About
Ileana Sonnabend (1914–2007) was one of the most influential gallerists and champions of contemporary art in the 20th century. Born Ileana Schapira in Bucharest, Romania, she developed a lifelong passion for art that would shape both American and European cultural landscapes. After moving to New York in the 1940s, she became deeply involved in the emerging postwar art scene, first alongside her former husband Leo Castelli and later with her husband Michael Sonnabend.
In 1962, Sonnabend opened her first gallery in Paris, introducing groundbreaking American movements—most notably Pop Art—to European audiences. When she established the Sonnabend Gallery in New York in 1971, she continued her pioneering approach, presenting avant-garde work ranging from Conceptual Art and Minimalism to Arte Povera and Neo-Geo. Her discerning eye and unwavering support helped launch and sustain the careers of many of the era’s most important artists, including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons, and numerous European innovators.
Celebrated for her insight, conviction, and international vision, Ileana Sonnabend built a legacy that continues to define the trajectory of contemporary art. Through her galleries, her collection, and her decades-long commitment to artists, she reshaped the global art world and remains a towering figure in its history.
WHO WE ARE
The Sonnabend Collection Foundation, based in New York, was established in 2008 with the purpose of preserving, managing, and disseminating the important art collection assembled by Ileana Sonnabend and Michael Sonnabend, in collaboration with Antonio Homem and Nina Sundell. It is a non-profit organization (501(c)(3)), dedicated to the arts and culture, and seeks to make the works of the collection accessible to the general public.
The mission of the Foundation focuses on lending works to museums and educational institutions worldwide, thereby enhancing the study and visibility of modern and post-war art. Through collaborations with leading organizations in Asia, Europe, America, and South America, the Foundation contributes to international artistic exchange and broadens access to one of the most emblematic bodies of work of the post-war period.
The collection includes landmark works of Pop Art, Arte Povera, Minimalism, and Conceptual Art, with artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenburg, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Jannis Kounellis, Jeff Koons, among many others.
As of November 29, 2025, 96 works from the Foundation’s Collection will be exhibited in Mantua, Italy, at a new museum dedicated to the Foundation, which will bear the name Sonnabend Collection Mantova. This new permanent venue will serve as a central reference point for the presentation and study of the Collection in Europe.
PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER
Antonio Homem
Antonio Homem was born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1939. In 1956, he left Portugal for Switzerland where he studied engineering at the ETH in Zürich, but his interests were always deeply rooted in the arts. In 1968, he began working at the Galerie Ileana Sonnabend in Paris, marking the start of a long career collaborating closely with Ileana and Michael Sonnabend.
In 1970, when the Sonnabend Gallery opened its first New York space on Madison Avenue, Antonio and Ileana Sonnabend began traveling regularly between Paris and New York to oversee both locations.
In the fall of 1971, the Sonnabend Gallery opened a pioneering new space in SoHo, at 420 West Broadway in a building shared together with three other art galleries, Leo Castelli, John Weber and Andre Emmerlich.
The New York gallery left SoHo in 2000 and relocated to 536 West 22nd Street in Chelsea, where it continued its exhibitions. Antonio remained the director of the gallery after Ileana Sonnabend’s death in 2007, continuing to oversee its operations until it closed in 2014.
In 2009, Antonio founded, together with Nina Sundell, the Sonnabend Collection Foundation, dedicated to preserving and presenting a collection of works from the early 60s till the end of the century.
TREASURER
Antonio Phokion Potamianos-Homem
Antonio Phokion Potamianos-Homem has been the Treasurer and member if the Board of the Sonnabend Collection Foundation since its inception. Mr Potamianos is the Managing Partner of Sylvina Capital, a family office. Prior to this he was a Partner at Francisco Partners a leading technology focused Private Equity fund,, based in San Francisco. Earlier in his career, Mr Potamianos was Head of Semiconductor Banking at UBS and as an Institutional Investor and Wall Street Journal ranked Research Analyst at Donaldson Lufkin and Jenrette, . Mr Potamianos has a MSc, Econ from the London School of Economics. He also serves as an Overseer of the Gennadius Library at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, he is on the Advisory Board of DESMOS a charitable organization and a Member of the Board of the Deccan Heritage Foundation.
BOARD MEMBER
Margaret Sundell
Margaret Sundell is the founder and editor-in-chief of 4Columns, a weekly online magazine of arts criticism. She is also an editor-at-large of Cabinet Magazine. Prior to launching 4Columns, Margaret served as the executive editor of the Drawing Center, and was the director and consulting director of the Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant Program. She is a cofounder of Documents Magazine, the former chief critic and art editor at Time Out New York, a former caa.reviews field editor for modern and contemporary art exhibitions, and a former staff reviewer for Artforum; her writing has also appeared in Art Journal, Art Nexus, Bookforum, and Documents. Margaret has taught art history and critical theory at Columbia University, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Parsons The New School for Design. She earned a Ph.D. with distinction from Columbia University’s Department of Art History and Archaeology.
DIRECTOR
Queenie Wong
Queenie Wong is the Director of the Sonnabend Collection Foundation and previously served as Director of the Sonnabend Gallery. With more than 24 years of experience in arts management, she works closely with the Foundation’s leadership and its President to coordinate and oversee the institution’s core programs, including museum outreach, loan requests, collection stewardship, research initiatives, preservation of the archive, and logistical planning. In addition to her responsibilities at the Foundation, Queenie is an independent curator dedicated to supporting emerging artists and fostering opportunities for the presentation of their work. She holds a BFA and a Certificate in Art History from the Rhode Island School of Design, as well as an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management.
BOARD MEMBER
David Sundell
David Sundell has over 20 years experience working in the fields of urban planning, information technology, data, and communication. His current work centers on supporting small environmental nonprofits to develop strategic, sustainable and innovative approaches to technology development, data and communication. Recent clients include Climate XChange, the Connecticut River Conservancy, and The Commons. He has a Master in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as graduate work in Geography at Hunter College.
DIRECTOR, REGISTRAR STORAGE
Jeff Byrd
Jeff moved to New York City from Richmond, Virginia in 1987. He started his career at Sonnabend in 1991 with the gallery’s 20th anniversary show, Gilbert & George’s Underneath the Arches. Jeff is currently Facilities Manager for Sonnabend Collection Foundation. He lives in Maplewood, New Jersey with his wife Sarah.
ON VIEW
On Saturday, November 29, 2025, the new museum of contemporary art Sonnabend Collection Mantova, one of the most important private collections of the twentieth century, opens in Mantova's Palazzo della Ragione.
