens College, City University of New York
School of Oriental and African Studies
Spouse:Marion Easton
Children:3

Sir Nasser David Khalili KCSS (Persian: ناصر داوود خلیلی, born 18 December 1945) is a British-Iranian scholar, collector, and philanthropist based in London. Born in Iran and educated at Queens College, City University of New York and the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, he is a naturalised British citizen.[1]

He assembled eight art collections—the Khalili Collections—each considered among the most important in its field.[2] [3] These collections total 35,000 artworks and include the largest private collection of Islamic art and a collection of Japanese art rivalling that of the Japanese imperial family. He has spent tens of millions of pounds on conserving, researching, and documenting the collections, publishing more than seventy volumes of catalogues and research so far. Exhibitions drawn from the collections have appeared in institutions around the world.

Khalili first started collecting artwork in New York City during the 1970s, later investing in property in the United Kingdom during the 1980s. Since then his wealth has grown substantially, which he stated in an interview was due to "dealing in art, commodities and real estate". Khalili is known for the purchase and renovation of a number of large properties in London and Glasgow.

Through his philanthropic organisation, the Khalili Foundation, he supports a range of activities to promote mutual understanding and dialogue between Abrahamic religions. His donations funded the creation of a research centre in Islamic art at the University of Oxford as well as the first university chair in the subject, at the School of Oriental and African Studies. He also supports the creation and distribution of educational materials and has written and distributed a history of Islamic art and architecture.

Khalili is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and has taken part in United Nations and UNESCO events on the theme of peace between cultures. His work for intercultural dialogue and peace has been recognised with honorary degrees from five universities and awards from the French National Assembly and the High Sheriff of Greater London. He is the recipient of the Legion of Honour, presented by French President François Hollande. He is also a trustee of the City of Jerusalem and has received knighthoods from two Popes. He received a knighthood in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours "for services to interfaith relations and charity".

When asked about his collections, Khalili stated that he "found things that belonged to a great heritage that was just sitting there unnoticed. [...] They were displaced from history and deserved to be preserved and recognised".[4]

Early life and education

Khalili was born in 1945 in the city of Isfahan, Iran, the fourth of five children, to a Jewish family of art dealers and traders of artefacts.[5] The family moved to Tehran when Khalili was a few months old. By the age of eight, he was accompanying his father on buying trips, acquiring Persian lacquers and other Islamic artworks.[6] He studied in Tehran and, at age 14, wrote a book profiling more than two hundred geniuses. The book was prompted by an argument with one of his teachers.[7] After the book's publication, Khalili featured on television discussing his book and also wrote columns in newspapers.[8]

Khalili completed his national service in Iran as a medic in the Iranian Army, before leaving Iran in 1967 for the United States with US$750, the proceeds from his book. He studied computer science and earned a bachelor's degree in the subject at Queens College, City University of New York, graduating in 1974.[5] He later received a PhD degree in Islamic art in 1988 from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, with a thesis on Islamic lacquerware.[9]

Business and collecting career

Khalili started his business career trading in art before moving into property development and commodities.[8] He began collecting art in New York City in the 1970s, keeping the best pieces for his own collection. In the mid-1970s he moved to London and began to frequent its auction houses, establishing his own gallery in Mayfair between 1978 and 1980. Khalili initially traded in Persian lacquerware, later writing his doctoral thesis on the subject. In 1978, the price of Islamic art fell substantially. The Iranian Revolution brought more items onto the market as rich families sold their art and during the subsequent Iran–Iraq War there was little interest in collecting art in that region. Khalili took the opportunity to expand his collection,[10] acquiring works that would be valued much more highly with the later growth of international interest in Islamic art.

People close to Khalili stated that he invested wisely and often discreetly, buying items that later appreciated to one hundred times the price he paid. Khalili's dealership was based in Mayfair's Clifford Street in the 1980s. When asked directly how he had gathered his wealth during the 1970s and 1980s, Khalili stated it was from sugar and coffee trading, the options market, property investments and works of art.

In a 2010 interview, Khalili said that his collecting in the mid-1980s was funded by his dealings in venture capital, having profited from shares in a company that developed technology to treat tumours, and that he made $15 million from the sale of a company that manufactured indigestion pills in 1987.[5] In 1992, he described his wealth as deriving from "dealing in art, commodities and real estate".[8]

In the mid-1980s, the scale of Khalili's collection greatly expanded. He sought out the rarest items and paid record prices at auction. In the early 1990s, he began to publish a catalogue of his Islamic art collection, commissioning numerous scholars of Islam. Suspicions in the art industry were that Khalili was assembling the collection on behalf of a rich investor. Eventually, he revealed that he was collecting on behalf of his own family trust.[11] During the same period, Khalili was an art advisor to Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei. He wrote a catalogue of the Sultan's artworks that were on display in the Brunei Museum.

In 1992, Khalili offered to lend his Islamic art collection to the British government for a period of 15 years and on condition it would be publicly displayed in a "museum building in central London". He suggested that the museum would be known as the Nasser D. Khalili Museum, with the running costs of the museum and insurance to be publicly funded. The offer was made with the potential for turning the donation into a gift at the expiration of the 15-year period. The Conservative politician Lord Young of Graffham and the public relations executive Lord Bell lobbied the government to accept Khalili's offer. Many expressed an interest in the proposal, including Prince Charles.

In 2007, Khalili's wealth was estimated at £5.8 billion by the Sunday Times Rich List, but he did not appear in subsequent editions of the list.[5] [12] Forbes listed him as a billionaire from 2005 onwards, estimating his wealth at $1.3 billion in 2007 and 2008, until dropping him from the list in 2014.[13]

In 2008, The Art Newspaper wrote that "a £1 billion valuation is believed more likely" than previously claimed higher amounts.[6] Khalili has claimed to have spent $650 million on art.[5]

Art collections

See main article: Khalili Collections.

Khalili has assembled eight art collections, collectively known as the Khalili Collections. They include Islamic art dating from 700 to 2000; Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage from 700 to 2000; Aramaic Documents from 353 BC to 324 BC; Japanese Art of the Meiji Period from 1868 to 1912; Japanese Kimono from 1700 to 2000; Swedish Textiles from 1700 to 1900; Spanish Damascened Metalwork from 1850 to 1900 and Enamels of the World from 1700 to 2000. Together, the eight collections contain 35,000 works.[14] [15]

Image gallery

Property development

18–19 Kensington Palace Gardens

In 1995, Khalili bought 18 and 19 Kensington Palace Gardens for £40 million. Number 19 had been the Egyptian embassy and 18 was formerly part of the Russian embassy.[6] Khalili's purchase of the property and its subsequent refurbishment cost £84 million.

The refurbishment, involving 400 craftsmen, was believed to have been second in scale only to the restoration of Windsor Castle after the 1992 fire. Marble for pillars was imported from the same Indian quarry that had been used to build the Taj Mahal. The building was bought by businessman Bernie Ecclestone in 2001 for £50 million, making it the most expensive private home in the country. Ecclestone later sold it to industrialist Lakshmi Mittal.[16] [5]

Sixty London

In 1997, Khalili bought Bath House, an office building on Holborn Viaduct for £7 million.[17] In 2007 planning permission was granted for an 11-storey office building called The Wave. The building, completed in 2013, was designed by the architects Kohn Pederson Fox Associates.[18] [19] Since 2010 the project had been a partnership between Khalili's property company Favermead and AXA Real Estate Investment Managers.[20] The new 210000square feet building was later leased by Amazon in 2013.[21] In 2014 the building became one of the 13 winners in the Urban Land Institute's Global Awards for Excellence, citing the blending of modern and historic architectural elements.[22]

Philanthropy

See main article: Khalili Foundation. Khalili has made many substantial donations to a number of organisations, institutions, and charities. His philanthropic activities are presently delivered through the Khalili Foundation.[23] Donations in the field of education include a 2004 endowment of £2.25 million to the University of Oxford.[24] [25] The funds were used for the establishment of the Khalili Research Centre for the Art and Material Culture of the Middle East, which was opened by the Chancellor of Oxford University, Lord Patten, in July 2005. Khalili has since continued to support the centre.[26]

In 1989, Khalili donated £600,000 to establish the Khalili Chair of Islamic Art and Archaeology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. This was the first university chair devoted to Islamic art.[27] He also gave a further £200,000 in 2003 for the refurbishment of the lecture theatre at the school.[28]

In 1992, endowed a Research Fellowship in Islamic Art at Oxford University. In 2011, he gave an endowment to Queens College, New York, where he earned his undergraduate degree, to create the Nasser D. Khalili Chair of Islamic Studies.[29]

In the early 1990s, when an advisor to the Sultan of Brunei, he persuaded the Sultan to provide £10 million to build the Brunei Gallery at the School of Oriental and African Studies.One project of Khalili's Foundation is the Maimonidies Interfaith Initiative,[30] originally founded in 1995 to promote "understanding, cooperation and peace between Jews, Christians and Muslims internationally through art, culture and education".[4] Its activities include the Maimonides Interfaith Explorers, a UNESCO-supported online educational resource for children aged 10 to 11.[31] The course is freely offered to schools and supported by a bank of four hundred online videos.[32]

In the 1990s, Khalili commissioned a series of five paintings by the artist Ben Johnson called the House of Peace to promote peace and harmony between Judaism, Christianity and Islam.[33] [34] The foundation also donated 20,000 copies of The Timeline History of Islamic Art and Architecture (Visions of Splendour), written by Khalili, to schools in the United Kingdom and Islamic countries.[35] [36]

Faith in the Commonwealth is a global citizenship education project started jointly by the Commonwealth and the Khalili Foundation.[37] [38] It gives Training of Trainers workshops to people from the ages of 15 to 29 from different faith backgrounds, including those of no faith,[39] supporting them in developing social action projects within their communities.[40] These projects address topics such as hate speech, girls' education, and indigenous people's rights.

Khalili is the chair of Global Hope Europe, one of three not-for-profit organisations that together form the Global Hope Coalition. The coalition was founded in 2016 and gives annual awards to political leaders and "everyday heroes" who combat extremism and intolerance.[41] [42] Irina Bokova, former Director of UNESCO, is the coalition's honorary president.[43]

Bibliography

Khalili is the author of The Timeline History of Islamic Art and Architecture, first published by Worth Press in 2005. It has been published in six editions, including in English, Arabic, French and Dutch.[44] [45] [46] [47] [48] He is the co-author, with Nahla Nassar, of A selection of Islamic Art at the Brunei Museum (published 1990)[49] and co-author, with Basil William Robinson and Tim Stanley, of the two-volume Lacquer of the Islamic Lands (published 1996 and 1997).[50] He has also overseen the publication of dozens of volumes relating to his collections, including catalogues and scholarly essays. An autobiography, The Art of Peace, was published by Penguin Books on 2 November 2023.[51]

Recognition

He has been awarded many honours, including being the only non-Christian to have received knighthoods from two Popes. Pope John Paul II awarded him Knight of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St Sylvester (KSS) and Pope Benedict XVI further elevated him to Knight Commander in that order (KCSS) for his pursuit of peace, education and culture among nations.[52] In 2012, he was further honoured in this field by UNESCO who appointed him a Goodwill Ambassador.[53] In early 2016 he was awarded the rank of Officier in the Legion of Honour by President François Hollande in a ceremony at the Élysée Palace.

He was knighted in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to inter-faith relations and charity.

Honours and awards

UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador

In 2012, Khalili was honoured by UNESCO as a Goodwill Ambassador for his work in the pursuit of peace among nations via education and culture. In this role, he has taken part in a number of international events to promote dialogue between cultures and between religions, including a 2013 keynote address to launch UNESCO's International Decade for the Rapprochement of Cultures. He has also spoken at UNESCO events about the role of culture in sustainable development.[76]

Personal life

In 1978, Khalili married Marion Easton, whom he had met when buying jewellery from an antique shop where she was working.[5] [6] They have three sons: Daniel, and twins Benjamin and Raphael.[5]

References

General sources

Notes and References

  1. "Biographical Notes" in Earle, Joe (ed.). Shibata Zeshin: Masterpieces of Japanese Lacquer from the Khalili Collection. London: Kibo Foundation, 1997. p. 80.
  2. Web site: The Khalili Collections major contributor to "Longing for Mecca" exhibition at the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam . United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. 2 October 2020. UNESCO. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20220407140326/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/the_khalili_collections_major_contributor_to_longing_for/. 7 April 2022.
  3. Web site: 11 October 2019. Around the world in 35,000 objects—and a handful of clicks. 2 October 2020. Apollo Magazine.
  4. News: Susan . Moore. 12 May 2012. A leap of faith. The Financial Times. 7 March 2015.
  5. News: Iranian Student with $750 Turns Billionaire Made by Islamic Art. 30 March 2010. William Green. Bloomberg L.P.. 7 March 2015.
  6. News: Hollingsworth. Mark. The Treasure Seeker. Evening Standard magazine. 27 March 2009. 14–18.
  7. News: Matthew . Swibel. God is Great. Forbes. 28 March 2005 . 175. 214–217.
  8. Web site: Norman. Geraldine. Art Market: Mysterious gifts from the East: Who is the man who has collected Islam's finest treasures and offered them to Britain as a pounds 1bn bequest? Geraldine Norman finds out. The Independent. 13 December 1992.
  9. Khalili . Nasser D. . 1988 . Persian Lacquer Painting in the 18th and 19th Centuries . Ph.D. . SOAS University of London . 10.25501/SOAS.00028912. via British Library EThOS
  10. Web site: Shah. Tahir. The Khalili Collection of Islamic Art. Saudi Aramco World. 2376-1075. December 1994.
  11. Web site: Norman. Geraldine. Art Market: Mysterious gifts from the East: Who is the man who has collected Islam's finest treasures and offered them to Britain as a pounds 1bn bequest?. The Independent. 12 December 1992.
  12. News: Bryan. Appleyard. Sunday Times Magazine. David Khalili: The last laugh. 12 July 2009 . 14–18.
  13. News: Nasser Khalili. Forbes. 17 April 2016.
  14. Web site: The Khalili Family Trust Collections Online British Museum. 2020-06-05. www.britishmuseum.org.
  15. Web site: The Eight Collections. 2020-08-17. Nasser David Khalili. https://web.archive.org/web/20221028125759/https://www.nasserdkhalili.com/the-eight-collections-2/ . 2022-10-28. dead.
  16. News: Bernie Ecclestone sold £57m dream home after his wife refused to move in. 6 March 2009. Daily Telegraph. 6 March 2016.
  17. News: Qataris have sticky time while judge struggles to tell ancient from modern. 28 May 2010. Evening Standard. 6 March 2016.
  18. Web site: Sixty London. 2020-08-14. Nasser David Khalili.
  19. Web site: Sixty London, London 1197463. https://web.archive.org/web/20201016140205/https://www.emporis.com/buildings/1197463/sixty-london-london-united-kingdom. dead. 16 October 2020. 2020-08-14. Emporis.
  20. News: AXA Real Estate and Favermead complete Bath House tie-up. 2 December 2010. James . Buckley. Estates Gazette. 6 March 2016.
  21. News: Amazon signs lease on 210,000 sq ft central London offices. 28 May 2010. Christopher . Williams. Daily Telegraph. 6 March 2016.
  22. News: Sixty London 2014 Global Awards for Excellence. 21 October 2014. Urban Land Institute.
  23. Web site: About. 2 October 2020. Khalili Foundation.
  24. Web site: £2m gift for Middle Eastern art. BBC. 9 July 2004.
  25. News: Binyon. Michael. 8 July 2004. Islamic studies gain £2¼m. The Times. 24 September 2020. 0140-0460.
  26. Web site: About The Khalili Research Centre. . 25 August 2020.
  27. Web site: Irina. Bokova. Irina Bokova. Address by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the ceremony to designate Professor Nasser David Khalili as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. 16 October 2012. unesco.org. UNESCO. 7 August 2020.
  28. Generous Benefaction for Auditorium . SOAS Alumni Newsletter . Winter 2003 . 2 . 24 September 2020.
  29. Mughal Mystique: The Khalili Collection of Islamic Art. Anjali . Devidayal. September 2014. MARG: A Magazine of the Arts. 56–65. 66. 1.
  30. Web site: Maimonides Interfaith Initiative. Khalili Foundation . 24 September 2020.
  31. Web site: Maimonides Interfaith Foundation. The Religious Education Council of England and Wales. 22 May 2020.
  32. News: Rocker. Simon. Interfaith project has royal backing. The Jewish Chronicle. 29 January 2023.
  33. Weisblott . Marc . David Khalili . Lifestyles Magazine . Winter 2009 . 224 . 111–117.
  34. Web site: House of Peace. Khalili Foundation. 24 September 2020.
  35. Web site: Visions of Splendour. Khalili Foundation. 2020-08-07.
  36. Web site: The collection is a symphony. Moore. Susan. 17 March 2008. Financial Times. 30 September 2019.
  37. Web site: Kenyan peacebuilders join forces to boost positive interfaith relations. 6 January 2018. Modern Diplomacy. 22 May 2020.
  38. Web site: Faith in the Commonwealth . Khalili Foundation . 24 September 2020.
  39. Web site: Faith in the Commonwealth. thecommonwealth.org. 22 May 2020.
  40. Web site: Faith in the Commonwealth: Promoting Global Citizenship and Religious Literacy. Commonwealth Secretariat. 22 May 2020.
  41. Web site: Non-profit foundations to honour leaders and activists fighting extremism. 26 September 2019. The National. 22 May 2020.
  42. Web site: Guelph executive recognized for work with Syrian refugees. Carty. Matt. 18 September 2017. Global News. 22 May 2020.
  43. Web site: Leadership. 22 May 2020. Global Hope Coalition.
  44. Web site: The Timeline History of Islamic Art and Architecture. 2020-09-23. Khalili Collections.
  45. Web site: Tijdslijn van de Islamitische Kunst en Architectuur. 2020-09-23. Khalili Collections.
  46. Web site: Islamic Art and Culture. A visual History. 2020-09-23. Khalili Collections.
  47. Web site: Islamic Art and Culture. Timeline and History. 2020-09-23. Khalili Collections.
  48. Web site: Visions of Splendour in Islamic Art and Culture. 2020-09-23. Khalili Collections.
  49. Book: Sinclair, Susan. Bibliography of Art and Architecture in the Islamic World (2 vol. set). 2012-04-03. BRILL. 978-90-474-1207-6. 43.
  50. Web site: Lacquer of the Islamic Lands (Part One and Part Two). 2020-08-07. Khalili Collections.
  51. Web site: The Art of Peace . 2024-05-19 . Penguin Books.
  52. Web site: Designation ceremony of Professor Nasser D. Khalili as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. UNESCO. 14 August 2020. unesco.org.
  53. Web site: Irina. Bokova. Irina Bokova. Address by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the ceremony to designate Professor Nasser David Khalili as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. 16 October 2012. unesco.org. UNESCO. 2020-08-07.
  54. Web site: School of Oriental and African Studies Honorary Fellows. University of London.
  55. Web site: Prof. Khalili Trustee of the City of Jerusalem certificate. nasserdkhalili.com.
  56. Web site: 2012-10-04. Today's International Recognition of the Order. 2020-09-18. Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George.
  57. Web site: January 2014. Membership Roll. 2020-09-18. Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George: Delegation for Great Britain and Ireland.
  58. Web site: Boston University bestows seven honorary degrees. Boston University. 6 June 2003.
  59. Web site: 2004-12-28. Pope John Paul II honours seven delegation members with Papal knighthoods in recognition of their interfaith work for the Holy See. 2020-09-18. Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George.
  60. Web site: Prof Nasser Khalili. Wolfson College, University of Oxford.
  61. Web site: Honorary Doctor of the University of the Arts, London. 2020-09-23. Nasser David Khalili.
  62. Web site: Spero. Josh. Why Oxford University Couldn't Survive without Philanthropy. Turk of America. 2 May 2012. 2020-09-23.
  63. Web site: Appointment of Sheriffs. London Gazette. 3313. 7 March 2007.
  64. Web site: Ziabari. Kourosh. Iran and Britain: Bracing for a New Era of Redefined Relations. Huffington Post. 5 February 2016.
  65. Web site: Honours, Awards & Lectures. 2020-08-18. Nasser David Khalili.
  66. Web site: 16 October 2012. British entrepreneur Nasser David Khalili named UNESCO goodwill ambassador. 2020-08-18. United Nations.
  67. Web site: Commencement Ceremonies for 2013. Queens College. 2 May 2013.
  68. Web site: Former French Culture Minister Jack Lang awards the Aladdin Award to Professor Nasser David Khalili. Projet Aladin.
  69. Web site: From College to University - Franklin Celebrates. The Franklin Gazette. 2015.
  70. Web site: Professor Khalili awarded the rank of officier in the Ordre national de la Légion d'Honneur by the French President. Nasser Khalili News. 11 April 2016.
  71. Web site: May 2018. Interpol Foundation: Board of Trustees and Honorary Board. 2020-08-07. Interpol.
  72. Web site: 2019-05-17. Nasser David Khalili Professor Khalili is elected to the Eurasian Academy.. 2020-07-21. Nasser David Khalili.
  73. Web site: 18 May 2019. Third Meeting of the Eurasian Academy Held. 2020-08-18. khazar.org. Khazar University.
  74. Web site: Queen's Birthday Honours 2020: This year's list in full. 2020-10-09. Bradford Telegraph and Argus.
  75. Web site: 9 October 2020. Queen's Birthday Honours: High Awards. 10 October 2020. GOV.UK. Cabinet Office.
  76. Web site: Honorary and Goodwill Ambassadors: Nasser David Khalili . https://web.archive.org/web/20150705092232/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/goodwill-ambassadors/nasser-david-khalili/ . 5 July 2015 . 9 July 2021 . UNESCO.