15 May A Sophisticated Art Collector

Years back, I knew a highly regarded tribal art collector who at the end of his years sold his best objects and bought fakes.

Confounded, I asked him why was he doing this: “have you lost your discerning eye or have your finances changed?”

He said: “When I started collecting, I wanted to be a sophisticated collector and as a self-confident customer I was so regarded by dealers and collectors. But then I came upon the etymology of ‘sophisticated’ and that’s not what I wanted to be. Now I collect things based on whether they continue to engage my eyes, not how they look through my ears; not how they compare in my mind to other objects or what pricing suggests about their importance.”