Something For Everyone
As I figure out whatever this new format is, I was very tempted to write again about something at the nexus of politics and society. But since I’m experimenting, I thought I’d try something completely different. As ever, let me know what you think.
With that, let’s talk about collecting art.
Even writing that makes me feel a bit ridiculous. When I think of “art collectors,” I think of people going to Sotheby’s and bidding millions of dollars on a Monet. For better or worse, I don’t think that’s going to be me anytime soon.
About a year ago, though, I had a chance to spend some time with the curatorial staff in my local art museum’s prints and drawings department. That experience really opened my eyes.
Of course, they had pulled a few rare pieces from the museum’s incredible collection. It’s always fun to get to see a Rembrandt print up close.
They had also pulled a bunch of prints that were much more accessible. Closer to a hundred dollars than a hundred thousand, much more in my price range. Many had been purchased by the museum for under $100.
And that really opened my eyes to the fact that collecting art can be for more than the billionaire class.
Putting together a fun collection doesn’t have to cost a fortune. If it’s something you’re interested in, it’s easy to get started. There’s really something for everyone.
In fact, I thought the best examples the curators at the museum had pulled were the humblest pieces from one of the least modest art collectors in the world.
Leonard Lauder, heir to the Estée Lauder cosmetics fortune, is best known for his voracious collecting of the biggest names, like Pablo Picasso or Jasper Johns. Leonard Lauder is also an avid collector of postcards. In his telling, he got hooked on collecting art growing up in Florida — when he didn’t have a billion-dollar fortune to spend — by going hotel to hotel in Miami picking up every free postcard he could find.
Of course, if you’re Leonard Lauder, in the same way there are ultra-valuable baseball cards, there are postcards that can be worth a fortune. He reportedly has about 100,000 objects in his postcard collection, and he’s still acquiring more. Eventually they’re all going to wind up in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
But I don’t think the postcards have to be valuable on the art market to make up part of an interesting art collection. While I don’t think it’s worth spending the money to have them all professionally framed, I’m a big fan of postcards I’ve picked up at exhibits like the Met’s amazing “Savage Beauty” show back in 2011, or that my friends send me from exotic places. It’s hardly a Gaugin, but you do more or less have to trek up to the top of Mont Blanc to get certain postcards.
For what I’ve now dubbed my “low-budget art collection,” I’ve gone a little higher-end. My goal is to spend under $200 for each piece. The two prints I’ve bought so far were both around $100. Not exactly cheap, but incredibly cheap compared to a Monet.
I’ve been surprised how much fun you can have at this relatively modest price point. With a bit of sleuthing and ingenuity, it doesn’t feel like you’re buying something generic or for the box ticking exercise of having something on your walls.
While I’m decidedly not collecting art as an investment strategy, I’m not above admitting it’s more fun to know I have signed and limited editions of the prints I’m buying. That’s possible to do without spending millions or even thousands of dollars.
When there’s so much to be pessimistic about in the world, I like the idea of doing something fun like this. You’re putting a little more beauty into your world and helping keep artists fed, perhaps more essential now than at other times.
The big lesson for me, too, has been that there’s something for everyone. In terms of style and content, of course. But also in terms of financial resources.
There’s nothing wrong with buying a Van Gogh print in the museum gift shop. At least for now, I can’t afford an original Sargent watercolor, and I’m unashamed to admit I own a print of one of his many depictions of Venice.
Equally, though, I’ve come to appreciate that having a more distinctive and personal collection (if that’s not too grand) isn’t necessarily something reserved only for people with bottomless bank accounts.
There are lots of places to buy prints and multiples at very accessible prices. Postcards could not be easier to collect, and are even more of a bargain in most cases. (Many of the postcards in my collection are ones that I’ve wound up with free of charge along with the bill at my favorite restaurants.) Or for that matter, I’m a big proponent of spending the money every year to get photos printed, rather than keeping them on my phone or computer.
A few fun places to buy prints and multiples
IFPDA Print Fair (every March in New York)
Paradigm Gallery + Studio (Philadelphia and online)
Affordable Art Fair (Cities around the world)
Galerie Itinerance (Paris and online)
Hashimoto Contemporary (New York, San Francisco, and online)
Un jour une illustration (Paris and online)
Childs Gallery (Boston and online)