‘Female art was a bargain — I created a gallery for the price of one male artist’

When Christian Levett, the British art collector, became interested in the modern and contemporary periods, he rapidly realised that women represented good value for money.

“You could acquire the greatest female artists for a few hundred thousands pounds, whereas the male artists were costing anything between several tens of millions and £200 million,” said the retired hedge-fund manager.

“As I researched it more and more, I thought you could put together a museum-quality collection of female artists for the price of one male artist.”

Christian Levett: “You could acquire the greatest female artists for a few hundred thousands pounds, whereas the male artists were costing anything between several tens of millions and £200 million”

This month, Levett opened FAMM (Female Artists of Mougins Museum), which is being described as the first museum in continental Europe with its own all-female permanent collection.

Situated in Mougins, the French Riviera town where Pablo Picasso lived for more than