Last year, I had lunch with a housewife who had just arrived in London with her family. She was taking a short course in contemporary art history at Sotheby’s Institute of Art. She told me about a private collection visit organised by the Institute, expressing dismay and a slight tone of ignorance, “The founder of the collection is a wealthy lady who had simply nothing better to do than buy art.”

The Cranford Collection, London. Photo: Richard Ivey Photography. Courtesy of the Cranford Collection

The wife, still studying the art history short course and an amateur, may not be aware of the effort that Cranford Collection founder Muriel Salem puts into running the renowned collection. Salem not only manages more than 700 works of art but also creates new curatorial ideas to change and develop the exhibit every 18 months.

In my constant interactions with art enthusiasts, I find that many Nouveau Riche ladies in London have studied art history in attempts to improve their whole personal package. Many people think that art collecting is merely a plaything and hobby for people with time, money, and little better to do.

Muriel and Freddy Salem in front of work (partial) by Christopher Wool. Courtesy of the Cranford Collection.

Of course, a good art collection cannot be built by just ‘playing around’. Most collectors in the art world get addicted to the idea of ‘collecting’ and then become completely engulfed, travelling around the world to search for and acquire works, hungrily absorbing industry knowledge and being engrossed by the art market. They then attempt to expand their collections in various ways: loaning pieces to exhibitions, giving lectures on their artworks, establishing private foundations (often to gain priority access to a gallery’s waiting list), or co-hosting residency programs.

The Cranford Collection, London Photo: Richard Ivey Photography. Courtesy of the Cranford Collection

A person who buys a few pieces of art to decorate their home is not a collector; at most, they can perhaps call themselves an art buyer. Throughout history, the ambitions of many big collectors have long surpassed collecting as a leisurely pastime of the rich or the practical ambition of speculators simply wanting to make money by reselling art. Now, the highest level of collecting is not to fill one’s villas around the world or hoard in Freeports such as Geneva’s but has transformed into a means of public servitude and ultimately obtaining immortality through public recognition and historical importance.

Giving back to the public is indeed virtuous, and some collectors enjoy the process of fostering and absorbing new knowledge, taking a dim view of monetary rewards and rather seeking to make their art publicly accessible. An obsession with immortality is considered a vice of human nature – the utmost level of vanity. Indeed, when a collection is not shared and made public and a collector dies, the collection they have built over a lifetime may end up orphaned, scattered in auctions to various destinations in the homes of the rich and famous.

Collectors who exhibit their collections for altruistic purposes or endeavour to leave a mark on history have donated their private collections to institutions or established them for public access under their own names. Aside from regular temporary exhibitions, most permanent collections in private museums are the collections of the museum founders. It has been jokingly suggested that many private museums are mere ‘ego-museums’, perhaps embodying a collector’s selfish desire for immortality.

Song Art Museum in Beijing Image Credit: ArchDaily ©Zhi Xia

Running an art museum requires a great deal of human, personal, and financial resources. Many collectors who do not have a ‘physical’ space to exhibit their collections become occupied with branding their private collections. As in any other industry, the most important aspect to make a brand stand out is a unique positioning, or to say colloquially, having a USP (unique selling point). A collector who buys only the darlings of the market without any collecting niche, thematic vision, or focus on social or humanitarian issues will only be able to astound the viewer with a mundane shopping list of artworks, even if they have a large and expensive collection. Of course, an extravagant personal collection branded by a grandiose list is not a bad way to go. But more importantly, there are art collectors whose collections are not necessarily the most expensive but are highly recognisable because they focus on a niche or specialised theme.

Villa Panza by the Duke of Panza

Building a focused collection in the right place, at the right time can not only support the careers of a group of artists but can also impact history. The Italian collector Count Giuseppe Panza had the foresight to acquire a large number of minimalist and conceptual artworks in the 1960s, before Europe had digested American post-war minimalist art, and then donated and sold most of the collection to American art museums, enriching their collections and making his Panza Collection an important collection of American minimalist and conceptual art. The Swiss Uli Sigg was one of the first Western collectors of Chinese contemporary art, and in some ways, not only advanced the development of the Chinese contemporary art market but also brought it to the international market.

Photo of Jean Pigozzi’s home in Cap d’Antibes Image Credit: © Victor Picon for Artsy

Sometimes the concept of a collection is the reflection of personal taste, such as the great collector David Geffen’s preference for post-war American artists, Jean Pigozzi’s focus on African artists, the Italian female collector Valeria Napoleone’s exclusive collection of women artists, and The DSL Collection, established by French couple Sylvain and Dominique Levy, focused on contemporary Chinese art. All of these collectors operate and promote their collections in different ways. Valeria Napoleone is incredibly active in participating in non-profit projects dedicated to supporting artists and is also keen to open her home to museum patrons to share her private collection.

Home of Jean Pigozzi Panama Image Credit: departures.com

Becoming renowned for championing these initiatives, Napoleone adds to the personal intention behind her brand and, thus, her collection. The DSL Collection regularly presents VR gallery exhibitions, and both the Levys and their daughter Karen Levy are actively involved in lectures around the world. This too creates a name and oeuvre for their personal brand and raises awareness of their collections.

Sylvain and Dominique Levy of DSL Collection Image Courtesy: DSL Collection

As for the aforementioned Cranford Collection, in addition to lending the collection to public institutions for exhibitions and collaborating with the Camden Arts Centre on an artist-in-residence programme, they invite artists to their homes to create works inspired by the Cranford Collection itself. One such recent guest, Sophie von Hellermann, a popular British artist, was invited to reinterpret the work of Alex Israel, Sarah Lucas, Karen Kilimnik, and others in the collection and create a series of watercolour works.

Valeria Napoleone Image Credit: Apollo Magazine

Of course, not everyone develops a unique niche for their collection when they’re testing the waters of collecting; many collectors gradually figure out and shape their preferences through buying. The process of collecting requires patience, consideration, and continuous learning. A good collector needs the eyes to see and ears to hear, as well as be able to travel to exhibitions, understand auctions, visit studios, and remain informed. It can be said that collecting art is not only a matter of investing money but also of investing a great deal of time and effort.

Valeria Napoleone’s home in London

Although not all collectors will admit that they buy art to preserve their assets, no one wants to buy a piece of art that will transform into a piece of junk within a few years. The major prerequisite for a collector to make accurate judgments and decisions is to be in the ‘loop’, to know what’s new and sense zeitgeist trends. For example, art museum exhibitions can influence the market for an artist; therefore, collectors need to have important information about the museum’s exhibition schedule years in advance. This is perhaps why many major collectors are willing to become Council Members of the museum. In these roles, they can donate works to gain access to works more readily from the primary market as well as ‘insider’ knowledge of the global exhibition schedule.

Collecting art can be a hobby, but building an influential collection is almost like having a full-time job for a collector. However, it’s not like climbing the corporate ladder. While galleries do suck up to important, renowned collectors, unless you claim to be on the level of Al Thani or Pinault, it doesn’t matter how rich you are or if you can afford the expensive works. In the art world, there’s always someone richer than you, or someone who’s a better collector. It takes a lot to be admired and respected by gallerists, and until you are, you’ll likely be on the artwork waiting list for a very, very long time.

Throwing a lot of money at an auction may certainly attract media attention, but running and overseeing a good collection is more similar to the work of an entrepreneur – positioning yourself well, always learning, keeping up with the market, making the right investments at the right time, and having a good team to work with and run the collection. Even if they do not have their own exhibition space open to the public, many collectors still need to hire full-time staff to assist with research, coordinate the administrative tasks of private meetings and loans to museums, and deal with logistical aspects.

Herbert Vogel and Dorothy Vogel

Like starting a business, collecting art does require an initial fund, but it isn’t always a game that only the wealthiest people can play. This was true in the past but is perhaps no longer the case in today’s market—a miracle may still occur, but I would be very surprised. In the past, Herbert Vogel, a famous collector, amassed over 5,000 works during his lifetime and donated his collection to several galleries, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. Vogel was a postal worker, and his wife was a librarian. While they lived frugally, they spent much of their income on art. Many of the works in their collection were purchased directly from emerging artists’ studios before they reached fame.

Valeria Napoleone, an Italian collector whose family are wealthy industrialists, said that when she first started collecting, she bought only two works a year with a budget of no more than £50,000 for each piece. Collecting early in an artist’s career requires a good relationship with the gallery representing them. Nowadays, when galleries need to place work in the right collection, they take the artist’s opinion into consideration foremost. So it is incredibly favourable for a collector to build a friendship with these artists. Association with public institutions also creates a good image for a collector’s profile. ‘Buy one, donate one to a museum’ is a common industry game. To be a collector, an art advisor buying and selling art for clients, or even a dealer buying low and selling high, socialising with industry professionals and wealthy individuals is just part of the job.

Collector Christian Levett

Many collectors will admit that they collect art as an investment. Christian Levett, who has the world’s largest collection of classical art and antiquities and has built his private museum FAMM in Mougins, southern France, graciously admits that he collects contemporary art such as Damien Hirst for investment. The Nahmad brothers are among the world’s top collectors, with a collecting style described as “simple and brutal”—the brothers strategically buy lots of art, hold it in storage, and then sell it at a high price. For the two brothers, who come from investment banking backgrounds, profit always comes first.

However, collecting and buying art as an investment are still two different things. Speculators buy art and sell it for profit in a short period, and the price of art is the criterion by which they judge the success or failure of their investment. While many collectors will occasionally sell some of their collection to obtain funds to purchase better works or sell works that no longer fit their collection, they know that the market for artists whose prices rise quickly will not necessarily remain stable and that the works of the most sought-after artists do not always have long-term historical value. Many innovative artists may not gain immediate recognition in the market, but collectors are willing to gamble or act with faith to acquire the works of art they truly believe in.

Ultimately, it would be fair to say that building a renowned and immortalising collection requires not only a love for art on a humanitarian level but also business savvy.

-the end-

Text: Luning

Copyediting: Rosie