Collecting With Purpose, Part III

Since it is February, I missed the opportunity to make the requisite reference to the Roman mythological god Janus, the double-faced god of beginnings, endings, transitions, and doorways, and the namesake of our first month of the year. But I am going to seize the moment now because Collecting with Purpose requires us to evaluate where we have been and decide what our next right step will be. This does not mean we have to make a bulleted list of target artists we must collect in 2025 or top galleries with whom we must establish ourselves or even identify the next space in our home where we would like to hang a piece of art. What it means is to take stock of our collection and notice what interests you. Some questions you might ask:

• Which works do I most enjoy spending time with and why?
• Which works spark the most conversation or pique the interest of guests?
• Which artists are exploring new terrain and how does that compare to what I already have?
• Who has exhibitions coming up?
• Which works am I feeling less drawn to these days?
• Did I make any miscalculations last year?

This exercise puts you in tune with your relationship with the art you own and orients you in the right direction for what to collect next while leaving the possibilities wide open for discovery and exploration. I just finished reading Directional Living by Megan Hellerer and I think her methodology for finding your “bigger something” in life is aptly suited to art collecting. In a nutshell, we don’t need to know the destination. We just need to identify the next right step in the general direction we want to go. She makes extensive use of E.L. Doctorow’s metaphor for living life.

Life is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.

When we collect with purpose or collect directionally, we do not know our destination and we do not need to know it. All we need is a direction in which to travel so that we continue on the journey that will eventually deliver us where we need to be.

So, what does this look like in practice, you ask? Excellent question! That transitions me perfectly into our case study for Collecting With Purpose.

I have been working with Client R for several years. They first came to me because they wanted to purchase a piece of art for their home office. This was their first “serious art purchase” and they had almost zero idea what they wanted. I started spitballing some ideas based on what I know they love—rock climbing and travel. We looked at photographs of mountains, paintings of mountains, abstracted landscapes, drawings of rocks—you know, the obvious. And then I stumbled on Charles Arnoldi’s Machu Picchu series and it clicked so beautifully it was uncanny. The series is literally about the geometry of the rocks that the Incans cut to build their civilization. The colors were perfect and the size fit like the painting had been made for the space. Yall, I’m telling you when you know, you know. But at the same time, a work by Leonardo Drew also bubbled to the surface and it, too, profoundly resonated with them and their young sons. At first glance, these works have little to do with one another other than they both kind of incorporate rocks…? That’s fine. They both resonated, looked great in their home, and actually coordinated aesthetically with one another. Check. Check. Check.

Fast forward a few years and their collection now includes an abstracted landscape by Icelandic-Cleveland artist Hildur Jonsson, a commissioned abstract painting by Akron-native, LA-based painter Marcel Rozek, and a small cityscape work by Ohio-native, Berlin-based artist Dylon Krauss, and a pending acquisition of an extra special work by Manabu Ikeda. Now I have something to work with! Some really cool themes have emerged and as we embark on the next phase of acquisitions, we have a sort of Venn diagram of motifs and ideas that are guiding this next purchase. The possibilities of what could fit into this collection are still near limitless, but we now have a filter through which to sift things that come across our radar. Even if it filters out, we might still decide it should be in the collection for other reasons, but at least we are conscious of this. We are being mindful.

Since I promised you that we would return to pretty pictures of art this week, here are some non-professional-Casey’s-iPhone install shots at Client R’s!

Ahem, Casey…I have never purchased a piece of art before so how can I collect directionally or with purpose? Another excellent question!

When I begin working with a novice collector, we focus purely on what attracts you for any reason. Do you like the colors, the motif, the theme, the way something makes you feel or what it makes you think about? However, it is also important to consider what deterred you. Was something too dark, too political, too controversial? Conversely, are you wanting something really punchy to make a statement about who you are and what you believe? I won’t say it is the Wild West, but in many ways the first few acquisitions can feel a little helter skelter. Many collectors find that art attracts them for different reasons and they are often surprised at what compels them to swipe right on a work of art. You might buy an abstract painting of a flower, a tumultuous landscape, and a portrait of an old woman because you like them. And that is okay. It is after these first few acquisitions, that we start to see trends in your buying patterns and what attracts you.

Let’s take a look at Client B, with whom I have been working since this time last year. We found me via a Google search and we met at his home a few weeks later to get to know each other. In his words, their home is very nicely decorated but feels a little flat. He wants more sophisticated art to enliven their space. Yall, we have been working together for a full year and he finally bought a small (but mighty) painting of a flower by Antwoine Washington. I can pretty much guarantee you that he never would have thought this is where we would end up. During the same gallery visit, we also identified another couple of artists that we found attractive but they could not be more diametrically opposed visually. It remains to be seen what our next acquisition will be but every time we discuss art, we get a closer to finding the direction we want to be headed. We are really just turning on the car and firing up the headlights!

If you are brand new to buying art like Client B, I advise you to think back on artists you may have met this past year or exhibitions you have visited. Did you decide to buy or abstain? Why? Try to list out a couple of reasons for each, I bet you start to see a pattern.

Just begin with the next single right step in mind. This is not a means to an end goal but a passion project that will be the best, most sophisticated version of itself when you infuse your heart, mind, and soul into it.

And speaking of future planning, here are a few fairs I will be visiting this year. Are you ready to take the leap to joining me at an art fair in 2025? I’d love to have you! If you think you’re interested, fill out this form. Don’t think you can attend in person? Fill out the form to be contacted about remote attendance on FaceTime!

• EXPO Chicago April 24-27
• Frieze Week New York May 6-10
• Armory Week New York September 4-7
• Untitled Houston September 17-21
• Paris Art Week October 20-25
• Art Toronto October 23-26
• The Art Show New York TBD Dates
• Miami Art Week December 2-5

That’s all for this week!