JOAN OF ART: While Joan Irvine Smith...

JOAN OF ART: While Joan Irvine Smith prepares for the grand opening of her new Irvine Museum on Jan. 14, New York-based Art & Antiques magazine is busy putting together its annual list of Top 100 art collectors. And Smith is near the top of the list, for her 1992 buying spree. . . . “She’s been great for the artists,� says Art & Antiques’ Trevor Pearson. “She’s driven the price of a painting in the $50,000 range up to nearly half a million dollars.�