Sleep With The Fishes

The story of how a $100,000-a-night suite in the Palms Casino in Las Vegas got drenched in Damien Hirst.

- James Tarmy

Billionaire brothers Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta’s first encounter with art was through their father, Frank Jr., founder of Las Vegas’s Station Casinos. “My dad had started buying 19th century art,” says Frank, the chairman and chief executive officer of Red Rock Resorts Inc. “And then Lorenzo and I became friends with people in New York, and became more exposed to contemporary artwork, and fell in love with it.”

Their collection now includes works by Andy Warhol, Willem de Kooning, and JeffKoons. (The brothers famously underbid on a $110 million painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat, which ended up going to the Japanese e-tailer Yusaku Maezawa.) “We’ve learned over the years what we like,” Frank says. “Our collection has continued to evolve.”

Parts of that collection are displayed in their homes, and parts are on view in their corporate offices and casinos, including the Palms Casino Resort, purchased by the brothers in 2016. Recently they enlisted artist Damien Hirst to design a whole suite there, which they filled with his artwork.

“Some of the art—Warhols, Basquiats, Richard Princes—are from our collection, and all of the newer artists are owned by the Palms,” Frank says. “It’s a combination. As we collect, we may rotate something in and rotate some out. It’s not static.”