Building an art collection

by Brigitte Gastel Lloyd (founder of Artroots.com , the collector who inspires...)

...basically it does take 3 steps. First you need to research the artpiece you would like to buy, second, how it will fit into your collection you already have or want to build and last but not least what you can afford. Collecting art can be very expensive, therefore it is important that you have an art budget if you want to become a serious collector. However, if you are in the category of a hobbyist, you still can build a wonderful collection on a small budget. At first though you do have to love art and not buying the paintings/sculptures because someone tells you that this piece would make an incredible impression to your neighbors or that it is just too cheap to pass it by, like the couchsize paintings at the Holiday Inns, etc., they give me the creeps.The way I started to collect was actually accidental. When I was young I could care less about the beauty of art, although the love for it already had been put at birth in my crib. My parents had artwork hanging all over our walls and I had met many artists, but who cared when I was busy with other important things in my teenage life. Anyway, later on someone put an art magazine in my hand and all of a sudden a light bulb went off in my head. How could I ever have not noticed how beautiful these works were. Having not much money, I started to collect art magazines, art books, went to the library, flea markets, got “wisdom” practically for nothing and when I had my own apartment and a little money left, I bought some copied works at used furniture stores (yes, they do carry so-called art), souvenir shops, garage sales, estate sales, auctions, etc.. I read artist biographies, about art styles and visited museums. And when I traveled to different states/cities, my first steps were always to art centers/galleries. It was like an explosion in my head, how could I have ever not noticed. Soon I went from regular prints to signed ones, after that litho’s but still was not satisfied. I wanted the real thing! Oil, pastel, acrylic, charcoal, pencil, etc. , where I can practically feel the paint and the smell the media. And so I started to visit more galleries, became acquainted with the owners,and collected lots of information. Internet at that time was not invented yet. But when it did, a revolution started. I searched all over the place, checked out as many art websites I could and compared and compared.

What makes a great collector is the ability to separate out particular artworks from all of the other in abundance existing ones. I soon found out that I had a lot to learn. One warning though, never buy art on your first impulse. You need to do your homework first. Unless love strikes you at first sight and you can’t get that particular painting not out of your head… With me personally, it always had been like, oh my god, I do love this painting, can I afford the price and who is the artist . Basically I always have been into impressionism, an 1860 art movement of in Paris studying artists, but for us hobyists not affordable. But then I found out that many temp. artist are working in the same style and these works are absolutely affordable. Granted, many are not famous, but their talent ist just the same. Since I moved so many times, I found myself aqcuiring many works on the East and West Coast and last not least the Wild West. I collected landscapes, still lifes, figuratives in all kind of medias and not only impressionism, I had evolved into other areas of art styles as well. Being from Germany I was exposed to great art as well and some german paintings are gracing my walls as well. But when the iron curtain fell, a whole new world of art opened for me. And I was inted to pursue it. Russian Art! It was so different from everything else I ever saw. St. Peterburg and Moscow Art where the first I got aquainted with due to a dear russian friend. At first I only let my heart talk. Since I am a sort of a moody person, St. Petersburg fed my hunger for the greyish colors, the imense clouds touching almost the grounds, the dachas clinging next to each other, the working people pushing their carts and horses, every detail did tell a stary if one had an imagination. From the dark rivers wild and strong to the small lovely ones trickling through the grasses and ending in eternity. It reminds me of the rhapsody…