William (Bill) and Ellen Taubman’s cultural stewardship is rooted in scholarship, connoisseurship, and long-term engagement. Ellen’s twenty-five-year career at Sotheby’s, along with her work as a guest curator at the Museum of Arts and Design and for private collections, has had a lasting impact on the field of Native American art. Bill’s collecting and professional leadership extend their shared legacy across social, architectural, and artistic contexts, reflecting art’s capacity to connect history, identity, and contemporary life.
Today, Ellen serves as a trustee of the Brooklyn Museum, the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at the New School, the Rock Foundation, and sits on the exhibition committee of the American Federation of Arts. Bill recently retired after a long career in luxury retail real estate development as president and COO of the Taubman Company, founded by his father, A. Alfred Taubman. He served for many years on the Board of the Museum of Arts and Design, has been involved over many years with the Detroit Institute of Arts, and supports numerous museums and universities.
Together, Bill and Ellen have built a wide-ranging personal collection that includes contemporary Native American beadwork, pottery, and painting; historic tribal sculpture; Viennese Biedermeier furniture and silver; works from the Wiener Werkstätte; English neo-Gothic design focused on Pugin; and English and Scottish Arts and Crafts objects, including pottery and silver by Christopher Dresser and furniture by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
Today, Ellen serves as a trustee of the Brooklyn Museum, the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at the New School, the Rock Foundation, and sits on the exhibition committee of the American Federation of Arts. Bill recently retired after a long career in luxury retail real estate development as president and COO of the Taubman Company, founded by his father, A. Alfred Taubman. He served for many years on the Board of the Museum of Arts and Design, has been involved over many years with the Detroit Institute of Arts, and supports numerous museums and universities.
Together, Bill and Ellen have built a wide-ranging personal collection that includes contemporary Native American beadwork, pottery, and painting; historic tribal sculpture; Viennese Biedermeier furniture and silver; works from the Wiener Werkstätte; English neo-Gothic design focused on Pugin; and English and Scottish Arts and Crafts objects, including pottery and silver by Christopher Dresser and furniture by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
