052 http://www.AmericanArtCollector.com
W
hen our collectors worked on the East
Coast, their homes reflected their varied
interests and eclectic tastes. Their homes were a
formal apartment, a 1970s modernist home and an
1860 farmhouse that they were only the third family to
inhabit. They recently moved to a home in Los Angeles.
“We treasure what we have collected over the years,”
the wife says. “In the process of our moves, we gave
friends and family what we could not display for lack
of space. For us, art has never been about investment.
It is emotion. Art should be seen and shared.”
“My mother took me to museums when I was a
child,” says the wife. “My collecting started in college
and increased during the earliest years of my career
when I lived only several blocks away from Sotheby
Parke Bernet galleries on Madison Avenue. My first
purchase was a Rauschenberg lithograph depicting the
Vietnam War. My second, a small Grecian figure at an
auction. My first gift to my husband was a sculpture by
Birgitta Ara. But, it is my husband who has lit the firefor collecting. We also share a well-thumbed collection
of art books.”
Their respective careers afforded them opportunities
to gain exposure and to collect. The husband worked
on several large commercial real estate development
projects for which monumental art installations were
acquired. Her office faced the Christie’s auction house
and she spent lunchtimes enjoying a moveable feast of
art. Over time, they became acquainted with numerous
galleries and artists. When they traveled, they made
time to bring back pieces from other parts of the world.
She describes herself as “a bit of a classicist” and her
husband as a “modernist.” They have a rule, she shares.
When they leave a gallery, they typically think about
what they have seen for days and both must feel the
piece is a “must.” Sometimes the selection has been
instantaneous. Rarely is art bought by one of the couple
without the other’s knowledge. The Polly McCaffrey
painting, which now hangs in the bedroom, was found
in an East 59th Street New York gallery. The husband1