eli broad was drawn into the art world by his wife edye's interest in collecting. their first major purchase was made in 1973, when he and edye first acquired a van gogh drawing entitled "cabanes a saintes-maries", 1888. art collector and mca executive taft schreiber became their mentor. the broads' early acquisitions included notable works by miró, picasso and matisse. eventually, the pair began to concentrate on post–world war ii art.