Collecting

I've always loved to look at paintings and sculpture. When I was a young man, 35 or 40 years ago, I first learned of the existence of some art collectors, and, angrily, I thought: those ********, they're just hoarding.

I was wrong. Over the years, I found out a lot more about those very same people. I found out how they promoted poor, unknown artists, gave their careers a boost. I learned how they brought publicity to artists who deserved more attention. I learned how in some cases they were bona fide art historians. I found out how they donated their collections to museums. I learned how there is this whole huge tradition of art collecting which is a good thing, and not hoarding at all. Over the course of centuries, art collecting has become a sort of career, which contributes a lot to the world.

 

That's art collecting. People collect all sorts of other things: comics, salt shakers, stamps, coins, Bibles, automobiles, dresses, etc, etc. Sometimes they know about the traditional art collecting and consciously are a part of that tradition of collecting. Other times they may not know anything about any of this stuff, but they have the same sorts of positive, productive, kind, morally good instincts which drive the best art collectors.