When you've got the biggest bankroll in town, I suppose you're expected to put together a stellar art collection. But where to begin?

Well, if you're Paul Allen, you begin by assembling an all-star cast of players, including Van Gogh, Picasso, Renoir and Monet. In fact, you buy four Monets. Then you find you like Venice's Grand Canal so much that you buy four depictions of the same scene. And why not?

You can take a look at what else Allen has accrued at the Experience Music Project this spring. The exhibit, "Doubletake: From Monet to Lichtenstein," has received some criticism for the way the works are displayed, but the art is worth spending some time with. The exhibit features Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works paired with more contemporary pieces. In an introductory video, "Frasier" star David Hyde Pierce pops up to tell us how to study the paintings.

I'd be more interested in learning why Allen picked these pieces in particular, and where in his Mercer Island mansion he chooses to display. The Lichtenstein, of course, has to go in his bedroom. The work features a blonde bombshell with pointy red nails making out with a pilot. Then there's a strange photo of two men in space suits trekking up a red sand dune, and a little-bitty nude by Picasso, no more than five inches tall.

Coordinators say Allen's art collection extends beyond this selection of 28 works—and that's not surprising, considering he seems to collect everything that suits this fancy (art, science fiction, rock 'n' roll and sports teams). Let's hope he continues to allow us a peek now and then.

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