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"T he collection of Laura and John Arnold is comprised of masterworks by some of the greatest artists in the Western canon," says Robert McClain, owner of McClain Gallery, Houston, who's served as the couple's art adviser since the inception of their collection in 2005. The intensely private Arnolds have assembled a personal trove considered by many to be the most important private collection outside the East and West coasts. The Arnolds first appeared on Artnews' Top 200 Collectors in 2010 and have remained on the list every year since. Initial interest was devoted to early 20th-century masters such LAURA AND JOHN ARNOLD, HOUSTON D ominique de Menil and James Turrell's former intern, Suzanne Deal Booth, has been on an acquisition trajectory since her days at Rice University, when she bartered editing and art- assisting services for monoprints, etchings, and works on paper. Now this munificent supporter of Moody Center and Rice University (including funding Turrell's Twilight Epiphany Skyspace on campus), the Menil, Rothko Chapel, and The Contemporary Austin has honed the art she lives with personally. "The works in my homes are generally non- representational in imagery … Many of these evoke positive subliminal messages that are intended to create balance at the same time enticing curiosity and inquiry," she says. Most emblematic of her collection, which has increasingly focused on women, are works by Yayoi Kusama, Agnes Martin, Roni Horn, and Lee Krasner. SUZANNE DEAL BOOTH, AUSTIN as Matisse and Picasso and African works influencing those artists. A strong figurative and emotional content runs through the collection, evidenced by Expressionist works by Munch, Soutine, Giacometti, and artists of the London School. Key Abstract Expressionist artists and contemporary masters such as Bourgeois and Richter are also touchstones. In 2010, McClain was the high bidder on behalf of the couple on an important early Richter photo-based painting, Matrosen (Sailors), 1966, at Sotheby's November 2010 auction, hammered down for $13.2 million. Recent collecting has shifted to Renaissance and Baroque painting and sculpture. Lee Krasner's Assault on the Solar Plexus, 1961 Gerhard Richter's Matrosen (Sailors), 1966 77