The art of banking

As Raymond Audi, chairman of Bank Audi, Lebanon’s largest bank, walked me through the four floors of their headquarters in Downtown Beirut, I would have thought I was in a major contemporary art gallery were it not for the bankers conducting their daily activities. Banks across the world are building art collections and multi-million dollar pieces adorn the walls of the largest bank offices. Germany’s Deutsche Bank, which started its art collection in 1979, features the world’s largest corporate art collection. Its New York offices even have a different art theme for each floor. Picture working in that environment. Related article: Bank Audi’s chairman on his love affair with art Swiss bank UBS’ art collection features a painting by American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, with a similar one sold at Christies for over $4 million in November 2011. How better to impress clients than to have a piece by Lichtenstein