Much to my own surprise, I have become an art collector. Yes, every parent collects their children’s art, but I have used a different approach in the last few years of visiting galleries and trying to find artists who are sympatico with my worldview, creative, witty and with one foot in the future while another’s firmly in a somewhat nostalgic past.
I’ve written about it before too, including the story of how I became friends with Sean D’Anconia and bought his great piece Majestyscope. Then my teen daughter and I were down in Santa Fe and found a piece we loved in a gallery down there by Fabio Napoleoni. So we bought it. And I commissioned my friend Patrick McGirr to paint something unique for us based on the Beatles song All You Need is Love.
Very much “every picture has a story…”
Last January I was in Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show, as usual, and while walking through the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace was drawn in by a painting from an artist named Geoffrey Gersten. I went in and he was actually there for an informal “opening”, so we chatted for a bit and he showed me some of his other pieces. Very, very nice. Robots in retro settings. One piece, Nighthawks — based on both the 1942 Edward Hopper painting of the same name and the more iconic reinterpretation Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Gottfried Helnwein — was particularly appealing at the intersection of a sort of retro future sci-fi world of robots and the cinematic noir feel of the original, ostensibly set in the 1940’s.
Months later, I bought it and the giclée print finally arrived today.
In a really big box:
I carefully opened it to find layers of bubble wrap:
When I unwrapped that the picture was facing away from me so I could see the title, Geoffrey’s signature, etc:
Finally, finally. I spun it around to see the piece:
Fabulous! And on the wall, even nicer:
The camera isn’t quite capturing the vivid colors of “Nighthawks” which is too bad, but you can see, it’s a wonderful piece and a great compliment to all the other art I have in my home.
Me, an art collector. Who thought?
Learn more about Geoffrey, his work and his gallery showings around the US on his Facebook page: Geoffrey Gersten, Artist.
Love this! So much of being a parent is modeling, and what you’re showing your kids is that art matters. You’re giving it priority in your home and in your life, and it doesn’t have to be the stuffy kind to make a difference.
We collect art too. Not one artist, but we enjoy finding stuff that pleases us. We have a beautiful piece by an artists friend. It was his wedding present to us. We also have several pieces we bought while traveling. For some reason, the piece has to have a story, otherwise it’s just another canvas.
Another beautiful painting Dave. I am sure the picture above doesn’t do it justice. What are the dimensions of that piece?
Thanks, Leo. I really like it. And it’s pretty big too: 48″ x 28″.