A comment that struck me in the National Library's quite good panel discussion on collecting art/photography/books, was a comment made by astute gallerist and photography champion Paul McNamara, which went along the lines of:
"If I wouldn't buy [a work in my collection] if I saw it in a gallery today then I sell it."
In a similar vein, I also like the move by Jim Fraser, who last year sold all 137 works in his rather good contemporary art collection at Webbs. This was, I gather, in order to refocus and rebuild the collection in a totally different direction. In doing so, Jim not only gave us the nicest auction catalogue and range of works I've seen, but demonstrated a serious commitment to the new, and took a very public step into the realm of contemporary art collection in NZ.
So while I think we might be brave enough to edit our small but growing collection some time soon, I think we'll start gently. While a direction is emerging, it's not one I want to move away from just yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment