It’s that time of year again, everyone is busy doing their annual spring cleaning; changing upholstery and curtains from a snug, cozy house, to a bright, airy one, tucking away winter clothes to the back of the closet. Or perhaps you are switching around or re-hanging artworks from your collection, if you are an art collector, that is.
Smooth segue into today’s topic of discussion; let’s talk about art collecting and how collections evolve and grow with us.
When you first start collecting art, it could be the art itself that draws you in, for the aesthetic value or because you are drawn to the artist’s style or message. As you continue adding to your collection, you start to enjoy the process of finding the perfect artwork that fits your collection, your personality, where you are in life, at that moment. The artworks you choose become the result of the connection you feel between yourself and the artist, how the artwork speaks directly to you.
Your taste can evolve over the years, by various contributing factors. As you grow older, your preferences get more refined and usually evolve based on your travels and experiences. Your emotions play a huge role in how you select an artwork for your collection as well. As you progress, you start to get more confident in your ability to choose art that moves you, or art that you can invest in, depending on your plan for your collection.
Most collectors state that collecting art goes much deeper than being a simple hobby or purely for aesthetic purposes.
Collecting art can have an emotional value to the collector, an investment of sorts, and can even turn into a way of life over time, for some. On the other hand, some collectors, such as Robert Dootson collect artworks instinctively, saying that “I don’t have rules or regulations. I immediately see something, then I like it. It’s my first impression that matters.” Robert is an art collector from Seattle, who has been collecting art since the late 60s, and had even turned his private home collection into a gallery, open for viewing, in 2010.
So it really is up to you what direction you choose to take while collecting art. Just like everything else in the art world, art collections are very subjective, and vary from person to person. It is your journey and what you make of it.