20 Celebrities You Didn't Know Were Into Art

Image via Complex Original

Funnyman Steve Martin has been an avid art collector since the late '60s. Over the years, his collection has boasted an impressive range of works from Roy Lichtenstein to Edward Hopper. On his love for art, Martin once professed, “It's like, good grief, these things are so beautiful—how did this happen?”

In his free time, How I Met Your Mother star Neil Patrick Harris collects art with partner David Burtka, a hobby that the latter has jokingly described as being equally addictive and expensive as heroin. The pair tend to favor contemporary pieces by young, up-and-coming artists like Annie Lapin and Francesca Gabbiani. 

Say what you want about Dubya's politics, you have to admit the man paints a mean Jay Leno. Since retiring from the White House, the former U.S. president has taken up painting as a hobby and a form of cathartic release. His repertoire ranges from Scottish Terriers to portraits of famous world leaders.

Tough guys have feelings too. Even before he was wreaking havoc in the jungles of Vietnam as Rambo, Stallone was painting. The actor cites Abstract Expressionism as one of his main influences. In 2013, his works were displayed at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, attracting lines of visitors.

In the '90s, Lucy Liu was exhibiting her paintings and photographs under the pseudonym Yu Ling (her Chinese name). Her works were well received, even landing her a grant to study art in Beijing. The actress' decision to use a pseudonym came from her desire to separate her art from her onscreen persona. Today, Liu displays her work under her more famous title, reasoning that people will judge her work no matter what name she goes by.

Last year, Yankees baseman Alexander Rodriguez purchased a $140,000 Nate Lowman painting, adding to his already impressive art collection, which includes works by Warhol, Basquiat, and Baldessari. In the past, he's invited a slew of celebrity friends (including Martha Stewart) over to his home to show off his prized pieces.

Xtina has been a long time fan and buyer of street artist D*Face, with whom she collaborated to create her 2010 album cover Bionic. The pop diva and her ex-husband Jordan Bratman are particularly fond of graffiti art, and their collection includes several pieces by Banksy and Shepard Fairey.

Everyone's favorite Mexican stoner also happens to be a huge art aficionado. Cheech Marin owns a collection of over 600 works of Chicano art, a genre he aims to bring more exposure. The comedian/actor has brought his collection on hugely successful tours all around the U.S. His latest exhibition, titled "Chicanitas," is booked through 2015.

Val Kilmer of Real Genius and Batman Forever fame has been keeping a relatively low profile these days, except to occasionally drop hefty sums of money on art pieces. The actor has purchased high-profile works of art in the recent past, including a huge stainless steel sculpture of a forest by Roxy Paine. Recently, Kilmer has begun to dabble in the arts himself, selling his own paintings, sculptures, and even hats and T-shirts, on his website.

Being the top-ranked women's singles tennis player in the world can't be easy, so to de-stress, Serena Williams paints in her free time. In 2013, just before the French Open, Williams took a painting class in Paris to hone her skills. The athlete is also a known Banksy fan. 

A true Renaissance man, the James Bond star trained as a commercial painter before switching his full-time attention to pursuing an acting career. Brosnan continues to paint in his free time, however, specializing in figurative and landscape portraits. Many of his works are reminiscent of Picasso and Kandinsky, whom Brosnan cites as major influences.

In addition to being a rapper, producer, and full-time husband of Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz also happens to be an avid art enthusiast. In particular, he favors the works of Murakami and Basquiat. On the lasting value of art, Swizz Beatz once sagely commented, “Rap artists will spend $200,000 on a chain, which will have no value after they finish their album. Art, you can pass down for generations.”

The comedienne and TV-host cited 9/11 as one of the main catalysts that piqued her interest in art. O'Donnell began painting and creating collages as a way to grapple with the tragedy. Today, she sells many of her works to benefit her multiple charity projects.

Mr. Combs is a regular at Art Basel Miami, one of the flashiest and most prestigious art shows in the U.S. His art advisor, Maria Brito, explained how Diddy buys art: "He’s really looking for things that fit the collection and steering it in a way that it makes sense, that makes the collection gain value over time." The second highest paid hip-hop artist has a collection of over 40 works, including pieces by Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei.

The Lord of the Rings star is also a prolific painter and photographer. Many of his works combine different forms of media and feature excerpts from his own poetry. The actor's art has been featured in galleries around the world, and some of his own paintings were featured in the film A Perfect Murder.

Entrepreneur and former manager of Jay Z Damon Dash opened Poppington, an art gallery in the Lower East Side of New York that “provides artists, graphic designers, and musicians a place to come together and realize their creative visions.” In the past, the gallery has hosted exhibits by a slew of names like David Chang and Jason Woodside.

Tobey Maguire has been a quiet regular in New York's art scene for years. In the past, the Spiderman actor has purchased works of art from Art Basel Miami and MoCA's FRESH Silent Auction. Maguire also contributed a piece in Interview Magazine about the street artist KAWS.

If you've been wondering what the Beatles legend has been up to lately, the answer is MS Paint. You read that correctly: the former drummer now spends a large part of his time creating the kind of primitive computer doodles we all made as schoolkids. The difference between Ringo's work and ours, though, is that his have been selling for upwards of $1,000. All proceeds go to his charity, the Lotus Foundation.

Macaulay Culkin has long moved on from being the cute, fresh-faced star of the Home Alone franchise. Now, the perpetually stoned-looking actor spends much of his time creating art in his apartment-turned-studio with the other members of his art collective, titled 3MB. The three-man collaborative group enjoys creating bizarre but playful works that reflect their interest in pop culture, such as a surreal painting of Luigi playing baseball.

“Art connoisseur” isn't necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when we think of Rick Ross. However, the rapper happens to be a passionate art collector, often enthusing about his latest acquirements on his Instagram. In 2012, Ross dropped big bucks at Art Basel when he purchased a photograph titled Love is the Drug by the famed Richard Mosse.