For some, art collecting is a pastime. For others, it’s an obsession. These collectors are willing to go to great lengths to acquire the objects of their affection—whether that means recruiting friends to petition a gallery on their behalf or hiring a crane to deliver an especially heavy sculpture through a window. Below, CULTURED looks back on select Collector Questionnaires to explore the most strenuous tests these art lovers have passed.
The work: Alejandro Cardenas, Hermes delivers the order of Zeus, 2022.
“I’d been interested in Alejandro’s work since my very first weeks of collecting, but I always got the same response from each gallery: ‘Not for you, we have endless waitlists, these only go to collectors with longstanding loyalty…’ A lot of subtlety, but it did feel beneath that was a bit of, ‘You’re a 25-year-old girl. You have no business trying to get a painting like this.’ However, a fellow female took me under her wing on this one, Patricia Marshall, and worked with me to secure this work from Almine Rech in Paris.”
The work: Leilah Babirye, Nalongo Nkugwa from the Kuchu Lungfish Clan, 2022.
“At nearly eight feet tall and 250 pounds, it is so physically imposing that simply bringing it home required herculean efforts. Now that the sculpture is where she should be, she towers over our guests and reminds them that art can dominate, even when silent.”
The work: Keith Haring Pop Shop containers.
“I was always trying to figure out what happened to them. I had heard that they ended up somewhere in Amsterdam and were owned by George Mulder. Finally, after a few years, I got in touch with him. I asked him for images, and he said, ‘No, no photos. If you want to see the Harings, come to Amsterdam.’ That was a Monday morning; I was in Amsterdam by Thursday. At the end of my trip, he said, ‘Let’s do the first deal and then you can come back to see the containers.’ I came back probably one month later, and we drove to a remote barn about two hours outside Amsterdam and there they were, covered in transparent plastic, pretty much disassembled, but to my eyes, I was in front of what I believe is the most important Keith Haring work ever. I was in awe and speechless!”
The work: Salman Toor,The Beating, 2019.
“If it wasn’t for Salman himself intervening directly with a gallery in India on my behalf, there’s no way I would have ever gotten it.”
The work: Nick Cave, Arm Peace, 2021.
“None were available, but I was told they were in production. My husband is a civil rights attorney; we really wanted one because the piece truly spoke to us. It was my first purchase from Jack Shainman, and they didn’t know me. I emailed the gallery often. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to get one. When they were finally due to come in, I had a few people reach out to other contacts at the gallery to secure my request. Thankfully, I got in and had the first choice out of four pieces. It felt like a massive victory after a yearlong pursuit!”
The work: All of them!
“Honestly, I think all pieces are challenging to acquire. If it's a good artwork, there will be several collectors in line to purchase it. Plus, from an artist's point of view, it's their baby. In my experience, it's more about how to convince an artist to give me their work, rather than the opposite.”
The work: Prints by Julie Mehretu.
“We had long wanted to buy a print or series of prints by Julie Mehretu, but they either sold out quickly or were too expensive to consider. We occasionally peruse the auctions to see what is being offered—bargains are possible at auction—and years ago we saw an early set of etchings Mehretu created with Greg Burnet at Burnet Editions, and decided to go for it. We examined them during the auction preview (condition can be an issue at auction), but these were fine and even the frames were usable. Surprisingly, there was not much bidding activity—these were early prints, and small, so perhaps a little under the radar—so we were successful in acquiring them.”
The work: A Felix Agostini Rifle, a vintage bronze floor lamp from the late '50s.
“When I was a teenager, I saw the lamp in the home of one of my parents’ dear friends, and it stuck with me. I’ve wanted one since. When I was decorating my home, I knew I wanted to incorporate that lamp, and it took years to find. I was finally able to locate one to buy in 2004, and it’s been a cherished part of my collection since. I love Agostini’s work; it’s sculptural yet functional.”
The work: A Thomas Houseago.
“While it wasn’t so difficult to acquire, it was very difficult to install. It didn’t fit in the elevator and was way too heavy to bring up the stairs, so we arranged for a crane and brought it through the window. It’s never, ever leaving my apartment.”
