Perhaps money can buy you class.<\/p>\n
Fredrik Eklund may have been selling multimillion-dollar listings for 20 years and snapping up fancy homes<\/a> for himself for 15 years, but it wasn\u2019t until about four years ago that he felt that he had achieved a different level of success.\u00a0<\/p>\n It was then that the former reality television star <\/a>started collecting blue-chip art including pieces from Jean-Michel Basquiat, Gustav Klimt, Willem de Kooning, Salvador Dal\u00ed and Keith Haring. Today his 100-plus-piece collection totals $15 million to $25 million and the paintings grace the walls of Eklund\u2019s homes (he said it was \u201clike putting an animal in a cage\u201d to store art in storage), including his Manhattan lair.<\/p>\n Fredrik Eklund is at home among his art collection. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n Art at Eklund\u2019s Manhattan pad includes \u201cFor Mara,\u201d a 1986 marker-pen work on a cloth napkin by Keith Haring. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cI think as this kid from Sweden, coming here and seeing all these beautiful, very expensive art collections, like 100 times bigger than [mine] \u2014 I\u2019ve seen some of the wealthiest people\u2019s homes \u2014 I never felt like I could be there, so maybe it was also buying myself a lot of class,\u201d Eklund told The Post during an afternoon interview in his Greenwich Village apartment.<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt so distant, like the dream was too big or too far away,\u201d he later elaborated.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n From that point on, he said, \u201cI just got very smitten.\u201d<\/p>\n Collecting art is not that different from selling multimillion-dollar homes. Both require discretion, illiquid assets and value built on pedigree.<\/p>\n Eklund would rather live with his art than tuck it away in storage. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n Eklund acquired his \u201cUntitled\u201d piece by Jean-Michel Basquiat at Art Basel. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n The \u201cMillion Dollar Listing New York\u201d and \u201cMillion Dollar Listing Los Angeles\u201d alum is now comfortable in both spheres.<\/p>\n A luxury real estate broker, Eklund and pal John Gomes co-lead the Eklund Gomes Team at Douglas Elliman, which has 100 people in 12 offices in five states. The team has achieved more than $30 billion in sales with a client roster including Jennifer Lopez, Leonardo DiCaprio, Justin Timberlake and Gigi Hadid.<\/p>\n \u201cI can finally, hopefully get into the conversation with people, discuss art, which is very important in real estate,\u201d Eklund, 49, said. \u201cAnd I understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe big expensive apartments are always sold to big collectors. So it is important to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n Art in his home includes \u201cUntitled,\u201d a 1949 work by Pat Passlof. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n Coloring outside the lines<\/p>\n Eklund\u2019s collection blends old with new, men with women, and domestic with foreign across different mediums and periods.<\/p>\n He has pieces from Joan Mir\u00f3; Elaine de Kooning, de Kooning\u2019s wife; Gerhard Richter; Joan Mitchell; Tracy Emin; Rashid Johnson; and Rocco Ritchie, Madonna\u2019s son.<\/p>\n Laura Footes\u2019 oil on canvas, \u201cYoung Insomniac\u201d hangs above Eklund\u2019s bed. \u201cShe\u2019s going in and out of sleep,\u201d Eklund commented. \u201cShe has sleep issues. I don\u2019t. I love to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n Three 2025 oil-on-canvas works by Laura Footes, \u201cYoung Insomniac,\u201d left, \u201cIcarus in Therapy,\u201d middle, and \u201cLittle Storm,\u201d right, hang side-by-side above Eklund\u2019s bed. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n Eklund\u2019s collection includes a large number of works by female artists, like Hilma af Klint and her \u201cStudio Interior.\u201d Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n Peter Beard\u2019s \u201cAndy Warhol Contact Sheet,\u201d is part of the collection. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n At his bedside he has a short stack of books: a 365-day devotional prayer book \u201cJesus Listens,\u201d by Sarah Young, \u201cPeople to be Loved\u201d by Preston Sprinkle, \u201cThe Let Them Theory\u201d by Mel Robbins, and a daily gratitude journal called \u201cChoose Gratitude Change the World.\u201d<\/p>\n Eklund was in Manhattan for a few nights, and after an interview with The Post planned to go to an art show showcasing work by Franco-Mexican designer Hugo Toro, who renovated and reimagined the Orient Express La Minerva in Rome.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s someone that I would just say, I really want to work with,\u201d Eklund said. \u201cHe\u2019s the hottest interior designer, out of Paris.\u201d<\/p>\n Eklund turned his home into a sort of museum. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n Rashid Johson\u2019s \u201cUntitled Anxious Bruise Drawing,\u201d left, and Gerhard Richter\u2019s \u201cEight Student Nurses,\u201d right, flank the door to Eklund\u2019s children\u2019s room. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n Now that he\u2019s a real collector, Eklund routinely hits up art shows, like Art Basel in Miami. He acquired his \u201cUntitled\u201d Basquiat at Art Basel in 2025 for a reported $600,000.<\/p>\n Eklund traveled with other members of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, on organized trips to museums, private collections and artist studios.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis year I went to S\u00e3o Paulo and Venice Biennale with them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Eklund didn\u2019t forget to put art in the half-bathroom:, like \u201cArtist\u2019s Hand,\u201d by Ai Weiwei. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n Gustav Klimt\u2019s \u201cDVO QVVM \/ FACIVNT IDEM. \/ NON EST IDEM (Design f\u00fcr Ver Sacrum)\u201d graces Eklund\u2019s walls. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n Eklund invests in female artists like Elaine de Kooning, who created \u201cVictoria.\u201d Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n Eklund has felt connected to Andy Warhol, dating back to his time on \u201cMDLNY,\u201d when he once spent $9,000 to transform into the artist<\/a>, even donning a prosthetic nose, for an open house meant to reflect a neighborhood\u2019s artistic roots.\u00a0<\/p>\n The broker sold one of Warhol\u2019s 1986 screenprints of \u201cSitting Bull\u201d at auction in October 2025 for $114,300, records show.<\/p>\n At home<\/p>\n Eklund signed the first contract in 64 University Place<\/a>, a new development he marketed for developers Argo Real Estate and Bsafal Inc. He plunked down $3.35 million for a 1,383-square-foot, two-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom pad in 2024. The 11-story building\u2019s 28 units sold out, off market, sight unseen within three weeks, he said. (Gomes picked up a unit on the seventh floor, as an investment property.)<\/p>\n Eklund nabbed a 1,383-square-foot apartment at 64 University Place. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n 8-year-old twins, Milla and Freddy Jr. share a room with a bunk bed. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n Eklund, and husband, Zimbabwean abstract artist Derek Kaplan, and their 8-year-old twins, Milla and Freddy Jr., spend the majority of their time in Miami. (Kaplan was with Freddy in London at the time of the interview, and Milla was at Disney World with friends.)\u00a0<\/p>\n They also have a place in Roxbury, Conn., an unfinished-home in Austin and a unit in the Shore Club in Miami Beach, which will be completed in about 18 months.\u00a0<\/p>\n They recently bought an apartment in Paris, which Eklund touted on Instagram<\/a> in April. The couple purchased a 13th-century chapel ruin in Tuscany, Italy, in 2025, which Eklund showcased on Instagram<\/a> in July 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n The kids have Rumi Tsuda\u2019s \u201cMandala of New Yorkers\u201d in their room. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n That\u2019s a wrap<\/p>\n Eklund helped launch Bravo\u2019s \u201cMDLNY\u201d in 2012, and after more than a decade on that show \u2014 and a short stint on its Los Angeles spin-off \u2014 he called it quits<\/a>. The 6\u20194\u201d Swede was known for his trademark high kick<\/a>, colorful socks and record-breaking sales.<\/p>\n He even met Kaplan while he was filming in Mykonos, the Greek island in the Cyclades. They married on air and even filmed their journey to parenthood with a surrogate.<\/p>\n Eklund demonstrates his signature high-kick move on his children\u2019s bunk bed. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n Eklund spends the most time in Miami of all of his homes. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n Eklund faces a wall of art from his bed. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n Eklund\u2019s kitchen flows into his dining room on University Place. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cThe more you share \u2014 the more vulnerable \u2014 the better the business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Eklund is still in communication with the other New York cast members. He said he had just texted Ryan Serhant<\/a>, who has an eponymous firm; he speaks to Luis Ortiz, who lives in Puerto Rico, \u201call the time,\u201d and recently did a real estate deal with Corcoran\u2019s Steve Gold.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe grew up. The city grew up,\u201d Eklund said. \u201cThe show was really the engine for our businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n Today Eklund has shifted from doing individual home sales to handling new developments.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re doing bigger buildings, bigger sellouts and more projects,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s exciting because you change the skyline.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t