{"id":19626,"date":"2023-04-24T21:06:33","date_gmt":"2023-04-25T01:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sothebysrealty.ca\/insightblog\/en\/?p=19626"},"modified":"2023-04-24T21:08:32","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T01:08:32","slug":"art-collectors-the-unlikely-heroes-of-the-art-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sothebysrealty.ca\/insightblog\/en\/2023\/04\/24\/art-collectors-the-unlikely-heroes-of-the-art-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Art Collectors: The Unlikely Heroes of the Art Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Driven by passion, here\u2019s the story behind some of the most unlikely heroes of the art community \u2013 art collectors. <\/p>\n

Collectors have always been integral to the story of art. Without the patronage of the Medici family, the works of great Renaissance artists like Brunelleschi, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael would simply not exist as we know them. This dynasty not only commissioned their work, but they also ensured that it was preserved for the ages.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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More recently, modern-day Medicis such as casino owner Steve Wynn have become powerful players in their own right. His collection of old masters and modern masterpieces is, according to Artnet, rumoured to be worth over $1 billion USD.<\/p>\n

People are compelled to collect for many reasons \u2014 in Wynn\u2019s case, the museum-worthy works helped change the perception of Las Vegas from Sin City to a centre of high culture. But Wynn and the Medicis shared another trait. \u201cMoney,\u201d Wynn once said, \u201cis a way of expressing no compromise.\u201d No compromise is a sentiment that most creatives live by.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, some important collectors wield less power when it comes to accumulating art, but they still play an important role in fostering up-and-coming artists as well as expressing their own creativity. We\u2019re talking about people like Herbert and Dorothy Vogel, a postman and librarian who used their modest resources to build one of the largest collections of American modern art of the 20th century.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Another influential investor in modern art was entertainment lawyer David Solinger. His currency was connections as he represented many modern artists including Willem de Kooning, the Dutch- American Abstract Expressionist. The story goes that Solinger was visiting the then relatively unknown de Kooning in his studio and bought a work in progress right on the spot. This financial infusion helped de Kooning stay afloat.<\/p>\n

Later, Solinger became a trustee of the Whitney Museum, using his connections to the post-war art scene to enliven the institution\u2019s exhibitions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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And then there was Solinger\u2019s connection to the assembled work. In a statement, Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby\u2019s Europe, claimed the assortment was important because it had been \u201clived with since the moment it was acquired.\u201d It was so significant as a whole, that the family tried to keep the works together after his death in 1998. It was only in the fall of 2022 that a selection of works by Picasso (Femme dans fauteuil<\/em>), Giacometti\u2019s sculpture Trois hommes qui<\/em>, which Solinger commissioned from the artist after the two met at the latter\u2019s Paris studio, and the aforementioned de Kooning was auctioned off.<\/p>\n

While the Vogel\u2019s story may seem much more folksy when compared to Solinger or Wynn, just because they weren\u2019t working with fortunes doesn\u2019t mean they didn\u2019t use the resources they had to make big deals.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Julia Breckenreid is an illustrator who lives in Toronto. She is also an art educator who was an instructor in the Illustration BA program at Sheridan College for 18 years and is currently teaching courses on Domestika. In 2021, she illustrated Dorothy & Herbert <\/em>a picture book written by Jackie Az\u00faa Kramer.<\/p>\n

As an artist herself, Breckenreid has a unique take on the Vogel\u2019s story. \u201cWhen someone buys your art it\u2019s more than just a financial transaction, they are being emotionally supportive,\u201d says Breckenreid. Herb and Dorothy lived in a tiny apartment in New York but almost every surface was covered in work by once up-and-coming artists that lived in the neighbourhood. Names like Robert and Sylvia Mangold, Donald Judd, Richard Tuttle, Sol LeWitt, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and Lynda Benglis were all unknowns when the Vogel\u2019s first started buying their art but would later become big presences in the Modern Art world. It has been said that they also nourished the local scene by employing artists as cat sitters.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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There was also a method to their madness. As they filled their tiny one-bedroom apartment with drawings, sculptures and paintings, their only guideline was that the piece had to be able to fit into a cab before they would purchase it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a funny kind of commerce,\u201d says Brecknreid. \u201cThey never did it for the money.\u201d Because they didn\u2019t have children, they poured their commitment into their chosen family of artists. Still, they could be neglectful parents, stacking canvasses against the wall where no one, themselves included, could enjoy them. It finally came time to downsize or drown in a sea of Modernism. The couple donated their collection to the National Gallery of Art in 1991. By the time Herbert died in 2012, their apartment had filled up again.<\/p>\n

Compulsion is a driver for any collector. And even if you\u2019re not in it for the money, building a world-class collection requires not only a great emotional investment but also a canny ability to speculate on talent, mixed with confidence in one\u2019s personal tastes.<\/p>\n

Collectors like the Vogels and art dealer\/car collector Kenny Schacter are generally considered outsiders in the art world. Schacter reportedly never even visited an art gallery before the age of 27. So these unsung acquistors don\u2019t generally work from within traditional gallery and auction circles.<\/p>\n

As a result, the way they finance their purchases can also be unorthodox. In his notes for the Sotheby\u2019s sale, Schacter wrote: \u201cThe best collectors I find are those that take the plunge on a leap of faith that the funds will be conjured by sheer will if necessary.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Nor do they necessarily consider themselves collectors. Schacter views himself as an artist and critic. Most recently he has been rolling the dice on NFTs and began selling his creations at the Independent Art Fair in New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to be an artist,\u201d Schacter recently told Artnews. \u201cAnd to be an artist you need an audience and you need to express yourself. A van Gogh in the bushes has no impact. The equation is fulfilled when you\u2019re presenting your work.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it doesn\u2019t always work out as hoped. Given the size of their donation, there are no doubt drawings from the Vogels that sit unseen in the National Gallery of Art\u2019s vaults.<\/p>\n

But when collecting becomes a form of artistic expression in itself, each piece becomes part of the conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur consciousness exists not only via our acknowledgement by and interrelations with others; but, in addition, through our interactions with objects \u2014 namely, art. And being bound to it,\u201d says Schacter. \u201cWell, me at least.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

By Rhonda Riche \u2013 This article originally appeared in Insight: The Art Of Living Magazine \u2013 The Passion Issue<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Driven by passion, here\u2019s the story behind some of the most unlikely heroes of the art community \u2013 art collectors.  Collectors have always been integral to the story of art….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":19627,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[394],"tags":[1608],"class_list":["post-19626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insight-magazine","tag-insight-magazine-spring-2023"],"yoast_head":"\nArt Collectors: The Unlikely Heroes of the Art Community - Sotheby's International Realty Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Driven by passion, here\u2019s the story behind some of the most unlikely heroes of the art community \u2013 art collectors.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sothebysrealty.ca\/insightblog\/en\/?p=19626\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Art Collectors: The Unlikely Heroes of the Art Community - 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