An exhibition called Sphere, which opens on October 3 at Sir John Soane's Museum in London, offers a rare opportunity to see contemporary art works owned by one of Britain's most enigmatic collectors, Peter Fleissig. He is a man of extreme personal reticence. His shyness is often mistaken for rudeness, but his collection has achieved a kind of mythical status.

Formed over a period of about 17 years, it includes work by some of today's best-known artists - Damien Hirst, Rachel Whiteread, Steve McQueen, Mark Wallinger, Matthew Barney. Many of these are drawings or works made in editions, but some are masterpieces. Fleissig, who admits that he has never paid more than "the price of a second-hand Volvo" for anything, bought them cheaply because he spotted them long before the artists became famous.

Adding to the air of mystery is the title, "nvisible museum" (deliberately misspelt), which Fleissig bestowed on the collection in 1987. It is, he says, "a nomadic collection with no home". In its formative stages, Fleissig housed the works in his bedroom at his parents' house in Hampstead. But, as it grew, he dispersed it among his friends. One of his earliest purchases, discovered in 1985 at the newly opened Anthony Reynolds gallery near the City, was Battling for Britain, a painting by Goldsmiths' graduate Mark Wallinger. Fleissig lent it to pop star collector Dave Stewart (formerly of the Eurythmics), who hung it on his staircase for seven years.

Unlike Charles Saatchi, who is also famous for spotting talent, Fleissig does not buy in bulk, is much more focused, and has never sold. If he did, he too would make some hefty profits. Rachel Whiteread's early sculpture, Fort (1989), bought for less than £4,000, might now fetch more than £100,000. Wallinger's video Prometheus, bought at its first showing in 1999 for $5,000, is worth five times that now that most copies have been snapped up by museums.

But Fleissig does not buy for investment. Those who have worked with him describe him as dedicated, loyal, generous, and committed to supporting new talent. "I try to buy early, often experimental works, that the artist is not sure about, that a museum would not currently be interested in," he says. Sphere, an all-black botanical painting by British artist Paul Morrison, was bought in 1999, just after Morrison left college. Since then, Fleissig has supported him in numerous ways, not least in directing the design of an artist's book launched earlier this year.

The focus of the collection, says Fleissig, is on "spiritual works". After the death of his father, for instance, he bought "a series of life and death works", including a drawing Damien Hirst made for his famous shark in formaldehyde. "For me," he says, "art is life a way to deepen my understanding of life."

Since 1997, works from the "nvisible museum" have been touring the world. From Kiev and Kyoto to Memphis and Washington, the exhibitions are never the same because the works are selected according to the nature of the host institution - places such as the British Embassy in Cairo. The exhibition at Sir John Soane's Museum is the last stop of this world tour.

Soane, one of England's greatest architects and collectors, died in 1837, specifying that his house with its huge and varied collection of antiquities, paintings, drawings and works of art, remain open to the public. Fleissig, who trained as an architect, describes the museum as a "tardis". And with this exhibition, in which the tardis lands in the 21st century, comparisons are invited between the two collectors.

There is, for instance, the shared desire to use a private collection for public, educational purposes. The intention of this exhibition is that, by juxtaposing contemporary works with ancient ones, objects may acquire a new resonance. This echoes Soane's own display tactics, in which he placed things not according to any art historical hierarchy but in formal relationship to each other, often in surprising ways.

Then again, Soane collected architectural drawings; Fleissig likes sculptor's drawings. Both show the working process. Soane collected casts; Fleissig also likes editioned work, whether prints, sculptures or videos.

"I admire Soane," says Fleissig. "He was a curious man with an eclectic collection. However, he bought a lot of works at auction. I never buy at auction because the money would not go to the artist."

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