05 december 2019, Oscar van Gelderen & Manuela Klerkx
Marcel's pick...
In this section we let a selection of art lovers – from occasional buyers to art professionals – talk about their perception of art and preferences: where do they want to see art? Where do they purchase art, and above all: from which artists do they buy? Below, an interview with Marcel Schroeten (Policy researcher and collector, 62)
What does art mean to you?
To me beauty is a work of art that touches me because it is very beautiful or makes me restless. It can even be offensive. Art gives meaning, meaning and pleasure to my life, and offers comfort.
Did you get an appreciation of art from your parents or did you have to find your own way?
As children, our parents occasionally took us to an antique dealer and then we were allowed to buy something from our pocket money. That may be the basis, although my brother and sister have not become art collectors.
Martina Klein, Untitled (Rot), 2017, Slewe Gallery.
Where do you get your information about the ups and downs in the art world: newspaper, trade magazines, television, online?
I started collecting art in the early nineties. At the time I read a lot in art magazines and newspapers. It was a newspaper article that brought the Art & Project gallery to my attention, and I travelled to Slootdorp very regularly, where gallery was located at the time. There I learned to look at art.
Where do you prefer to look at art? In a gallery, museum, exhibition or online?
You can view a lot of art online, which will give you a first impression. Ultimately, you want to see the work in real life. This is a completely different experience, which you can’t get online.
How many times a year do you buy art?
I tend to end up buying more art in a year than I had agreed upon with myself. When I see an interesting work of art, enthusiasm arises and I feel an excitement come to mind. Whether a work of art is unique or editioned doesn't really matter to me. I believe the most important thing is that it fits in the collection. Having said that, a unique work has something special.
Steven Aalders, Four Colors, 2018, Slewe Gallery.
And where do you buy: in the gallery, at an art fair, at an auction or online?
I usually buy artworks in a gallery, sometimes at an art fair and occasionally at an artist’s studio, if he doesn't have a permanent gallery.
Is it important that you and your partner always agree on a purchase?
Of course, the price of a work of art is a criterion for me. The fact that my budget is limited can be frustrating at times. Yet, it’s to my advantage, as it forces me to look more critically at what I can and cannot purchase.
Is there a gallery with which you have a special relationship?
Abstract art is the core of my collection. Martita Slewe’s gallery has much to offer me in this area and is therefore an important gallery for me, which I have been visiting since the mid-1990s.
Monali Meher, Possessed by own thoughts II, 2017, Lumen Travo Galerie.
If you had an unlimited budget, from whom would you purchase a work?
I would use an unlimited budget to deepen my collection even further, so I’d buy work from artists of which I already have one or two works. I would like to purchase work from Han Schuil, Leo Vroegindeweij, Nicholas Pope and Adam Colton.
Who are your favourite artists?
- I have a penchant for Martina Klein's work. She produces works that are paintings and three-dimensional works at the same time. Her work is in a space or seems to be entering a room; plus you can disappear in her work, especially in her corner paintings.
- Krijn de Koning makes architectural works, which are mostly site specific. In his work De Koning emphasizes cut-outs of a landscape or a detail of a building.
- Steven Aalders’s paintings are a play of colours, surfaces and lines. His colour studies of Dutch Masters and his American Color Studies are just great.
Matea Bakula, The escape of the soft sounds, 2018, Lumen Travo Galerie.
