Yup, and it's vulgar and deserves to be condemned.
Moreover, museums don't allow the donors to curate the exhibitions, and artists do not mention their patrons in their work.
Art is in fact a system with established rules, which reflect good sense, and this collector is very much operating within that framework, just tastelessly.
Ah, sorry – quite obvious upon inspection! Yes, I will concede that there was a time when this sort of thing was a regular practice and I could have clarified that here I'm speaking about art in the modern context. Perhaps there are artists in the past 100 years who somehow involve their patrons in their work, but this is quite apart from what we witness with this project – the patron, dignifying himself sans-artists or art.
Moreover, museums don't allow the donors to curate the exhibitions, and artists do not mention their patrons in their work.
Art is in fact a system with established rules, which reflect good sense, and this collector is very much operating within that framework, just tastelessly.