Does collecting 20th Century art ever feel daunting?
Yesterday I posted an Instagram game called This or That? The premise was simple: choose between two artworks until one emerges as the winner. The results surprised even me. Faced with an Andy Warhol Soup Can I went for Picasso’s Mère et Enfants. When Basquiat’s celebrated Hollywood Africans appeared I passed it up for a picture of an Electric Chair. Warhol’s Electric Chair to be exact, which ultimately took the crown.
It is easy to get caught up in dissecting artistic and technical merits but this lighthearted exercise reminded me why I fell in love with art in the first place: the joy of simply responding to a piece.
That joy can sometimes get lost, especially for new collectors navigating the world of 20th Century and Contemporary prints and multiples. These works can seem intimidating, wrapped in layers of history, market value and critical interpretation. But at the end of the day they are artworks, objects meant to live on your wall, to be looked at and loved.
For many artists of the 20th Century that was the whole point. These pieces were often created to escape the confines of the gallery and to break down the very barriers the art market had erected. They were designed to be accessible, not exclusive.
There is no wrong choice and no single correct opinion. Scroll through the comments on my video and you will see that everyone picked something different. Many disagreed with me entirely. That is the beauty of it. Art invites conversation not consensus.
Yes collecting comes with practical considerations like authenticity, price and condition. Auction history matters too and it can be overwhelming. But these should never overshadow the most important reason for buying art. To own something you want to see every single day. Something that stirs an emotion in you each time you pass it.
Find someone you trust to guide you through the rest. Of course, I wouldn’t be writing this if I didn’t want to be that person! With over 15 years of experience helping collectors explore, understand and acquire these works I would love to be that person for you. But above all do not be intimidated.
Enjoy the discovery. You already know what you like.
