 | It’s
time to think about quality again. Several weeks ago, I had the
opportunity to show several pieces from the gallery to a couple in
their North Scottsdale home. The couple, Mr. & Mrs. F., recently
purchased a second home in Arizona, where they originally planned to
spend 6-8 weeks each winter. The home is modest in size, just less than
3,000 square feet, but exquisitely built and decorated. We hung
the artwork in their breakfast nook, where it fit beautifully. After we
concluded the sale, Mr. & Mrs. F. insisted I take a tour of their
home to see all their art.
As we were visiting, Mr. F. confessed
that they would be spending more time in Arizona than originally
planned because he had just lost his job. This wasn’t exactly
true as he has his own company on the East Coast that does leveraged
buyouts/mergers and acquisitions. In the last six months, he confided,
his business dropped to zero . . . not by 50% or 75% . . . to zero. He
seemed to be taking the economic slow-down in stride and looking at it
as an opportunity to improve his golf game.
I expressed some
surprise that in spite of the state of his business, he and his wife
were still collecting art. His reply was revealing, and, I think, a
hopeful note for artists in these challenging times.
“When we find something we love” he said, “artwork of quality, we don’t hesitate.”
A couple of important points:
1. It doesn’t matter what the economy is doing, there will always be collectors out there willing to buy the right art.
2. Quality matters.
As
I toured the home and visited with them about their artwork, some by
artists I recognized, and others by emerging artists they had collected
back home and in Arizona, I could see a wide variety of styles and
subjects, but the quality of the work was absolutely consistent. The
F’s showed me beautifully framed paintings, folk art from
Northern Mexico, and several major sculptures. They loved telling me
about the artists and were obviously very proud of their collection.
“Quality
is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention,
sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it
represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”
William A. Foster
Jason
J.
Jason Horejs
Owner
Xanadu
Gallery |
