The Cezannes May Not Come With the Chips

An agreement Monday for MGM Grand to buy Mirage Resorts Inc. for $4.4 billion has sparked questions about the fate of the renowned art collection amassed by Mirage’s flamboyant chairman, Steve Wynn. The collection of Modern, Impressionist and Old Master artworks--valued at about $400 million--is displayed at the luxurious Bellagio hotel-casino in Las Vegas.

Wynn might be expected to pick up his art and go elsewhere when the deal with MGM Grand is consummated, but he only owns about half of the approximately 45 major works in the 126-work collection. The most valuable pieces are said to be Wynn’s personal property, but the remaining works belong to Mirage and will be passed on to MGM Grand.

Wynn has been a highly visible player in the art market for the last five years, paying record prices at auction for big-name artworks. At the same time, he has upset art-world conventions by installing his Picassos, Cezannes, Manets and Rembrandts in Las Vegas’ glitziest gambling halls. Wynn also has come under fire for buying expensive artworks with Mirage’s money, for functioning as an art dealer as well as a collector and for demanding tax breaks for putting his collection on public display.

Currently, about 25 pieces from the collection are displayed at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, which opened in October 1998; in addition, 13 works by Picasso are on view in the hotel’s Picasso Restaurant; a half-dozen other pieces hang in Wynn’s offices. Various less valuable contemporary artworks decorate other areas of the hotel. Among the most valuable works are “Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier,” a still life by Paul Cezanne, and “The Dream,” a portrait of Dora Maar by Pablo Picasso.

Sources close to the gallery said that Wynn receives a $5-million lease payment annually from Mirage for exhibiting his collection at the Bellagio Hotel. Mirage has covered costs of the lease as well as gallery operating costs by gate receipts. The admission charge is $12, and the average daily attendance of 1,700 to 1,800 sometimes soars to well over 2,000. More than 650,000 people visited the gallery last year.

A source familiar with MGM Grand’s plan said the company has no intention of dismantling the art collection or the gallery. However, no official announcement has been made.

Although most gallery visitors are not big-spending gamblers, the unique showplace might be viewed as an asset by the Bellagio’s new owners, some insiders said. Others said that MGM Grand may sell the artworks as part of the process of liquidating unwanted property. One source said that Wynn likes having his collection on public view, so he might strike an agreement to allow even his privately owned artworks to continue to be displayed in the gallery and casino.