Monday 23 August 2021

Buying art

I don't collect art, at least as it's normally understood.   I do have a large collection of recorded music, and since music is an art form, you could argue that I collect art.   But if we restrict our definition to physical objects, you wouldn't call me an art collector.

However, there are certain objects that I have encountered during my life that I remember being attracted to.   There was a carved wooden bear (about 3 feet high) and cub, fashioned out of old railway sleepers if I remember rightly, that I saw perhaps 45 years ago in the Barbican in London.  I liked them, but it would have cost me about a month's (pre-tax) salary.  I didn't buy it, and the artist explained to me that I would remember, and probably regret the decision for ever.  He had a point.  But there was the cost, and how would we transport it, and where would we put it, and all the other excuses you make using logic in situations when it's emotion that counts.

There are a few other things too, prominent among them being a stained-glass screen, a room divider, that I first saw when I was on a flute course in the Dordogne,  perhaps 25 years ago.   Made by Jennifer Weller in Bordeaux, it shows three characters from Mozart's Magic Flute; Papageno, Tamino and the Queen of the Night.   I loved it then, but practical considerations held sway again.   I was pleased to discover at the time, that it was bought by someone I know, a lover of all things flute, a former professional player, and a teacher.

It is a sadnes that this great lady, to whom I (and many, many others) owe much in terms of musical understanding and fluting, is divesting herself of her flute-related treasures as she is nearing the end of her life.  So my pleasure in acquiring this screen that I have loved from afar, is not unalloyed.   Here it is, as displayed in its former home.



3 comments:

The bike shed said...

So it has double the joy - as a piece in itself and as a memory of a friend and mentor. How delightful - and the very best of art collecting I'd say.

CherryPie said...

How lovely that it came to you after all. It will give you fond memories of the lady who owned and loved it too.

Raanan said...

It did follow you home, and it found the right home.

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