Rosemont Art Advisory Exclusive interview with Tiqui Atencio, art collector, Chairwoman of the International Director’s Council of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and Chairwoman of the Tate’s Latin American Acquisition Committee, a member of the Tate’s International Council and Ex-Officio Trustee of Tate America’s Foundation.
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Globalization has morphed market demand and the established hubs of Paris, London, Milan, and New York are making way for competition from Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, Monaco.
Tell us about your background in the art world, when did you start the collecting journey?
My Collecting journey began very early in my life. At the time, I was 17 years old and did not even know what collecting was . All I knew is that I loved art and that I felt happy around it. My Uncle and Aunt were important and active collectors and I was learning about art and collecting through their eyes and collecting activities, I was visiting with them, Museums , Galleries, Auctions ; I can't say there were many Art Fairs at the time.
My father contributed to all this developing passion by giving me a beautiful painting of flowers by Bernard Buffet which I guess I can say started me off.
Although I studied History of Art at the Catholic University in Venezuela , and took courses in Paris and even tried to become an artist myself at the Lucio Rivas Academy of Art in Venezuela , my real education and journey began as a product of my life travels . I guess you can call it, 'Travel Logging'. Best way to describe my background in collecting, is as a product of my life travels. I moved countries, continents and homes many times and that created a natural narrative as I bought works in every place I went to. At the beginning it was not a very coherent way of purchasing works of art, but in time , my eye for quality became sharper and my taste became more focused . When I met and married my husband Ago Demirdjian , he was collecting modern art masters works on paper and contemporary art , our collections fused and we are still very eclectic in our approach to buying art, and as it is totally personal , it all makes sense , as we see it as a Spider web type of collection , and that the works, no matter where they are in the world , definitely dialogue with each other.
What drew you to Monaco?
Ago and I decided that Monaco offered many attractions : it's people, our many friends, it's weather , it's a small country with great quality of life , It's security, it's cultural life , that is developing exponentially.
Examples of that growth are: international conferences, exhibitions, mayor sport events , shows, art fairs, ballet , opera, great shops , restaurants and hotels.
What trends do you foresee in the art industry in the next 10 years to come?
This is a very difficult question and I wish I had a Cristal Ball to see what is in the future inasmuch as trends or fashion in art is concerned, although I do believe that collecting 'great art' , or 'A+' works will always be safe and sound . Last week in London, I went to the Contemporary Art auctions and I was surprised to see young artists that I never heard of, (In their late twenties , early thirties) , reach triple their high estimates.
Due to the excellent returns that buying art has given in recent years, there has been a great influx of new collectors, that has created an important international art platform. Because of this, International Galleries are expanding to many different other destinations , more museums are being built and also expanding to fit the new dimensions in art works being created. I honestly believe this trend will continue with some healthy corrections here and there.
Once you feel the passion of collecting, it's very difficult to stop ; it's becomes like a positive addiction, so to speak! And more and more people consider art as an investment.
Who is your favourite artist and which was the latest exhibition you saw?
I have many favourites...Many have prohibitive prices.
My favourite sculptors are : Albert Giacometti, Henry Moore , Brancusi, Anthony Caro, Calder, Louise Bourgeois...
Living sculptors: Carol Bove, Antony Gormley, David Rodriguez Caballero, Leonor Antunes, Erika Verzutti. These are just a few as I have a very eclectic taste in art, so I have many favourites .....
In painting: Robert Ryman, Ellsworth Kelly , Yves Klein, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol , Basquiat, Louise Bourgeois.....
Living artists, Julie Mehretu, Beatriz Milhazes, Christopher Wool, Ed Ruscha, Jeff Koons ...
The last exhibitions I have seen were Bridgit Riley at the National Gallery in Scotland... Doris Salcedo (Fragmentos) , at the National Museum Annex , in Bogota , Colombia...Fernando Botero at the Fernando Botero Museum in Bogota, Colombia... Anthony Gormley at the Royal Academy in London...Anna Maria Maiolino at the White Chapel Gallery in London ... Takis, Olafur Eliasson, Kara Walker and Dora Maar at The Tate Gallery in London....Elizabeth Peyton at the National Portrait Gallery in London and Albert Oehlen at the Serpentine Gallery in London.
At the London Galleries I saw Mark Bradford at Hauser and Wirth, Dahn Vo at Marian Goodman, Nate Lowman at David Zwirner, Lisa Brice at Stephen Friedman,
Do you loan your art collections to museums?
Yes, I do loan to Institutions I like and trust, as part of my belief that , (not sure who coined the phrase), 'Sharing Is Caring', I have a full chapter in my book,' Could Have, Would Have , Should Have ' , on that subject.
Which artists did enter your collection most recently?
This summer we purchased for the collection, a sculpture titled, 'Dinosaur' , by Erika Verzutti an artist from Brazil , after we saw her exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, as well as a Sarah Crowner an American young artist that we bought from Simon Lee Gallery in London. We also bought A lovely 'Spider', by Tomas Saraceno an Argentinean artist, after the exhibition at 'The Musee d 'Art Modern de la Ville de Paris' .
The last work I bought was at the Bogota Art Fair, a couple of weeks ago, it is a 'Time Piece' by Liliana Porter, a well known Argentinian artist .
Would Madame Atencio Demirdjian envisage writing a second volume of her journey in collecting art?
As a matter of fact that's exactly what I am doing.
My first book , ' Could have, Would Have, Should Have', is about collecting . It was edited by Andrew Brown and published by Art/Books, London.
I interviewed more that 100 hundred Top Collectors and wrote about their journeys, passions and stories, it was illustrated with Art-Toons by Pablo Helguera, an artist and Director of Academic program at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
The book I am doing now , is about, how Top Dealers collect and live in their private homes with their choice of art . It will be called ,'For Art's Sake', Inside the Home of Art Dealers' ; this time it will have many photos taken by a world renowned photographer, Jean-Francoise Jaussaud and published by Rizzoli. .