Young Artist / Young Collection

My speech about collecting art works and the relation between a young artist and young collection is a voice of someone with experience as a curator, and also with some practice in an art gallery. Therefore, my remarks are more of an observer's reflections than a participant' views. On the other hand, maybe it is this standpoint that allows me to judge certain issues with a distance.

During the communist Poland, collecting artwork was a rare activity. Collections were usually created by exchanging work between artists; private collections were few and far between. Modern artworks, sadly of questionable quality, were purchased by museums and galleries. During the transformation period, these purchases were stopped, and the resulting gap, built over many subsequent years, is now to be filled with the "Signs of Time". However, it is a known fact that the priorities of ministerial projects often change. For this reason, even if it may sound pompous, I think that the role of an art collector cannot be overestimated. I'll even risk the statement that a private collector is burdened with responsibility towards culture. However, buying artwork is connected with not only financial, but also intellectual risk. The accuracy of choice is very quickly verified by time. That is why I think that the process of building an art collection must be supported by a trusted advisor or dealer. At the moment, a good many collectors rely only on intuition. Obviously, we are tempted to surround ourselves  with objects we accept from an aesthetic point of view. On the other hand, there exists a perverse rule which we might risk applying while buying a work of art, even though we may find it annoying or even shocking.
Certainly, the most essential principle is building a complete collection, which constitutes a whole and reflects the specificity of modern art in the most faithful way. This task is much more complicated if the collector is interested only in the work created by the youngest generation of artists. In this case, there are few criteria of artistic position or market. It is also difficult to refer a single work or cycle to any previous work, as usually the number of works they could be compared to is too limited to make the comparison credible.
The role of a pioneer is always connected with risk, but an accurate choice may bring enormous satisfaction. Here again we must stress the role of professionals providing opinion on the collected art work.
A young artist is usually contacted without the mediation of a gallery, and so, the collector often acts as a patron as well.  After all, the purchase of the first work is an expression of approval, a stimulus, and also financial support which gives the artist an opportunity to continue his activity. Artistic debut combined with finding a group of kind advisors may be crucial for further development of a young artist. What's important, then, is not only the accuracy of choice, but also persistence in following the artist's achievements and continuation of co-operation with him, after the establishment of his artistic position, based on market rules.
In this context, the most important thing is support for the artist in his co-operation with galleries and exhibiting his work in the best art institutions. Such co-operation also carries hope that the young artist won't abandon his activity, as it often happens, in favour of work for an advertising agency or collecting cans.
On the other hand, the most important thing, from the artist's point of view, in his co-operation with a collector / patron is suggesting which works are the most representative for his activity. And equally important is consistency and loyalty towards the young artist which will give him an opportunity to create an interesting, and after some time also valuable, collection of all his work.
At the end of my speech, I'd like to present a "portrait of a modern collector", created on the basis of my verbal exchange and correspondence with a collector from Warsaw who started his activity in earnest in 2000, when Poland experienced a true painting boom. His collection comprises the work of both his peers born in the '60s and '70s, and older generations of artists. At the beginning, while building his collections he was guided primarily by his own interests. With time, however, his decisions were based more and more on the representative nature of the work, completeness of the collection, and, quote "the expression of the artistic attitude represented by my generation". This suggests that the man builds his collection in a very coherent way, paying careful attention to its consistent character. The collection comprises over 100 works by such artists as Wilhelm Sasnal, Rafał Bujnowski, Marcin Maciejowski, Jarosław Modzelewski, Paweł Althamer, Laura Pawela, Grzegorz Sztwiertnia, Zbigniew Rogalski, Monika Mamzeta, Elżbieta Jabłońska, Paweł Książek, Ivo Nikić, Jadwiga Sawicka, and Tomasz Kozak. His choices reflect the consistency with the Polish mainstream of art. This shows not only his interest in Polish artistic scene, but also his reluctance to risk buying anything on his own accord. The vision of a young Polish art collector inspires optimism - his dynamism, intelligence and vivid interest in modern art suggest that collecting for him is not just a yuppie whim, but a result of conscious decisions and intellectual choices.

Agnieszka Rayzacher