A collection concept is the idea that binds individual works into a whole and gives a collection its meaning. When do a few purchased paintings become a real collection? Not when there are ten or twenty of them, but when the works share a common thread. That thread can be a theme (landscape, portrait, the city, ecology), a period (Czech modernism, post-war art, contemporary art), a medium (painting, photography, works on paper, glass) or your own taste. A concept therefore answers the question of why this particular work belongs in the collection.
The most famous example is Herbert and Dorothy Vogel of New York. He worked for the postal service, she was a librarian, and from 1962 they collected minimal and conceptual art, mostly works on paper. They bought directly from artists, on a modest income, for a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. Over fifty years they amassed more than four thousand works, and in 1992 they made their first major gift to the National Gallery of Art in Washington. A clear thread and clear limits turned them into collectors of world standing.
A concept protects you from random purchases made under the pressure of the moment and makes it easier to decide what to buy and what to leave. A collection with a clear line also speaks more strongly to curators, institutions and future buyers, because it tells a story. The risk is being too strict. A concept you once defined should not bind you so tightly that you stop discovering everything art has to offer in all its diversity. A collection can develop together with your taste.
Start with what speaks to you and what makes you stop. Go through the works you already own and look for what they have in common. My own collection, for instance, is defined by a fascination with experiment. I love it when artists work with different media, with intarsia, fabric, embroidery, wood, metal or glass, and push the boundaries of the medium. Try writing your thread down in a single sentence. A collection does not have to be large or expensive; it has to be yours.
— Anna Pulkertová, founder of Art Part Club
Related terms: Refining your taste · Institutional collections · Criteria of good art · Single-owner collections · Intarsia
