This prolific art collector lost at least 30 artworks from Andy Warhol in the Los Angeles wildfires, as ITV News Correspondent Robert Moore reports
The wildfire rode the fierce Santa Ana winds, raced down the hills and canyons, and engulfed whole communities. Residents faced the anguish of abandoning their homes and all their possessions to the inferno.
Among them was Ron Rivlin.
The prominent art collector stood on his rooftop in the Pacific Palisades and watched the wildfire enter the town and jump across Sunset Boulevard, igniting everything in its path.
He was desperate not to abandon his great collection. But then a text arrived on his phone from his daughter with a single word: “Daddy!”
It was the emotional jolt he needed. He wasn’t just a collector. He was a father. Ron had just seconds to leave the house and save his life.
His artwork was firmly attached to the wall with anti-theft devices. The sprinkler system inside his home could help extinguish a house fire but stood no chance against the monster coming out of the hills.
He ripped off three Warhols from the walls with his bare hands. His fingers wedged behind the frames, he just pulled the pictures and screen prints away, no longer worrying about the damage.
He stuffed them in his car and fled to safety.
Left behind were more than 200 artworks, including 30 Warhols, and masterpieces by Damien Hirst and Keith Haring.
Ron Rivlin has the largest private collection of Warhols in the world.
He had turned his Pacific Palisades home into a spectacular and eclectic modern art museum to share with his friends and local residents.
Six days after the fire, ITV News returned with him to the house for an initial investigation into what might have survived. The three-storey house had completely collapsed and was now an ash-strewn pit.
Our search was not a sophisticated assessment but a first glimpse into the loss. We had a ladder and some safety equipment and descended into the wreckage.
There were scorch marks where great art had once hung. Nothing was left from inside the house.
Rivlin was clearly devastated but he was also thinking about others in the community who had suffered even more.
As he clambered towards the back of the destroyed home, Rivlin let out a cry of joy.
One of his most prized artworks, a huge sculpture by the artist Michael Benisty, was intact.
Known, appropriately, as “Broken but Together,” it had fallen over but the stainless steel installation had survived the fire with barely any damage.
Rivlin was deeply moved. The sculpture has been a prominent feature of the Burning Man Festival, the great alternative art and cultural gathering that is held annually in the Nevada desert.
Rivlin says he will donate it to Pacific Palisades as a symbol of resilience and survival against all odds.
Rivlin’s life story is not one of inherited wealth, but of starting as a newspaper delivery boy in Toronto and working in McDonalds. Only later did he break into the music business and enjoy success as an agent and art collector.
Now, he says, he must start all over again. But his focus will remain on helping Pacific Palisades rebuild and restoring its sense of joy and artistic flair.
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