LONDON

January TREND
Text by UNA MEISTERE
Photos courtesy of
UNA MEISTERE
The
collecting
bug
Baltic Outlook author
Una Meistere on one of
the healthiest forms of
intellectual fitness
Photo by Kristine Madjare
My career as a fashion journalist
began with the fall of the Iron
Curtain. That’s also when I began to
collect editions of Vogue magazine.
For quite a few years, these
publications were my bible. Then,
all kinds of changes took place on
the fashion scene. Gianni Versace
and Yves Saint-Laurent passed away.
Tom Ford and Gucci parted ways.
And in the face of intense corporate
pressure, Valentino announced his
retirement from the fashion industry.
Meanwhile, fashion magazines
gradually morphed from sources
of inspiration to luxury catalogues.
I stopped collecting them, partly
because my shelves had become
full to the brim, and partly because
I realised that I was leafing through
these magazines less and less often.
A long relationship was drawing
to a close.
However, my penchant for
collecting remains undiminished.
For the past three years, I have been
collecting conversations, which
have materialised in the form of
the printed magazine Arterritory
Conversations with Collectors.
Some of my interview subjects
are on the ARTnews list of the
world’s top 200 collectors, but
actually, that’s not so important.
They are all incredibly interesting
people, and whenever they speak
about their collections, their eyes
literally light up.
According to French-American
entrepreneur and philanthropist
Jean Pigozzi, who owns the largest
collection of contemporary African
art in the world, “Collecting is an
incurable disease. If you have a
problem with alcohol, you can go
to Alcoholics Anonymous. You can
go cure yourself from drugs, but
there's nothing that you can do for
collecting – except if you have no
more money, which is possible. Or
if you have no more space, which is
also possible.”
Lately, more and more people
have been catching the collector’s
bug, particularly when it comes to
contemporary art. Collecting is an
“in” thing to do, and definitely not
the worst “disease” that one can
catch. While non-collectors live a
single life, collectors live multiple
lives, devoting themselves to
activities that are separated from
their daily routines.
“It’s more fun finding something
to add to your collection than it is
buying shares in IBM. It’s the same
activity, but with no downside. It
keeps the mind active, and you
end up with something beautiful,”
American art collector Daniel Wolf
tells me as we sit on the terrace
of his New York apartment. Being
the proud owner of 15 different
collections, he knows what he’s
talking about. One collection is of
19 th - and 20 th -century photographs,
another is of contemporary art, while
still another is of quartz crystals.
Currently, Wolf is rebuilding a former
prison to house all of the items that
he has gathered. A similar “crazy
man” lives right across the street. He
is an American artist named Richard
Prince and he collects rare books,
which serve as sources of inspiration
for his artwork.
Collections are reflections of their
collectors, revealing the things that
they like and the choices that they
have made.
Collecting is a never-ending
process, which makes it particularly
appealing. As Austrian pianist and
conductor Michael Klaar – who has
been collecting things from the
age of 13 and who owns a superb
collection of 20 th -century minimalist
and conceptual art – aptly
points out:
“Each piece that comes into a
collection does not bring it towards
a possible end. No. The opposite
happens. Each piece widens up one’s
space of thinking.”
Indeed, collecting is one of the
healthiest forms of mental and
emotional fitness, as it can be
practiced long after you stop playing
tennis and no longer feel up to
golfing. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
once said that “collectors are happy
people”. How could one not agree
with him? BO
Una Meistere
worked as a
fashion journalist
for many years.
Later, together
with some friends,
she founded
anothertravelguide.
com, an Internet
portal for
independent
travellers, as well
as the arts and
culture portal
and publishing
house arterritory.
com. She is also a
co-author of the
acclaimed Another
Travel Guide Riga
and Another Travel
Guide Jūrmala
guidebooks.
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