One of the limited privileges of working in my office is that we have some good pictures. They are not all ours (one or two are borrowed) but most of them are. I and one of my partners form the Art Committee. I went to the Edinburgh College of Art Alumni Centenary Exhibition last week. Many of the artists in our collection were represented. I vowed to try and appreciate our pictures a bit more. On Friday we sold two (not borrowed ones)!
We have an emerging philosophy of buying work with some relevance to the work we do by Scottish artists, or from Scottish galleries, with whom we have a connection. We have a very small budget, hence the sales. It is the first time in a long time we've sold anything and it feels great. They were good little pictures, but if we are going to try and move the collection on there is no choice but to sell things that don't sit within it or simply act as wallpaper. For so many people what we have is irrelevant. We are keen to acquire some things that people notice - whether they like them or not is irrelevant. What matters is that the working environment for staff and clients is enhanced, even if only by having something to talk about. This week having sold we have the opportunity and the budget to buy something. The money is burning a hole in my pocket.
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7 comments:
So do Northumbrian artists not qualify then? Damn - I could offer you the perfect
installation/sculpture.
Email me on cottage@spitalford.co.uk with your email address and I'll send you an image. Or you could try my mate James Hugonin - if your budget stretches that far....
Too much "family silver" in this house.
Crystal xx
Hello,
Did you visit the open studio?
It must be very fulfilling; fun; to manage a collection- challenging, too, if the art must please a majority.
Any unpopular choices, along the way?
I presume there are no preserved creatures, about the place?
Yes, I did.
It is fun. We've decided it doesn't matter whether or not people like what we have as long as they talk about it. Much better that than it should simply be something that covers walls or fills spaces which they walk past without noticing.
No preseved creatures fortunately (although we are doing battle with our conscience over whether/how best to preserve a series of photographs of retired senior partners)! I am of the view they should,stay somehow or other.
As a photographer can I join your plea for keeping them - as much as anything wlse they are an archive - something that is being lost as digital imaging increases - no matter how technically weak or otherwise they are.
Old images can be given a whole new meaning with contemporary presentation. If you ever get a chance, go to Matfen hall and see how they have used the old estate images. They are fabulous and just seem so contemporary, yet some of them are well over 100 years old.
I was extolling the virtes of two law firms I know on Friday night who have their old partners (admittedly one or two by Raeburn, which ours are not) fantastically hung in their modern space. I'm sure with a bit of thought we can find a place for them. It a job for this week!
PS - I went to Matfen Hall on a stag before it was finished. They had half a dozen bedrooms and a marquee in the ballroom. We had a great time and in spite of all good intentions ended up lost in Newcastle. I'm afraid I haven't been back since, but will go for a look.
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