What is it that fires a collector?

Man is fundamentally a hunter. That may be a truism but ‘the chase is innate and instinctive.’ So often it is not the painting or vintage car one has but the one that is still out there to be acquired. When we werec young men we chased butterflies, grasshoppers, lizards, catfish etc. Did we need them?No. That did not stop our wanting to chase them. As teenagers we chased girls. We didn’t need them all but the chase was as good as the conquest and so the quest continues into adult life. That is not the full story. Paintings, antiques, stamps etc end up like friends and in some case are the only friends to shy retiring individuals who find they can channel their untapped affection and energies into these familiar objets d’art. Some people are born into an appreciation of beautiful things in their family home or in the home of their grandparents. In my own case like so much of my life chance played it’s part. I had the good fortune of being taught by a very enlightened professor in Trinity College who opened my eyes to so much including the visual arts. Accordingly the great adventure into the world of the collector took root. One of my fellow zealots once remarked in course of our discussion about collecting ‘ wouldn’t you agree with me if you are in a room with 100 people and there is one other collector you really don’t want to be bothered with the remaining ninety nine present?’ That is no exaggeration. Cocaine for the brain. One should not be deceived nevertheless.Collecting is not all about altruism. Money comes into it with a lot of people. One seasoned collector spoke of the various stages through which he went in his pursuit of his passion. Let me set the scene. Normally in a domestic situation the male takes the lead and brings home the first painting. This doesn’t always meet with the approval of the lady in the partnership who immediately asks can we afford such a luxury? There may well be a further factor at play, the partner, wife was not consulted and worst of all she/ he may not like what has now landed on the drawing room wall complete with a nail driven into the new paper accompanied by a mess on the carpet in the aftermath of the hanging. It is not shaping well. Shaky start to this collecting. Wife/partner may do a bit of sulking too. She had her eye on a cute little dress in the local boutique but now bang goes the loose money. My friend quickly moved to stage two of his collecting pursuit – defiance. This is a dangerous stage in collecting where one of the partners in the love and affection of the marriage introduces a rival and even worse that rival might come in the shape of a curvaceous young lady of a coquettish disposition sprawling across a canvas in the bedroom or worse in the drawingroom. “I hate the way artists exploit the female body” the wife snarls in a disguised fit of jealousy. Picture no sound obtains for days. That little dress in the window becomes an even more tempting acquisition for the female partner and with a wriggle of her hips she says ” I”ll show him.” By now my dear friend is considering an entente cordiale. He finds the atmosphere too strained and stressful. This silence and head shaking are poisoning what was a thriving enterprise of harmony. ” Time for reconciliation” my friend says to himself. With frost heavy on the kitchen window and now reaching the table my friend makes his overture ” I was just thinking dear we have quite a few outings coming up. How would feel if we were to go into town on Saturday and get you a few outfits?” Wife smells a rat but she she just doesn’t want to shoot the fox. ” I am going into town this afternoon. I’ll have a look around to see if I spot anything I like.” she says cooly. The ice has been broken. She is not stupid but the lure is too tempting for her. She hits town. She can’t wait until Saturday. She had spotted a few little beauties here and there in the fashion stores. “There are a few nice things which would suit me in BTs. I am worried if I wait until the week-end they’ll be gone” she postulates. My friend thinks his cunning plan is now taking shape. Buy the clothes for her and as he explained the rest falls into place. Done deal. He is off the hook to buy his next painting. Deploying the
French maxim ‘recueillir pour mieux sauter’ ( pulling back to take a good long jump at something ) my friend is by now on his way into town to hit the galleries. Everyone is happy. There is a post script my colleague adds “About six months later my wife had some female friends in. One of them remarked “Isn’t that a lovely scene?” According to my friend it was just then he heard herself saying ” Oh no, I really like that one there.” That was the very painting that caused all the trouble, words, silence and sulking. Happy collecting friends.