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Post by sleepboy on Aug 2, 2008 8:49:41 GMT -8
from Scott Musgove thread (lowpro's comment) Oddly enough, someone over on the KR boards made a comment about his lack of a hardcore following as being somewhat attributed to a lack of high-profile, celebrity collectors buying his work. Or that's how I interpreted it at least. And while I didn't think much of it at the time and still don't think it holds too much water as a theory or statement, it was an interesting observation and has stuck with me since. Certainly, the hype surrounding artists like Ledbetter and Simkins when they first exploded onto the scene wasn't hurt by the fact that so-called famous people were buying up their work. I wish I had more concrete names, but I think the dude from Fallout Boy (Pete Wentz) started dropping some serious coin on both of these artists. There are plenty of other examples too. Leonardo DiCaprio is a big Eric White and Ryden collector. I wish I could cite more. Ultimately, I could care less. I mean, really....who gives a f**k who's buying the work?! And yet in articles and books alike about a given artist, there are almost always references to "so and so" is a huge collector and "yada, yada" owns this piece and that. Heck, most books published by artists themselves even provide accounts of ownership for specific landmark pieces as being "In the collection of ...". Why this even necessary? Maybe it is important who buys the work, at least when it comes to fellow artists and/or recognizable figures. I suppose I do sort of find it interesting when these books designate ownership to a particularly famous person, although it doesn't make me want to buy the artist more. I don't think at least. Maybe it's like advertising, and it attacks at the subconscious. Ha. It's an interesting discussion as I think about it while typing this out. I wonder what others think. Maybe it would be better suited in it's own thread. Is it important who buys an artists work? Does celebrity clientele help an artist achieve that next level? If so, as there is certainly evidence in the favor of this theory, is it simple market economics at work; in that, famous people have more of a disposable income and inevitably drive the demand and market value of the work up? |
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Post by marcusslo on Aug 2, 2008 9:45:15 GMT -8
yeah... some collectors may not care who buys or owns this piece and that... but it definitely plays a big part in the market. just having a highly recognized figure endorse your work makes it stand out more and many people get comfort from this endorsement... some people need a confirmation before buying the work of an artist... whether from a celeb buying or just other people buying. i think most people may not be going out to buy a piece from an artist just because a high profile collector has interest in that artist... but like you said it's advertising and it can make people stop to look at the work of an artist while if there were no celebrity in the picture, the work may be more easily overlooked
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Post by commandax on Aug 2, 2008 10:28:45 GMT -8
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Post by tessar on Aug 2, 2008 15:46:52 GMT -8
i always find it a bit odd that people go off about celebrities owning art. i think it's a great thing that they collect, but i mean, unless they have a particular interest or involvement in art, i wouldn't really go nuts over it.
for example, if the olsen twins bought a painting of mine, i'd be like, "hahah, that's awesome." and i'd tell my friends and family. it would be more of tidbit more than anything. but if dennis hopper bought a sketch of mine.. i'd lose it. i mean, this guy has an interest in art that spans history- and at his caliber of acting, he is in essence, an artist himself.
which brings me to my little two cents re celebrities: more than a celebrity, i always find it more flattering when another artist purchases work. so if we're talking outside the gallery art scene, (ie. painters buying other painters' work):
daniel day lewis buying art: exciting.
jennifer love hewitt buying art: good for her.
that being said, celebrities are just people. and different people have different tastes. and at the end of the day, strip them naked and they're just like you and me, no?
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Post by masao626 on Aug 2, 2008 18:48:14 GMT -8
jennifer love hewitt buying art: good for her. LOL!!! awesome! |
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Post by jimandtara on Aug 2, 2008 20:03:57 GMT -8
I draw a distiction between some "High profile collectors" and "celebrities" (unless a celebrity happens to fit the "some" part)  Its not an accident that someone like Long Gone John, Mark Parker (two businessmen) and Patricia Arquette (actress) have put together the STRONG collections that they have - they clearly have a strong intuitive sense of whats "good". The best anecdotal evidence to prove this, is to look at thier collections - they were always in early and own not only some of the strongest pieces of a given artist, but some of the strongest pieces in the whole genre! So if someone like Particia, Mark or LGJ, based on thier track record, bought a piece from an relative unknown artist (to me) tomorrow, I would be taking a hard look myself at this artist! So in the case of "some" collectors, it is very advantageous as an artist or representative, to have them taking a look at you. Now if Gary Coleman bought a certain artists piece tomorrow, I'm probably not paying attention! jIm |
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Post by masao626 on Aug 2, 2008 20:18:02 GMT -8
Now if Gary Coleman bought a certain artists piece tomorrow, I'm probably not paying attention! jIm whatchu talkin' 'bout Jim! |
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Post by jimandtara on Aug 2, 2008 20:43:19 GMT -8
whatchu talkin' 'bout Jim! LOL! |
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doktor
Junior Member
Posts: 66
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Post by doktor on Aug 3, 2008 1:37:13 GMT -8
I think there is indeed a difference between high profile collectors like Long Gone John buying and celebs like Brad Pitt buying.
I think their actions have effects on different markets.
People will in this society ape the actions of movie starts like Pitt without thinking why they do it. Brad may love the painting he purchased but people copying him will just do it to tell friends they have a painting by the same artist as Brad .
It is very uplifting as an artist when someone (other artist,celeb,whatever) who you admire personally purchases a piece of your work.
I do get a kick out of letting people know Guillermo Del Toro bought one of my pieces.
But thats because i am uber chuffed about it..
I am just as stoked that Andrew Bell also has some of my work..
And Charity too. (Thats a great collection to be a part of..)
(Chuffed = english term go look it up..)
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Post by commandax on Aug 3, 2008 13:10:31 GMT -8
Here's an interesting bit on this topic from an Eric White interview on Fecal Face: FF: I understand that you have sold some work to a few Hollywood heavy hitters. Can you enlighten me and name a few?
EW: There have been a few. Gail Zappa bought what is probably my favorite of my early pieces, from my very first show. Leonardo DiCaprio has bought quite a few things over the years. Patricia Arquette bought the collaboration I did with Joe Sorren, and her brother David bought a piece. I wrote him thank you letter, and he wrote back and we started talking. They were kind enough to invite my over when I was in LA. During dinner, Courtney (Cox) whispered in my ear: "I have a commission I want you to do based on the painting that David bought". She wanted a portrait of David as a high school student to go with the one they had bought (Margo Lefferts). The best part was that David called me up months later to say he was taking the paintings on the Tonight Show. I found it hard to believe, but he actually did it. Towards the end of the segment he starts talking with Jay about art and sure enough he pulls the paintings out from behind the couch, and says: "these are by the painter Eric White" and is holding them up on national television. I could not believe it. So surreal. It was such a generous thing for him to do. The Zappa thing was great too. I was working on this little book when Frank was still alive and I had decided to dedicate the book in part to him. I knew he was ill, but I didn't realize how sick he really was. The plan was to send him a copy of the book when it was released. Unfortunately he died before the book was published. I was always really sad to have missed meeting him and thanking him for his work. When I was about to have my first show at La Luz in Los Angeles I wrote Gail a letter. I really put a lot into the thing, and it took me about a week to write. I mailed it and literally forgot about it. Then a few weeks later I am at my opening at La Luz, and there isn't a soul there but my mom and brother and a few other friends. My first solo show, nobody knew who the hell I was. About halfway through the opening I look over and see someone that looks like Gail Zappa might look. But I couldn't imagine she would have come. Then I look again and maybe see Dweezil? I didn't think it was possible. But sure enough, it was them, so I went over and introduced myself. I just couldn't believe that they had come. And then she bought a painting for $4000 dollars, which at the time seemed like a huge amount of money. If that weren't enough, she invited me to the house. My brother and I went the next day and met the whole family, who were all really great. Frank has been such a huge inspiration to me, and it was really incredible to be inside his world. Gail and I are friends to this day. Viggo Mortensen bought "Untitled." He also published my most recent book. He's a really amazing guy, and a great artist. I can honestly say that all of these folks have been unbelievably supportive and generous. www.fecalface.com/SF/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=977&Itemid=92 |
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Post by jimandtara on Aug 3, 2008 16:33:03 GMT -8
I do get a kick out of letting people know Guillermo Del Toro bought one of my pieces. Hey Dok - Now that is by my definition a celebrity accolade! Guillermo Del Toro is an incredibly talented film maker - Pans Labyrinth is one of the most beautiful, artistic dramas I've ever seen. Cheers to that! jIm ps - have you ever seen his house and the collection of UNIQUE antiques he has? I can see your work at home there! |
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Post by lowpro on Aug 3, 2008 17:01:52 GMT -8
Thanks for moving my post over, Hung. Glad others are intrigued by the topic and sharing some insightful perspectives. Very cool. I do get a kick out of letting people know Guillermo Del Toro bought one of my pieces. Now that is by my definition a celebrity accolade! Guillermo Del Toro is an incredibly talented film maker - Pans Labyrinth is one of the most beautiful, artistic dramas I've ever seen. Seriously. I was blown away by Pan's Labrynth and would be floored if Guillermo Del Toro were to have purchased one of my paintings...if not only for his incredibly lyrical name alone (ha). With that in mind, I certainly agree with you, jimandtara, in so far as there is definitely a distinction between high-profile (and artist) collectors and celebrity collectors, and that the former actual bears importance and should maybe be acknowledged...and might very well have the affect of boosting a relative unknown artist into the limelight a little bit. I've heard many galleries don't really want to deal with "regular people" like most of us, instead holding out to sell to celebrities and "important" collectors. Apparently, interest from someone like Long Gone John or Mark Parker can lead to a meteoric rise in an artist's career. I guess the best strategy for regular folks is to discover the artist before they hit the celebrity radar. Sad, but true. It's quite discouraging as a collector with zero clout to hear such things. It's annoying and a touch unethical. But as you point out, these things certainly happen. Unfortunately, there's no way to moderate it or truly know what's going on behind closed doors with sales. It's all part of the game, I suppose. This is part of the reason it's so important to build strong relationships with a gallery and befriend the respective gallery owners. In a sense, I can sort of understand why gallery owners might prefer someone of a higher profile with a steady (and enormous) bankroll, aside from the positive PR that we've pointed out here occurs on a regular basis. They're easy to deal with because money is a non-issue, you can almost be assured they'll never backout of a purchase for financial reasons, and you know the chance for a repeat experience is very high. And while I'd like to say all those qualities also apply to myself - and many others here I'm sure -when buying work from galleries, I know there are probably a lot of galleries who have experienced the badseeds of collecting...giving the run around, unreasonable price negotiations, not having payment when agreed upon, etc. etc, and a general pain in the ass to deal with. In the end, I have had good experiences purchasing art through most of the various galleries (certainly have my favorites though) and am grateful for the work I'm able to get from them. |
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Post by halfapparition on Aug 4, 2008 8:59:26 GMT -8
great thread!!!
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Post by svenman on Aug 4, 2008 13:52:08 GMT -8
daniel day lewis buying art: exciting. jennifer love hewitt buying art: good for her. that being said, celebrities are just people. and different people have different tastes. and at the end of the day, strip them naked and they're just like you and me, no? tessar, i can assure you that jennifer love hewitt and me naked are definitely NOT the same!! ;D this is a great thread though, and seriously, i think that we are confusing 'celebrity' with 'important' collectors. a lot of important collections are not owned by celebrities, but of course some are. we all know of the cox / arquette collections, and i have a lot more respect for these people as 'celebrities' knowing that they own paintings by joe sorren and eric white et al. the dicaprio family has a long tradition of being patrons of the arts, although leo seems to have a bit of a reputation for being a bit of a bandwagoner.... (anyone who has an 'art advisor' (brad pitt) gets no respect from me on his collection). still, they have important collections as do many people not known to us here, but very well known to the gallerists that some of us buy from. take those recent pictures that kirsten posted for example - what a stunning collection those folks had. i can only admire people who patronise the arts in such a big way. from my relatively small salary, most of my disposable income goes on art in some way, shape or form, but these people are big time. they support artists throughout their careers from the very start and put food in their cupboards. that eric white interview above summarises it for me. i think that most artists would love to be part of a distinguished collection from a respected collector, its just that some of them happen to be in the public eye. |
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Post by ally on Aug 4, 2008 21:42:30 GMT -8
i met long gone john for the 2nd time at amy sol's show at copro nason a while back....he bought a painting by her, and told me that he really really wanted "seapony of the moonlight pond" but didnt contact copro early enough to snag it. that kinda spoke volumes,,,, i introduced him to amy that evening, and he asked for a commission from her, and she replied that she was booked for the next year and a half!  you should have seen the look on LGJ's face. wish i had my camera... i dont think anyone turns down LGJ, but i guess in a way amy did! |
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Post by sketchypad on Aug 4, 2008 23:44:24 GMT -8
Haha ... that's a really hilarious story about Amy Sol & Long Gone John. Found this Mark Ryden clip from the movie 'The Treasures of Long Gone John' i met long gone john for the 2nd time at amy sol's show at copro nason a while back....he bought a painting by her, and told me that he really really wanted "seapony of the moonlight pond" but didnt contact copro early enough to snag it. that kinda spoke volumes,,,, i introduced him to amy that evening, and he asked for a commission from her, and she replied that she was booked for the next year and a half! you should have seen the look on LGJ's face. wish i had my camera... i dont think anyone turns down LGJ, but i guess in a way amy did! |
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Post by travislouie on Aug 6, 2008 2:54:51 GMT -8
Sometimes I don't even know who buys my pieces. I do have a few high-end collectors, but I feel weird posting it on my website, . . . that's their business whether or not they want to make themselves known. It can be helpful for sure, but in the end, . . . it's just nice to be selling the work and knowing that someone else enjoys what I am creating.
I will tell you a bizarre story about being found in a somewhat undesirable person's art collection; a fantasy illustrator from my circle of friends, found out that one of her paintings purchased by some Japanese art dealers in the 1980's, ended up in Saddam Hussein's palace.
She was so embarrassed! It's definitely not her fault what happened to her work after she sold it, . . . there's no accounting for taste.
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Post by svenman on Aug 6, 2008 4:44:33 GMT -8
that would be so cool!
...collection of mark parker.... collection of sadam hussain! ;D
probably now collection of george w bush!
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Post by mokaneshu on Aug 6, 2008 17:44:43 GMT -8
that would be so cool! ...collection of mark parker.... collection of sadam hussain! ;D probably now collection of george w bush! I think Sadam Hussain would be funny cause it's just really weird. Bush would just be embarassing. Unless you were shepard fairey and the piece Bush owned was an Obama Hope print. Then it would be hilarious again. |
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Post by gamma888 on Aug 7, 2008 20:30:21 GMT -8
Wow... this is really a wonderful and entertaining thread to read... Even though I pretty much grew up with artistic vision, I just never had the WILL to take what an artist would do so therefore I'd try to purchase as many art as I can whenever I believe in them. As a matter of fact, I truly look artists as my 'main' celebrities instead of hollywood celebrities. I truly find myself nervous while trying to introduce myself to an artist. Whenever I see a 'hollywood' celebrity, I couldn't care that much except that my wife would just get excited!
I would occasionally see Robin Williams hanging out often at the opening receptions at a specific gallery. Obviously, he has a great relationship with this gallery. I wouldn't be surprised if he has put many red dots on many of the paintings held at that gallery before the reception opens...
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Post by sleepboy on Aug 9, 2008 17:47:59 GMT -8
LOL at the Saddam & Long Gone John story...
This turned out to be an interesting topic... I think that just because a celebrity or an major collector owned something wouldn't make me like it but definitely if I liked the work initially and heard that it was in some big collections it would reinforce/give me more peace of mind to purchase it. Also, I think "high profile" collectors get an advantage for commissions as most artist would be more likely to accomodate them. I've heard it said "oh, they have rydens" by artists and that makes them feel honored to be asked for a commission (not for amy though lol, i wonder if she knew who he was). However, doing commissions for celebrities might make an artist lose their "street cred." Can't remember who but there was someone who did that recently and got flamed for it when it became public.
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Post by marcusslo on Aug 9, 2008 17:55:05 GMT -8
yea shep got flamed lol
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yolao
Full Member
Posts: 104
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Post by yolao on Aug 9, 2008 20:47:24 GMT -8
Am I an high profile collector!?!  ...... Ps: is the lead singer from linking park really owning that huuuge dayo piece showed on a recent videao!? Ciao |
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Post by ally on Aug 28, 2008 18:20:13 GMT -8
Am I an high profile collector!?! ...... Ps: is the lead singer from linking park really owning that huuuge dayo piece showed on a recent videao!? Ciao darling, you are just HIGH. kiss kiss! |
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Post by mokaneshu on Aug 28, 2008 18:55:43 GMT -8
What about regular people who are simply known for their collection? What if a normal person with very good art taste and a large collection of important works bought some new artists work? does anyone think that would effect things?
Lets say some random person who has a lot of important pieces and likes to share their work online with everyone... let's just say art message boards and blogs or whatever. Let's say they pick up some unknown new artists work and blog about it. Do you think that could effect that artist? I mean, the whole online community would know who that collector is because of their collection. But even though they may not be a celebrity, or known outside of this online bubble they've created, but there's a lot of people who watch their collection because of what they already have. Do any of you think that could effect an artist too?
maybe I'm just thinking of the online hype machine that blogging can lead to.... which I believe was talked about in some other thread a while back.
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