Reason and Passion in Buying Art
As I make the rounds of various galleries every week and take in so many works, I inevitably meet a piece that makes me think, on pure instinct, “I want this!” I want to welcome the works I love into my own collection. Anyone who loves art surely feels the same way.
Right after that heat-like, instinctive “I love it,” a cooler self appears and asks, “Do I really need it?”—hurling negative arguments at the passionate self of a moment ago, and a battle begins.
- I already own something similar
- The price doesn’t fit my budget
- I could buy a different work instead
- It won’t suit my room
- Do I even need it in the first place?
- Do I truly think it’s a good work?
…and so I lay all sorts of reasons out on the table and weigh them carefully.
Often I falter partway through and give up on acquiring the piece; looking back later, sometimes I’m satisfied with the conclusion I reached and sometimes I’m not—which is to say, I’ve come to quietly accept that there simply is no single right answer.
Only when I feel strongly that it’s a work I want even after overcoming all the objections—a work I truly need—does it finally make its way into the collection.
The other day, at a gallery I visited, there was a work that caught my attention.
It was the opening day of a solo show by a still-young artist. In the quiet, sparsely attended gallery, the artist—there in person—explained the works to me with great earnestness.
The world of the works was unified around the theme of the exhibition, and the many pieces filling the gallery each radiated their own energy.
Two works in particular caught my eye, and I spent a long time taking them in. Rather than a welling-up of energy, it was more like the water level slowly rising as the works drew me in—and my usual “battle” began.
What suddenly changed the direction of the wind was a single remark from the artist: “If you hang this painting, the mood of the room will change.”
With those words—”the mood will change”—the “want it vs. don’t need it” battle came to an almost anticlimactic end. “I see, so the mood will change…” A strange sense of conviction settled in.
It’s true that I had been wanting to change the mood of my room, but I reached my decision by also factoring in the artist’s humanity and character.
And so, I added it to my collection.
Now I need to think about framing!
