Private and institutional collecting
Private collecting – visions and circumstances
It goes without saying that private collecting demands financial resources in addition to knowledge. The challenge is to balance resources, knowledge and opportunity; some find this problem-solving aspect of collecting among its most interesting features. For some collectors the quest for and ‘capture’ of particular pieces is the essential pleasure. Re-visiting works in a collection may be likened to a hunter reviewing his trophies, re-telling tales of the hunt.
The story and logic of any particular collection is a consequence of both intentions and chance opportunities. Desired objects may sometimes only be secured with great effort. Or desire may learn to be pliable, shifting to where choice and quality are plentiful. In recent times, new fields have emerged for Chinese collecting, including old furniture and snuff bottles, while the connoisseurship of inkstones and other ‘scholarly objects’ has revived.
The logic of a collection is like that of other constructions in a life; however pre-mediated, it is the outcome of successive and often unforeseen events.
Ultimately the objects of a collection compose a constellation or network where one can follow forking paths and associations that echo the personal and social experiences of a collector. This expression of a life through art is often especially vivid when a collection is displayed in the intimacy of a home and echoed by the setting and daily objects.
Finally a collection may be formed as ensemble that represents and outlives a collector - and this prospect can be a powerful psychological goal in the undertaking - even as it may be only passingly preserved decades later in an unrecognized name on galleries or exhibition tags.
 |  An ensemble of collected and useful objects In the home of a Hong Kong collector 2003 |
