When Art Zealous first launched, we wanted to bring you the latest art stories, artists, trends, and events shaping the art world. Over the past 2 years, one topic that seems to be of interest to so many of our readers is the topic of collecting art. Whether you are thinking about starting one or are a full-fledged art collector, we want to bring practical information you can actually use when it comes to collecting artwork.
Who better to fill this role than art collector and founder of Curatious, Holly Hager. A little bit about Holly. What might surprise most of you is that Holly didn’t come from an art-collecting family or background, in fact, she didn’t know how to bring it into her life until later. She started off as a complete novice and evolved organically over 12 years into a serious collector.
“I want to share what I’ve learned to help build a culture in which everyone is happier and more fulfilled because they’re investing in themselves with art,” Holly told AZ. “Most people, not just art-world insiders, are clearly moved by art—or museums wouldn’t be full all the time. But there’s this disconnect when it comes to buying art. People’s lives could be so much more enriched by art, which would simultaneously allow more artists to make a living. I want to bridge that gap.”
There’s never been a better time to start collecting art, and we hope this column will serve as a tool to help you better understand the world of art collecting and provide you with the confidence that starting your art collection, whether big or small, is feasible and beneficial.
To kick it off, we sat down with Holly to learn more about her background, how she started collecting art, and what we can expect to see from her column.
Art Zealous: Educational background?
Holly Hager: No judgment? I’m a huge nerd. I studied philosophy in college, got my masters in Medieval studies, and did my Doctoral work in Medieval history. Thankfully, all of that schooling helps me understand the nuances of art better since artists often reference philosophy, history, and religion.
AZ: Current occupation?
HH: I’m the founder of Curatious, a free art platform where you can compare your art IQ with independent experts, collect, and connect with your friends through art.
AZ: Why and when did you decide you wanted to seriously start collecting art?
HH: On our first date, in 2006, my husband and I discovered that we’d both been collecting religious objects for years. We’d also both been haphazardly collecting art for years—buying from artists we knew or whatever caught our fancies.
I didn’t grow up with art or privilege. My father is a fundamentalist minister, so art wasn’t encouraged in our family. I have absolutely no artistic talent—I can’t even draw a good stick figure. Regardless, I’ve always been drawn to art. I just didn’t know how to actively seek it out other than in museums.
Meanwhile, my husband had just moved back from Beijing, where he’d found 798, (their Bushwick), on his own. Contemporary Chinese art was especially vibrant in the early 2000s, and it gave him the bug to start collecting seriously. So we started going to galleries. It was wonderful and terrifying all at the same time. I’m no wilting flower, but galleries can be ridiculously intimidating.
As much as I felt like I didn’t belong, I was in heaven. It was like I’d been starving all those years and was finally being fed. I’ve never looked back.
AZ: First piece of artwork you collected?
HH: I’m not sure, but the very first piece might have been a folk art mask I bought while I was doing volunteer work in Ecuador when I was 16. My parents were kind of horrified when I brought it home, but it fascinated me because it gave me a window into their culture and spirituality. I have it hanging in my kitchen.
I do, however, remember my first serious work. I’m only realizing now that it was religiously themed, too. It’s a limited edition print by Damien Hirst called Chicken, part of The Last Supper series, in which he irreverently depicts the staple of Christian art as a buffet of pharmaceuticals.
AZ: Number one rule to live by when you are thinking about purchasing a piece?
HH: There’s really two golden rules for collecting. Everyone’s heard the first, but I think the second is often the missing piece of the puzzle.
Rule One: only buy works you love.
You’ve heard it a million times because it’s true. Collecting art is about investing in yourself. If you don’t love the work, don’t buy it.
Rule Two: when you find a work you like, make sure it hits you in the gut.
Good collecting is like building a relationship instead of hooking up. It’s easy to find art you’re attracted to. The hard part is choosing which pieces you want to bring into your life. So take your time absorbing the works you like. Let them wash over you and ask yourself, “What’s profound about this?”
Profundity doesn’t have to be intellectual—it can be awe-inspiring beauty or something you can’t even verbalize. But the work has to touch you deeply if it’s going to enrich your life for years.
Art also doesn’t need to be important or expensive to be profoundly enriching. I have a small pastel nude that I bought for about $40 from an artist on the street 25 years ago. That sketch always reminds me that the greatest joys are often the simplest. Happiness wells up inside me every time I see it.
AZ: Art world crush?
HH: I have SO many art world crushes! But one of my most lasting is on Chris Ofili.
I first heard about Ofili in the 90s when Rudy Giuliani tried to shut down his exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum because he’d made a Madonna that included dung as a sculptural element.
I only started officially crushing on Ofili a few years ago when I got to see his infamous The Holy Virgin Mary for myself and hear him speak at the New Museum. He’s a dream artist. His practice is unflinchingly brave, visually luscious, and socially conscious. Even better, he articulates his work as eloquently as a poet. And, to paraphrase him, he had the chutzpah to “throw sh*t” on his paintings. Love, love, love him!
AZ: Favorite museum?
HH: The Rodin Museum in Philadelphia. I’m a sculpture fiend—to the point that we have large-scale sculptures all over our apartment.
The Rodin Museum is tiny and feels like a home. You can get so close to the sculptures that you can smell the bronze. Masterpieces like The Burghers of Calais envelope you in a way that art can’t in larger spaces. They also have fabulous docents who explain Rodin’s work in ways that’ll light you up. I first saw The Thinker on a college trip to Paris, but I didn’t really connect with Rodin’s work until I experienced it so intimately at the museum in Philly. That’s also where I learned from a docent that his figures were so perfect that he was accused of casting them from corpses. For the rest of his life, he sculpted all his figures with oversized hands and feet so that no one would ever doubt his work came from his own hand.
AZ: Best advice you’ve ever received from a fellow art collector?
HH: I’ve never hung out a lot with other collectors. Especially when we first started, I had no idea how to break into those rarefied circles. I’ve always gotten my advice from artists, curators, and gallerists. The best collecting advice I ever got was from a gallerist who told me that an artist’s CV is the largest single factor most galleries use to determine how they’re going to price an artist’s work.
AZ: Is there one piece that you dub “the one that got away?”
HH: Yikes, I wish there was only one! The one I’m saddest about was a small sculpture by Thomas Schütte that we saw years ago when his work was still affordable. Schütte makes these grotesque figures that are so full of raw emotion, I can’t look away from them. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a big enough image bank yet to trust my eye, and my husband wasn’t feeling the piece, so I didn’t push hard too hard about it.
A couple years ago, when we were standing in the shadow of the monumental Schütte that’s now in the MoMA Sculpture Garden, I gave him lots of hell about the one we could’ve had at home.
AZ: What can our readers expect to see from your column?
HH: Honest answers to their questions and practical tips—both for would-be collectors and for artists who want to make their work more accessible to collectors and curators. I also probably won’t be able to keep from sharing the great work I get to see all the time.
AZ: How can we follow you on social media?
HH: You can follow/DM me personally on Instagram @hollyjhager and on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @curatiousart. Send me any questions you have, and I’ll do my best to answer them!
Have a question for Holly? You can submit your questions to info@artzealous.com.
