GETTY’S GOT NOTHING ON ME

In the middle of my latest attempt to bring my office back from chaos into order, I actually began looking at all the stuff I’ve collected. Out-of-print books, a couple of original paintings from an artist I consulted for, framed posters, a neon sign I’d been given by a friend that spells ZACH’S (the name I planned to use whenever I fantasized about opening a bar), and many deco pieces along with a fine gathering of Bakelite radios. Nice things, mostly hunted and gathered years ago.

Now I collect art. Sue collects art, but in a very different way. She looks for paintings, small sculptures, and photographs created by as-yet-unknown artists. Sue, like me, has gone through different collecting obsessions but for the most part has stuck with her holy trinity. For quite a while she also had her “junking” friends keep an eye out for different body part sculptures but that’s seem to have (no pun intended—right) petered out.

I’m different. I want the masters. I want what museums have. And I get ’em. I bring a notepad and pen whenever we visit an exhibit or gallery to write down artists’ names that I like, then return home and turn on my computer The Google is my personal art repository.

Then I collect. Some connoisseurs specialize and curate, I am eclectic with enough resources (hard drive memory) to indulge my fancies. My private gallery: my desktop image.

Rothko

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes I need a calming influence so I might choose one of my Rothko’s.

 

If I’m feeling playful I spend some time with Pop Art:

Lich

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometime I enjoy a dose of sophisticated irony and turn to Christian Schad:

 

Shad

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

or jump to one of my go-tos, Max Beckmann,

Beckman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and of course, Otto Dix.

OttoDix

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For politics my Mexican muralists often fill the bill: Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and my favorite David Alfaro Siqueiros.

 

Siq

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many moods, many great pictures. But in truth, for me the rubber meets the road with Photorealism. Yes I enjoy Picasso and Modern, the great masters, street art, and pretty much any school that speaks to me. But give me Audrey Flack,

 

Flack

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ralph Goings,

 

Goings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and especially Richard Estes.

 

Estes

 

 

 

 

 

I guess I’m wedded to reality and it shows.

 

Okay, I can’t actually afford to buy anything by these artists, but I don’t have to. My laptop has the world’s greatest art collection and it’s free!

(Did I mention my naked celebrity folder?)

Every act of perception, is to some degree an act of creation, and every act of memory is to some degree an act of imagination. ~ Oliver Sacks

8 thoughts on “GETTY’S GOT NOTHING ON ME

  1. Zach,
    I started collecting art when I found a genuine Robert LeBron oil painting in a thrift shop for $26. Lebron is dead now, but his stuff hangs in the homes of many Hollywood celebrities(Ron Howard, Carol Burnett) who, I’m sure, paid a lot more than I did! A few years ago I found a Linda Pochesci oil painting at an estate sale. Price: $100. If you buy something similar, by Linda (she’s a realist in the style of Edward Hopper), at a gallery: $3000-4000. I have a friend that found an Early American oil painting at a Goodwill store around 20 years ago. He sold it at auction for over $50,000. He is now an art dealer. Collecting art is fun, but unless you have scads o $$$, you have to search with a keen eye and a lot of patience, plus, you must go to a lot of yard sales and thrift shops. I’m still looking for a Picasso…
    L

    • Les–if you find one send me a picture. Like I wrote, haven’t been “out there” collecting for a while. Depending upon whether I get asked to write another book, I may start getting back into it. Hope all is well on the left coast!

  2. That was a refreshing surprise read, Zach. I’ll send you the name of a painter I recently ‘friended’ on FB whose work is just amazing. I’ve been really looking there for many artists lately especially from Japan. With all the horror happening in the world I often reflect on how fortunate I am to have the luxury of being able to notice art, let alone create it.

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