This year's Collectors Roundtable series was formed in part by feedback the museum received from the previous one. People wanted more Collecting 101 presentations, so this year's program was shaped with the budding collector in mind. Plus, this year the three lectures are also free, so that leaves more money to put aside for your art collection. Perhaps you'd like to start with a print?
On Tuesday, March 16, New York art dealer Mary Ryan presented suggestions for both the 101 collector as well as those who have moved on to levels 102 or 103. "One of life's great pleasures is collecting art, particularly prints," Ryan told us at the beginning of her talk. "And D.C. is one of the best places on the planet to view prints," she added, speaking of the richness and breadth of the museum and gallery collections in the city.
Ryan showed us images from artists as varied as Edward Hopper, Richard Diebenkorn, and George Bellows. She is also particularly interested in women printmakers and feels, "aside from Mary Cassatt and Louise Bourgeois, women are undervalued." She showed us examples of prints by early-twentieth-century American artists Clare Leighton, Peggy Bacon, and Ethel Mars, who was born in the Midwest but worked with Henri Matisse in France. All three artists created prints that Ryan clearly recommends for anyone's collection.
During the course of her ninety-minute presentation, Ryan showed us the value of acquiring iconic images such Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe. A set of ten prints comprises the series, yet prices for each print vary by color. The blue Marilyn is seen as inferior to the both the pink and black versions and therefore costs a lot less. This could be a good window for the collector interested in Warhol. "Iconic images hold up over time. If you want a classical Warhol, Marilyn would be a good bet," Ryan told us.
Mary Ryan's suggestions for the beginning collector include:
- Buy a print from a reputable and knowledgeable dealer
- Have fun with it
- Don't feel you have to be an expert
- Figure out how much you're comfortable spending
- Find a work of art you respond to or covet and just buy it
"Buy what speaks to you, not what you think you should like, but what you really like. Over time they will become an important part of your life and the prints will bring you great pleasure," Ryan added.
The Collectors Roundtable will continue on Tuesday, April 6, with Crafting a Collection with Elmerina and Paul Parkman and John Kotelly. The series will conclude on Tuesday, May 4, with Richard Kelly's talk, Collecting for the Long Haul.
