Philip Baldwin is taking care of his legacy

As a millionaire still in his twenties, Philip Baldwin has much to live for. Having enjoyed a successful career as a corporate barrister, the Oxford University-educated collector has the wealth to pursue his passion for art.

But at 29, he is already fully focused on what will happen to the valuable works of art that he has amassed following his death.

In fact, arrangements are already in place to bequeath valuable paintings from his collection to Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum, with other works of art to be given to the National Portrait Gallery and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

Four years ago Philip was left devastated and numb on receiving news that he was HIV positive. Soon afterwards he would discover that he was co-infected with hepatitis C.

He has recalled desperate times following the diagnosis when he would find himself in a foetal position crying in bathroom cubicles, his head on a cold limestone floor, his Gucci loafers pressed against the door.

But today Philip talks of “the empowering process of acceptance”, which he views as “a second coming out”, in its way as important to his identity as coming out as gay had been a decade earlier.

And rather than being viewed as evidence of any preoccupation with death, he is anxious that his bequest to the Ashmolean should be viewed as an expression of gratitude to his old university, which has inspired him in good times and bad.

“I feel Oxford has given me so much in terms of laying the foundations for my future career, it is just a privilege to give something back,” said Philip, who is now based in London.

“From a young age, I’ve always been passionate about art, developing a particular interest in 18th-century English portraiture as a teenager.”

He studied history at Oriel College from 2003 to 2006, later taking an M.Phil in the history of art and architecture, specialising in Renaissance battle paintings, at Peterhouse College, Cambridge.

For his 21st birthday, he had asked his father, a self-made millionaire, to buy a beautiful painting. The painting he selected for himself from Sotheby’s was a portrait of the war hero the 2nd Earl of Albermarle by Francis Cotes.

The painting by Cotes, who was the great Sir Joshua Reynolds’s major rival in the 1750s, remains Philip’s favourite and is one of the works destined for the Ashmolean.

“My portraits date from the 1750s to the 1780s, encompassing what is known as the Golden Age of English portraiture, a time when Reynolds dominated the Royal Academy and during which English portraiture was widely disseminated throughout Europe as a consequence of the rise of print culture.”

His collection of portraits includes works by founding members of the Royal Academy, such as Nathaniel Dance and Nathaniel Hone, and, of course, Cotes, who worked in London from the late 1740s, until his death in 1770.

“Since I started collecting, it has always been my intention to leave at least the most important portraits in my collection to national or international institutions when I die,” said Philip.

“I’m only 29 at the moment and am sure that I have many happy years of collecting ahead of me, but I’m in the process of drawing up a will for the purpose of bequeathing works.

“It means that my paintings would pass as a legacy upon my death to the selected institutions for the purpose of public display. I’ve been liaising with Colin Harrison from the Ashmolean and John Knox from the Fitzwilliam.”

He estimated that the collection could now be worth as much as £250,000.

Since 2009 Philip has worked in financial services in London and New York and now also serves as an ambassador and major donor for many charities including Stonewall, The Albert Kennedy Trust and The Terrence Higgins Trust.

Philip said: “I regularly visit Oxford. I feel the university is such a great institution. It continues to inspire me and I have continued to enjoy support from friends and my old tutors.

The idea of the bequest struck him when he was having lunch with his former history tutor, having earlier visited the Christ Church Picture Gallery, next door to his old college.

“I just thought ‘wow’, this is something I could start doing in my lifetime’,” he recalls.

Paintings to be bequeathed to the Ashmolean include Portrait of the Artist’s Wife, painted in the 1770s by Nathaniel Hone, viewed by some as Ireland’s greatest portraitist; and Portrait of a Gentleman, a rare portrait in oils by Daniel Gardner, dating from the 1790s.

The portrait Philip received as a 21st birthday present

But there will be much more.

His plan is to buy two new paintings a year, with plans to work closely with the Ashmolean to learn what pieces would fit best with their existing collections.

Art seems to have always come first. When he was completing his legal qualifications, the law firm sponsoring him gave him his maintenance grant in a lump sum. He promptly spent it on an 18th-century painting from Sotheby’s.

“This meant I had to live off bread and water for a year… Je ne regrette rien,” he says.

Colin Harrison, senior curator of European art at the Ashmolean, said: “It is very exciting that such a young collector should have the final destination of his collection in mind and we are to be one of the privileged recipients.

“He is only 29, with many years of collecting ahead of him. We are greatly heartened that he wishes to help fill a gap at the Ashmolean, the neglected area of 18th-century portraiture”

The curator said leaving bequests at such a young age was unusual but had happened much more widely in the 1930s and 1940s.

But for the time being Philip’s pictures will happily adorn the walls of his home in London, where he is focusing on his autobiography, Positive Damage, to appear early next year, which describes how he came to terms with HIV in the context of financial services.

He recalls how difficult it had initially been to even tell colleagues about his condition.

“Few people are comfortable disclosing their HIV status in the workplace, and certainly not in investment banking at international law firms, large accountancy practices, or other city institutions.

“I was concerned there would be misundstandings regarding my health. I didn’t want to place colleagues in an awkward position and had to make excuses to attend medical appointments.”

The book, he hopes, will help address the stigma still associated with HIV. But thanks to his love of art, it would seem Philip’s legacy is assured whatever lays ahead.