Art is near-universal in its ability to move us. It is one of the most important aspects of humanity, and one of those things of great value for which we have fought and continue to fight. The sheer importance of art, and the great works that have come to define art over the centuries, has also imbued many pieces with financial value as well as historic value; though art can truly be considered priceless, there are those that have put a price to the priceless – leading to a unique, often-gnarled ecosystem of purchase, sale, lending and even theft.
Collecting art, then, is at once a beautiful and ugly thing. Nonetheless, collecting art has become an art in and of itself, with collections of works often resulting in the drawing of lines between pieces, and new understandings of old works. In many ways, art collection and curation has impacted the modality of art almost as much as the artists themselves. But how is this the case, and how have art collectors so majorly impacted the way we see things?
Historical Influence of Art Collectors on UK Museums
The thrust of this piece refers, of course, to the close relationship between the art collector and the public gallery. Private collectors have sought public spaces to store and display their works for generations, whether due to wanting an audience for their taste, wanting to positively impact the financial value of pieces in their collection, or even simply having no space to store the pieces otherwise.
Historically, one of the most famous collections is the Wallace Collection – a stunning tranche of 17-19th century artworks that span the Renaissance, French impressionism and the early days of the Industrial Revolution. Wallace inherited much of this collection from the 4th Marquess of Hertford, after four generations of Marquesses added to it; on Wallace’s death, his widow bequeathed the collection to the state, and it today resides in Wallace’s (and his alleged mother’s) home Hertford House.
Modern Access to Collections
The bequeathing of the Wallace Collection to the state reflects a common route by which public spaces receive ownership of privately-owned works – but today’s landscape is a much more complex ecosystem, involving dark investors, quid pro quos and the constant flow of money.
The lending and sale of such individual works today is a highly structuralised process, and one in which art lawyers play an especially large part. Many donations and temporary residences are conditional, and lined up with other business dealings designed to benefit private collector first and public gallery second – and can even directly impact the direction a given space takes with regard to acquiring additional works. But this does not describe the totality of the collector experience.
Private Collections and Public Access
Private collectors are no longer limited to upper gentry and recipients of generational wealth – and some of today’s biggest private tastemakers are artists themselves. Alicia Keys and Steve Martin stand amongst the most impactful modern collectors today, using their wealth and influence to bring attention to marginalised artists and seminal works in a manner that upends the old-world prejudices upheld by old-school institutions.
