My wife was the first art collector in the family, and I didn't become interested until around 1973. The first important artwork we bought was a Van Gogh drawing of two peasant houses in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.
I explained to the lady my love for John and his work, and she made it possible for me to purchase one of the 24 proofs, the one for 'I'm So Tired,' which I have on my piano at home.
I hate art auctions.
It has been common knowledge to informed collectors that many times the finest and rarest art glass is found unsigned.
San Francisco has always been a great city for art collectors.
I collect candy packaging from around the world and believe it has the value of Pop Art.
This kind of painting with its large frames is a bourgeois drawing-room art. It is an art dealer's art-and that came in after the civil wars following the French Revolution.
I've been a fan and collector of Lucie Rie for years.
I buy 1920s iridescent Scottish glass. I love the way the sun hits it every morning. You touch something and you know. To me, people should buy something they love. Buy something you'd want to come downstairs and stroke.
Art collectors are pretty insignificant in the scheme of things. What matters and survives is the art. I buy art that I like. I buy it to show it off in exhibitions. Then, if I feel like it, I sell it and buy more art.
When I was a kid, at Disneyland, they used to sell Animation Cels for $5.00 at a Fantasyland store. They were called Courvoisier Cels. I was too young to be aware of just how cool that really was.
If you have the opportunity to have the best of the artist, then if you overpay, it doesn't matter. Eventually, the market will reward you. If it raises the value of our collection, we go for it.
You only live once, buy Picassos whenever possible.
You have to be a little bit cautious when the market gets quite strong because there's a tendency to anoint a genius artist every other day. That would be a word of advice for the collectors out there.
Some people buy art because they're confident that it'll be a good store value, and this is kind of a recent phenomenon.
