Art lovers from across the country are flocking to the mountain town of Aspen, Colorado, this weekend for ArtCrush, the Aspen Art Museum’s annual star-studded auction and gala. Meanwhile, some of America’s top collectors are already there. Aspen has cultivated a creative, open-minded collecting community for decades. Below, CULTURED looks back on interviews with four such figures.
Collector and Aspen Art Museum ArtCrush co-chair Jamie Tisch offered CULTURED a peek into her Aspen home, where art and design live in harmony. Discovery is crucial to Tisch’s collection, whether through studio visits, art fairs, or her direct work with artists for the annual art festival, as well as at the concept gallery she co-founded, Pitkin Projects.
On the benefits of befriending artists:
"I started collecting contemporary art when I moved to Los Angeles in the 1990s. I was lucky to have met many amazing artists who really inspired me soon after my move. Each showed me a different perspective on how to look at and perceive art. This really helped me translate so many things ranging from my upbringing in the American South to current events into my collecting today."
On where she looks for exciting design:
"There are so many amazing artists around the world waiting to be discovered, but some of my current favorites are coming out of the Netherlands. Dirk van der Kooij is someone that we feature at Pitkin Projects. He works solely in recycled plastics with zero percent wastes. Not only is his work eco-friendly but his pieces are extremely beautiful."
On balancing art and design at home:
"It’s not easy because I also like a lot of color. I continuously move things around until they feel right. I don’t usually buy for a certain spot."
A Middle Eastern art patron with ties to Aspen and Dubai, Dana Farouki has one non-negotiable when it comes to her art collection: the artists must be alive. Farouki feels strongly that buying the art of one’s time allows for us to engage with it more dynamically. To this end, her collection focuses on peers and those a little bit older, who she sees as mentors.
On going to a Walid Raad show on a first date with her husband:
"I think that first experience was a moment when we realized we were on the same wavelength. We rarely—actually, I don’t think we ever have—disagree upon an artwork. I think it’s a good sign."
On her interest in Middle Eastern art:
"Middle Eastern storytelling often has this surreal element that I look for in an artwork regardless of its maker. Sometimes fiction gets closer to the truth."
On the best ways to discover new artists:
"Besides the opportunity to explore a new city and see how different art scenes function, biennials like Sharjah are a great way to discover artists. Kochi is next on my list. Curators can be resources for discovery and sometimes bellwethers, too."
Sarah Arison is based in New York, but has ties to both Miami and Aspen. She is president of the Arison Arts Foundation, chair of the National YoungArts Foundation, and on the boards of the New World Symphony, American Ballet Theater, and Americans for the Arts. She opened up about her inspirations in art, patronage, and life.
On the role of art in society:
"Artists chronicle the social changes in our world. As creators, they experience things very intensely and respond in their work. I think art being made today captures the challenges and conflicts of our times. While it may be a difficult time, I think artistically it’s a rich and prolific one."
On her artist role model:
"In the current political and social climate, there are a lot of artists who are taking on the seriousness of what’s going on in our country. Hank Willis Thomas is one of them. He is not only an artist, but an activist with For Freedoms. I love that right after the 2016 election, MoMA PS1 was able to find a space where he could engage with the public. People really needed to get together and exchange their views and opinions in that moment."
On her philanthropist role model:
"Working so closely with MoMA and MoMA PS1, I want to be like Agnes Gund. You look at Aggie and what she has done over decades for so many artists and institutions. She’s changed the world, and it wasn’t enough—now she’s started the Art for Justice Fund. It’s her relentless desire to help people and make the world a better place that I admire and aspire to."
From Parisian spas to Bridgehampton homes, designer Sterling McDavid brings a thoughtful, contemporary eye to the spaces she creates. When it came to crafting her own Aspen residence, she let her art contemporary collection lead.
On the origins of the collection:
"As an interior designer I have a contemporary aesthetic, so naturally modern and contemporary art work well with my interiors. It was when I began to build and design our Aspen home that I really dove into adding modern and contemporary art to our personal collection."
On her first purchase for her Aspen home:
"The Andy Warhol Campbell's Soup Cans. I proceeded to then design the dining room specifically around the artwork, which is a common practice for me with interiors. Most people design the space and then add art, but if I am building it from the ground up, there is nothing more fun than designing a home for the art."
On the one that got away:
"I visited David Mugrabi's office in 2010, and he offered to sell us a beautiful [Jean-Michel] Basquiat work. At the time, I remember thinking he would never get his list price, but the joke was on me, because today that piece is worth at least 15 times more. I have always loved Basquiat's work more than that of any other artist, so I still kick myself over it!"
