Want to be an art collector? Follow your heart

SINGAPORE (JP): When you come to know someone is an art collector, what comes to your mind? Most probably you are dead certain the collector is a billionaire for whom money is not an issue.

Art collecting remains an expensive hobby and only wealthy individuals with an eye for art can afford it. But to become a truly dedicated collector, you need more than money.

According to Oei Hong Djien, one of Indonesia's best known art collectors and Philip Ng of Christie's auction house, the "basic capital" is the love for art.

Hong Djien and Ng shared their experience in a seminar on art collecting during the recent ArtSingapore 2000, touted as the world's first art fare that focused on contemporary Southeast Asian art.

Both seasoned collectors developed their love for art by collecting "simple" art pieces such as stamps as children.

Hong Djien became a serious art collector when he was 40 years of age, when he no longer depended on pocket money from his parents to buy artwork.

"The motive (to become a collector) shouldn't be investment but love (for art)," said Hong Djien, a medical doctor by training who claims he does not sell his collection "because I am not an art dealer".

He recalled he bought his first painting in 1965 at Rp 10,000, quite a lot of money then. He bought his first masterpiece in 1982 from Affandi which he paid for by installment.

Hong Djien, who is also in the tobacco business, hails from Magelang, home to about 30 art collectors, each having between 50 and 100 paintings.

So influential is Hong Djien in the Indonesian art scene that he has been nicknamed the "prophet" because collectors and art dealers will take anything he says about an artist or his or her work as the "unquestionable truth".

He said the best way to learn about the art of collecting is by training your eyes to recognize good paintings; reading books on art; talking to artists, critics, dealers and collectors; and visiting galleries and museums.

Budget is important but make sure you buy only quality work, he advised. And don't even think of becoming a collector if you do not have time for "hunting", an activity which consumes time and money.

A good collector should also build good relations with artists because they are the prime source of works to be collected.

"Be generous to the artist," said Hong Djien, who built his private museum in 1998 to house his vast collection. Giving a little more than the agreed upon price would be very helpful in building a relation with an artist.

For Hong Djien, art collecting is not about "spending money" but "converting money" into a more enjoyable asset.

Philip Ng, who still maintains his stamp collecting hobby, advised that you followed your heart when it comes to buying an artwork.

"Although five critics had said that it was a great painting, don't buy it if you don't like it," he said.

Ng stressed the need for a collector to learn about the artists, their style and what their work represent.

According to people familiar with the Indonesian art scene, truly dedicated collectors are rare and many who claim to be collectors are in fact art traders.

Djais Dargawidjaja, an Indonesian international art trader who runs galleries in Bali and Paris, says a true collector does not sell his collection. "This is a collector I admire because he never sells his collection," he told The Jakarta Post, pointing at an Indonesian collector attending a Christie's auction in Singapore on Oct. 1.

The man that Djais talked about, a medical doctor by profession and wished to remain anonymous, said that many collectors and art commentators were in fact art traders and did not deserve their attribution.

"They are riddled by conflicts of interest," he said. (pan)