Ellen and Bill Taubman have built a collection of collections over the last forty years. Together, they have acquired a range of objects across a broad number of areas, including contemporary Native American beadwork, pottery, and painting; historic tribal sculpture; the English and Scottish Arts and Crafts Movement, including Christopher Dresser pottery and silver; Wiener Werkstätte; Viennese Biedermeier furniture and silver; and the English neo-Gothic, focused on A. W. N. Pugin.
Ellen began working at Sotheby’s in the antiquities department in 1974. She oversaw her first sale of Native American art in 1977, and in 1980, she split off from antiquities to run the tribal arts department.
During her twenty-five years at Sotheby’s, Ellen organized and oversaw dozens of genre-defining auctions, including the sale of her client Andy Warhol’s collection. Following her tenure there, she worked as a curator for Masco chairman emeritus, Richard Manoogian, focusing on his collections of Native American and Oceanic art and nineteenth-century silver. Starting in the late 1990s, she served as a guest curator at the Museum of Arts and Design, where she organized three exhibitions on contemporary Native American art.
Ellen continues to be an active presence and participant in the field of contemporary Native American art. She also serves as a trustee of the Brooklyn Museum, the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at the New School, and the Rock Foundation, and sits on the exhibition committee for the American Federation of Arts.
Bill grew up in suburban Detroit in a home devoted to contemporary art. His parents were actively involved in the Detroit Institute of Arts, as well as Cranbrook and the College for Creative Studies. Bill bought his first work of art, a drawing of Philip Glass by Chuck Close, when he was 18 years old. After graduating with a BA from Brown, Bill attended Corpus Christi College in Cambridge and received a Master of Philosophy degree in nineteenth-century moral and religious philosophy. While living in England, he began collecting early Turkish textiles, mainly from the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries; Arts and Crafts furniture with a focus on Mackintosh; and caricatures by James Gillray.
Parallel to his interest in art, Bill built a long career in luxury retail real estate development. Until his recent retirement, he served as president and chief operating officer of the Taubman Company, a firm founded in 1950 by his father, A. Alfred Taubman.
Together, Ellen and Bill represent a form of cultural stewardship grounded in scholarship, connoisseurship, and long-term engagement. Ellen’s work has influenced the field of Native American art, while Bill’s collecting and professional leadership have broadened their shared legacy across social, architectural, and artistic contexts. Supported by a multigenerational commitment to the arts, their involvement reflects art’s capacity to connect history, identity, and contemporary life across cultures and disciplines.
Ellen began working at Sotheby’s in the antiquities department in 1974. She oversaw her first sale of Native American art in 1977, and in 1980, she split off from antiquities to run the tribal arts department.
During her twenty-five years at Sotheby’s, Ellen organized and oversaw dozens of genre-defining auctions, including the sale of her client Andy Warhol’s collection. Following her tenure there, she worked as a curator for Masco chairman emeritus, Richard Manoogian, focusing on his collections of Native American and Oceanic art and nineteenth-century silver. Starting in the late 1990s, she served as a guest curator at the Museum of Arts and Design, where she organized three exhibitions on contemporary Native American art.
Ellen continues to be an active presence and participant in the field of contemporary Native American art. She also serves as a trustee of the Brooklyn Museum, the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at the New School, and the Rock Foundation, and sits on the exhibition committee for the American Federation of Arts.
Bill grew up in suburban Detroit in a home devoted to contemporary art. His parents were actively involved in the Detroit Institute of Arts, as well as Cranbrook and the College for Creative Studies. Bill bought his first work of art, a drawing of Philip Glass by Chuck Close, when he was 18 years old. After graduating with a BA from Brown, Bill attended Corpus Christi College in Cambridge and received a Master of Philosophy degree in nineteenth-century moral and religious philosophy. While living in England, he began collecting early Turkish textiles, mainly from the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries; Arts and Crafts furniture with a focus on Mackintosh; and caricatures by James Gillray.
Parallel to his interest in art, Bill built a long career in luxury retail real estate development. Until his recent retirement, he served as president and chief operating officer of the Taubman Company, a firm founded in 1950 by his father, A. Alfred Taubman.
Together, Ellen and Bill represent a form of cultural stewardship grounded in scholarship, connoisseurship, and long-term engagement. Ellen’s work has influenced the field of Native American art, while Bill’s collecting and professional leadership have broadened their shared legacy across social, architectural, and artistic contexts. Supported by a multigenerational commitment to the arts, their involvement reflects art’s capacity to connect history, identity, and contemporary life across cultures and disciplines.
