The Art of Collecting

When it comes to the truly good--indeed, the truly great--African-American artists, the collection of Harmon and Harriet Kelley of San Antonio is one of the more comprehensive in the country. The Kelleys have combined financial wherewithal (Harmon Kelley is an obstetrician and gynecologist) with time, good guidance and a thorough art and historical education to build a collection that has toured the country.

The Kelleys have not only chosen their acquisitions with care; they have also delved into the social imperatives that thwarted early black artists who were denied museum exhibition privileges or who abandoned their careers to support their families, only to start painting again late in their lives. This social study has enhanced their appreciation of the visual images.

When one of their daughters left home to attend Brown University in Providence, R.I., they delved into the life of Edward Bannister. He was a prominent member of the Providence community, and one of the founders of the Providence Art Club, out of which the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design evolved.

When the Kelleys began collecting artists of the Harlem Renaissance, they bought works by Palmer Hayden, who gained recognition when he was among the artists featured in the country's first all-black exhibit in 1928 in New York, and William H. Johnson, who spent much of his professional life in Denmark, Norway and France. Johnson returned to the United States as World War II loomed, and forsook his expressionistic form of painting for a "primitive" style.

There are also two works by Lois Mailou Jones in the Kelley collection, including one that Harriet Kelley stumbled upon in a junk shop. "In Dry Dock," shown at Washington, D.C.'s Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1941, still had its exhibition label attached. Decades later, the Kelleys met the 89-year-old artist at an opening at the Corcoran. "There is such value in knowing the artist. You gain a lot of insight, and they are eager to find someone who is interested," Harriet Kelley says. Indeed, whom you know, as these collectors and dealers aver, can be a tremendous boost when starting a collection of your own.

Through his friendship with the Kelleys, newcomer Leo Edwards has boosted his appreciation and know-how concerning African-American art considerably. When the Harmon and Harriet Kelley Collection of African-American Art opened its tour in 1993, Edwards was a tour guide.

A beginning collector, Edwards, 44, is smartly putting into practice all of the advice and guidance that collectors and dealers agree is imperative: He has relied on the services of reputable dealers, among them Thurlow Tibbs; he has innumerable gallery and museum exhibit catalogs mailed to him to keep up with what is available; and he travels, because he can afford to, to view the work of African-American artists.

And the collection of this self-proclaimed neophyte is growing to include Henry O. Tanner, Lois Mailou Jones, James Van Der Zee (photographs), John Biggers (a Houston contemporary artist who has incorporated African symbols into his huge murals) and Palmer Hayden.

Aspiring collectors who cannot easily do the same as Edwards can still gain initial access to the world of African-American artists and the varied and inspiring range of their work. That world is just a telephone call, a postage stamp or a bookstore away.

Nancy E. Ancrum, an editorial board member of the Miami Herald, has edited a book of oral histories of old Miami.

COPYRIGHT 1996 Heritage Information Holdings, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

If you have the money but don't have the time -  turn to an art consultant. Based in Gary, Ind., Cheryl Sutton travels across the country with her artists' works and exhibits them for large gatherings in clients' homes. Intimate settings offer a warm and focused atmosphere for prospective buyers who have questions. Collectors often turn to Sutton and other reputable dealers for a guiding hand and advice. Such relationships should be based on mutual trust and respect, and they must be carefully sought and cultivated.

"Make sure that the person takes the time to educate you," Sutton says. "Know their background. If a dealer really knows how to collect, then they do it themselves."

Make sure that you are dealing with an art professional. Sutton comes from programming and curatorial positions with the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of American Art.

Beware of "salesmen," she warns. "If a dealer can't tell you how a piece of work was done, or anything about the artist, then it's more of a product line for them."

For many consumers, the street art show is a nonthreatening venue for viewing extensive bodies of work and talking to artists. But the artists themselves may be great or terrible spokespersons, and street fests can be a bewildering mix of trash and treasure, with originals and cheap, nonedition or huge-edition prints intermixed.

Prices for the same work may vary wildly from show to show. If you see something that you love and the price works for you, fine. But coherent, conscious collecting entails more than impulse buying. Moreover, price consistency is important to an artist's (and a dealer's) credibility. A "whatever I can get" attitude is no basis for a long-term, evolving price structure' that dealers, collectors, museums and galleries can all relate to.

"Of course," says Sutton, "some buyers are not interested in those issues. Some just want something inexpensive to go with the sofa."

This frame of mind peeves Sutton. "Art should speak to you in any setting at any time in a way that goes beyond the moment," she insists. "The truly good artists and those who are more established have a distinctive style, one that speaks to you again and again in a hundred different ways." This is where research and study turn into discernment.

COLLECT LIKE A PRO 

In order to buy art smart, you have to master two different skills. The first is being able to effectively research, evaluate and buy any single work of art that attracts you. The second is being able to choose those individual works in such a way as to form a meaningful grouping-- more commonly known as collecting.

If you're like most people, you know how to buy art on a piece-by-piece basis, but may not be all that accomplished at formulating a plan for making multiple acquisitions over the long haul. You can find art you like just about anywhere you look and in an incredible variety of subject matters, mediums, and price ranges, but that can be confusing as well as intimidating. So how do you wade through it all and decide what direction to go in? How do you relate one purchase to the next? How do you organize or group your art together? How do you present it? And, most importantly, how do you do all these things well? This is what collecting is all about-- the ultimate case of controlled, purposeful buying. The answers to all your art collecting questions will be answered as you surf this site. If you're new to collecting fine art, check out the Glossary of fine art terms, or send your questions in an e-mail.

THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS.

Thurlow Tibbs is a dealer in and a historian of African-American art. "Dealer" becomes a rather skimpy description when Tibbs' other talents come into play. In addition to guiding private collectors as they assemble a body of work, he helps museums fill the gaps in their collections with African-American art, researches out-of-print publications for libraries, and conducts art appraisals. His gallery in Washington, D.C., houses a 19,000-item library that is open for academic research.

"With a new client, I will suggest a series of books," Tibbs says. Among the most comprehensive are American Negro Art, by Cedric Dover; Two Centuries of Black American Art, a catalog, by David C. Driskell, of a 1976 exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and Modern Negro Art, by James Porter.

Like many other experienced dealers, Tibbs sees art collecting as not solely the domain of the affluent, but rather as a worthwhile pursuit for anyone who recognizes the inherent value of having art enhance his or her life. His counsel? "Decide on an annual budget. If you want to spend $5,000, it would be stupid for me to show you something for $40,000. If you are open to contemporary art, you can do things for $500."

Contemporary art readily opens the field of African-American art to a wider range of enthusiasts. Works by the respected masters--the vibrant collages of Romare Bearden or lush landscapes of 19th-century painter Edward Bannister, for example--likely exceed by tens of thousands of dollars the average collector's ability to buy.

However, how about an Elizabeth Catlett lithograph or a limited-edition Jacob Lawrence print? Tibbs likes to recommend the lithographs of Grafton Tyler Brown, a 19th-century landscape artist who lived in California for most of his life.

Less expensive yet may be the work of an artist living, working and exhibiting in the region where you live. "Start out with contemporary artists who already have a craft," says Tibbs. "They have already proven something; there have been some exhibitions.

"Look long and hard for consistency and quality of execution," he adds, mentioning that he respects the work of emerging artists such as Louis Delsarte. "Most of all, you have to like it."

Collector Jim King, of Cincinnati, agrees. During the 10 years that he and his wife, Patricia, have been fleshing out their collection, he has learned how to discipline both his desires and his budget, while developing enduring relationships with local artists.

"I look for original pieces," says King, the executive director of Avondale Redevelopment. "I buy art from artists I like personally. It's like bringing someone into your house. A bad attitude stops it for me. Once, I met a guy after I had bought the piece. He was so bad that I sold it."

WHY INVEST IN ART?

Regarding the art that does make it into your collection, most novice collectors will tell you that they buy what they like. That's the best way to buy, but as you gain experience, the reasons why you buy what you like should become increasingly more conscious, complex, and purposeful. "Not only do I love the Old School Jazz Series by Everett Spruill, but it's also a prime example of the artist's best subject matter  from his most productive time period and it fills a major gap in my collection."