David Roberts (art collector)

David Roberts is a British property developer, contemporary art collector and founder of DRAF (David Roberts Art Foundation).

David Ian Roberts was brought up in Greenock, Scotland, and his family worked in shipbuilding. He studied for a degree in land economy and then became a commercial property developer. He is the founder and CEO of Edinburgh House Estates. He is married to Lithuanian artist Indrė Šerpytytė.

Roberts began collecting in the early 1990s, and the David Roberts Collection now consists of more than 2,000 works by over 600 artists. It comprises modern and contemporary works by British and international artists including Ida Applebroog, Charles Avery, John Baldessari, Fiona Banner, Phyllida Barlow, Louise Bourgeois, Martin Boyce, Anthony Caro, Maurizio Cattelan, Patrick Caulfield, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Martin Creed, Enrico David, Tracey Emin, Cerith Wyn Evans, Lucian Freud, Ellen Gallagher, Theaster Gates, Douglas Gordon, Anthony Gormley, Rodney Graham, Andreas Gursky, Philip Harris, Mona Hatoum, Eva Hesse, John Latham, Damien Hirst, Peter Howson, Gary Hume, Bethan Huws, Pierre Huyghe, Anish Kapoor, Anselm Kiefer, Jim Lambie, Sol Lewitt, Roy Lichenstein, Sarah Lucas, Christian Marclay, Bruce McLean, Joan Miro, Henry Moore, Grayson Perry, Man Ray, Tobias Rehberger, Gerhard Richter, Bridget Riley, Sterling Ruby, Ed Ruscha, Yinka Shonibare, David Shrigley, John Stezaker, Wolfgang Tillmans, Rosemarie Trockel, Oscar Tuazon, Danh Vo, Mark Wallinger, Andy Warhol, Ai Weiwei, Franz West.

In 2007, Roberts founded DRAF (David Roberts Art Foundation), a non-profit centre for contemporary art in central London. He appointed curator Vincent Honoré to direct a programme or exhibitions, performances and events open free to the public. DRAF originally occupied a gallery space on Great Titchfield Street in Fitzrovia. It moved in 2012 to its current headquarters in Mornington Crescent, a 19th-century converted furniture factory with 500 sq m exhibition space on the ground floor .