Next week I will have the privilege of interviewing art collector Anton Taljaard at the Artinsure Art Talks during the Turbine Art Fair. Many readers will know that Taljaard owns one of the largest collections of artworks by Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef and my brief is to find out how it happened.
I already know when it started: Taljaard was 13 years old. Seriously, the story goes that Taljaard went to an auction with his parents and bought his first Pierneef linocut, there and then. And never stopped.
As someone whose tastes are rather eclectic, I am always fascinated by those who manage to focus their passions in one specific area and build up a collection of either investment value or emotional significance, or both.
I recently met a woman who buys only Louis Vuitton handbags and has a room in her house to house her collection, from vintage to modern.
A friend started buying his sons each a Rolex watch for their birthdays from the day they were born. They are barely teenagers and they already have a significant collection of investment timepieces.
The art of collecting is a funny thing: I’m sure few people set out to be collectors but rather fall in love once, then again, and then keep falling. And before you know it, you’re a collector.
Much has been said and written about the creation of a collection: find your niche, acquire with your heart, work the auctions, and so on. But what resonates with me, is the suggestion that to create a valuable collection, you need to discover someone or something that is new and unique, often overlooked byothers. We all have stories about the coin, the painting, the property, that we should have bought, but didn’t. Collecting is about taking those leaps — and believing in your gut that your passion will one day be an important body of work.
Join me at the Turbine Art Fair to find out what it was that inspired Anton Taljaard.
Jacquie
July issue: Wanted
Ed's letter | The art of collecting
Image: Supplied
Next week I will have the privilege of interviewing art collector Anton Taljaard at the Artinsure Art Talks during the Turbine Art Fair. Many readers will know that Taljaard owns one of the largest collections of artworks by Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef and my brief is to find out how it happened.
I already know when it started: Taljaard was 13 years old. Seriously, the story goes that Taljaard went to an auction with his parents and bought his first Pierneef linocut, there and then. And never stopped.
As someone whose tastes are rather eclectic, I am always fascinated by those who manage to focus their passions in one specific area and build up a collection of either investment value or emotional significance, or both.
I recently met a woman who buys only Louis Vuitton handbags and has a room in her house to house her collection, from vintage to modern.
A friend started buying his sons each a Rolex watch for their birthdays from the day they were born. They are barely teenagers and they already have a significant collection of investment timepieces.
The art of collecting is a funny thing: I’m sure few people set out to be collectors but rather fall in love once, then again, and then keep falling. And before you know it, you’re a collector.
Much has been said and written about the creation of a collection: find your niche, acquire with your heart, work the auctions, and so on. But what resonates with me, is the suggestion that to create a valuable collection, you need to discover someone or something that is new and unique, often overlooked byothers. We all have stories about the coin, the painting, the property, that we should have bought, but didn’t. Collecting is about taking those leaps — and believing in your gut that your passion will one day be an important body of work.
Join me at the Turbine Art Fair to find out what it was that inspired Anton Taljaard.
Jacquie
Read the online magazine here.
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