TRIBAL PEOPLE and a scholar. I take as much pleasure in building my knowledge through the reading of specialized works and visits to museums as I do in developing my collection with new acquisitions. For every one or two artworks I add to my collection each year, there are between forty and sixty new books that enrich the shelves of my library, which is to say that the scales are certainly tipped in favor of books. While they certainly aren’t in the same price range as objects, the proportion nonetheless illustrates my strong interest in research and study. T.A.M.: You emphasize the importance of books as part of your collecting experience. Are there other factors, such as specialists or other collectors? J.L.: Generally speaking, I have developed my interests in a personal way, without signifi cant mentors. That having been said, I have of course been inspired by the example of other collectors. For example, I discovered the Raymond and Laura Wielgus Collection when the book Affi nities of Form: Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas was published by Indiana University Art Museum in 1996, and this proved to be a determining moment for me. While I do not pretend to have put together an ensemble of objects of an importance equivalent to theirs, I do feel a certain affi nity between their approach and my own. Their sensitivity, their eclectic taste, and their restraint as buyers (their collection included only about a hundred pieces) both lit the way for me and confi rmed to me the validity of my approach. Another source of inspiration I would add also derived from a book. I am referring to Xavier de Maistre’s 1794 work Voyage autour de ma chambre (Voyage Around My Room), which gave particular meaning to my way of living with objects. I like to say that thanks to my artworks, I can experience a sense of travel and of contact with other cultures and other aesthetics without having to leave home. T.A.M.: What must an object have in order for you to want to acquire it? J.L.: Great quality! It’s as simple and basic as that. The sine qua non is that the object needs to be the best of its kind that I have ever seen. I know that I will never have the means to own a great Tshokwe Tchibinda Ilunga, to name but one example, but rather than acquire one of average quality, I have made my peace with that fact and have recently consoled myself by purchasing what is in my opinion the most beautiful example of a Lwimbi (a people related to the Tshokwe) comb that I have seen in 150 FIG. 10 (above): Equestrian fi gurine. Karo-Batak, Sumatra, Indonesia. 19th century or earlier. H: 18.5 cm. © Tribal Art magazine, photo by Santiago Borthwick. all of my years of activity in the tribal art market. To state this more simply, I am moved to want to possess an object when it appears to me that it could not be better and that it is formally the most perfect example of what it is. That said, I certainly acknowledge that there may be more important objects and ones whose provenance may be more prestigious. I’m not arrogant enough to believe that I own the ultimate masterpiece of any given style. T.A.M.: You mentioned that from the beginning, you have never hesitated to sell or exchange some of your pieces in order to acquire others. Some might think that this is more the approach of a dealer than of a collector. What do you think about that, and what criteria do you use to determine what objects you will give up? J.L.: Actually, many collectors do the same thing, but not all admit it as openly as I do, and I respect that. Like many others, I don’t have a budget large enough to allow me to purchase pieces regularly without having to sell some of my others. That doesn’t make me a dealer, though. The term doesn’t apply because I have never made a sale in order to generate revenue that would fi nance my lifestyle. Only the desire to own a new object I am attracted to can lead me to give up another I have had in my home. If I am able to part with an object without too much regret, it is simply because I am not an accumulator. For a long time I lived in a 450-squarefoot apartment with more than 3,000 books. It goes without saying that I didn’t have room to show sixty or seventy works of art there. However, living with the pieces I buy has always been vital to me. I have to see them every day, so the option of placing some in storage does not come into play. Although I now live in a more spacious house, nothing has fundamentally changed. As far as I’m concerned, the objects need to breathe. I like to think that I am following the precept of the architect Mies van der Rohe, who famously said “less is more.” Moreover, because I am curious by nature and eager to make new “voyages around my room,” I must have new objects, so I must distance myself from others. To answer the second part of the question, I have rarely sold or exchanged an object that I would not buy back if the opportunity presented itself. In other words, I did not give up those pieces because I no longer thought they were interesting or because I had tired of them. There may have been a few exceptions to that rule because, after all, my eye has become more refi ned and demanding over the years, but on the whole, it remains true.
T81E
To see the actual publication please follow the link above