art – The Committed Collector

I was fortunate enough to visit The Kirkland Museum in Denver over the holidays, yet the experience has left me with a few nagging questions.

The salon-style Kirkland contains impressive collections of both fine art and decorative art.

Of course, I’m assuming, the fine art pieces are all one-of-a-kind originals.

The decorative art works, however, include mass produced furniture and other household items, which has left me wondering why they qualify for museum status.

They’re all what we laypeople would term mid-century modern, which may be reason enough to revere such items as gaudy telephones and awkward furniture.

I realize many of the pieces were created by artists, designers, and architects, and that in itself gives them a certain credibility.

However, I’m still left wondering why some mass produced items are deemed worthy of being exhibited, while others aren’t considered good enough to hang in my humble home.

If I go to anyone of the local art festivals we have here in Rochester, and bought an original piece by an artist of some talent, that would be acceptable among those in the know.

If, however, I had a copy of the Mona Lisa over the mantle, my friends would consider that kitsch. If I shelled out real money for a good copy of said masterpiece, they’d think me pretentious.

So I ask, why can’t we have copies of art in our lives?

My friends and family all expect me to have copies of Shakespeare in my personal library. They think nothing of my owning copies of The Beatles, Balanchine, and George Lucas.

Yet, if I have copies of Currier & Ives, Norman Rockwell, and Thomas Kincaid–and display them as art–that would be considered tacky.

So, again, I wonder why we can’t seriously own copies of painted, drawn, and sculpted art.

I’ve got a few theories, but I’ll leave them for now.

Happy Collecting, Everyone, whatever it is you enjoy.

Patti
The Committed Collector

It’s a Saturday morning in Rochester, and the local shops are calling to me. How easy it would be to answer the summons and make the rounds of the thrift stores, antique shops, and retail outlets.

I know one of my favorite co-ops, The Shops on West Ridge, is having a sale today, and I recently heard about some markdowns on vintage merchandise at Henrietta Mall Antiques. One friend told me about all the treasures she found at Savers thrift store in Webster, and another collector says the Goodwill store in Brockport is the best in our area.

What’s more, I really do need a new purse—something functional yet stylish—so TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Stein Mart are on my mind, too, especially since they usually have great china and glassware.

So why am I resisting? Why am I at home gearing up to tackle one or two long overdue projects? Well, because they’re long overdue and because I’m being mindful of my resolution:

Collect less; curate more.

Among my overdue projects is framing a variety of pictures, postcards, and photographs that I have amassed over the years, and, unfortunately, amassed is the right word. It’s not unfortunate that I have lots and lots of artwork; it’s sad that I haven’t done as much as I intended with them.

I’ve become the keeper of the family photographs, so I must have thousands of photos. I’ve also been collecting postcards for a year or so and already have a few hundred—or more. Then, there’s my “art” collection. I love pictures and paintings, prints and posters, so I have dozens of them. Most of which, however, are lined up in closets.

In fact, I have an entire closet (albeit a small one) with two shelves filled with rows of vintage pictures and department store art and stacks of decades’ old calendars meant to be matted and framed.

Then there are the dresser drawers crowded with small photo albums filled with postcards, old and new, as well as numerous shoe boxes packed with all those family photos.

Now, however, it’s time I did something with these collections. Fortunately, Santa’s on my side.

This past Christmas, St. Nick gave me a handsome frame for the Hallmark poster celebrating 100 years of himself, which we’ve had since it was produced in 1992–1992! The poster is still under plastic, against its cardboard backing, so some years we simply propped it up, but other times, embarrassed to display an unframed poster, we left it in the closet and decorated without it.

Getting the Jolly Old Elf’s poster framed is first on my to-do list today. And when I have it framed, we might just decide to leave it up in a place of honor for the entire year because it depicts such beautiful antique images.

Santa also brought me a half-dozen mattes, in a lovely shade of sage-green, for my collection of Audubon-like bird pictures that I’ve always intended to hang along one side of the staircase. I previously bought frames for them, so getting the pictures up on the wall should be easy.

Along the opposite stairwell wall, I intend to hang some of our treasured family photos. Sepia-toned pictures of our grandparents have been waiting for decades and decades to take their rightful place in our home. Photos of our parents and our brothers and sisters and the next generations, too, also need to join the reunion in our personal gallery.

Sorting through the photos and albums and then choosing our favorites will take some time. Then finding the right mattes, frames, and layout will turn creating this gallery into a project, but that’s okay.

Since I’m focusing on curating the collections we already have, and then enjoying our treasures (rather than shopping for more), I should have plenty of time this year to make real progress.

Patti
The Committed Collector

How about you? Which collections do you need to organize and display? Which ones do you want to integrate more fully into your lives? We’d love to hear about your plans, so please leave a comment.

The Committed Collector

Tag: art

Collecting Art of Any Kind

Pictures, Postcards & Photographs