Young Collectors~ Should Children Buy Art?
Looking at Paintings
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During my summer travels I visited a gallery on Block Island. I entered at a moment when a gentleman, I suspect a grandfather, was allowing two children to select a work of art for their home. The young man, no older than twelve, selected a lovely sculpted vessel and his younger sister, a watercolor painting. Both choices were fairly sophisticated, not what you might expect children to select.
So where did they get their “eye?” It was obvious by the way they walked through the gallery and carefully considered each piece that the children had developed a keen awareness of their own preferences. The young man’s choice was a bit more “abstract,” but hardly garish. The vessel’s shape was of elegant proportion. The patches of color had an ordered rhythm, giving the impression of a sublime mathematical equation. The young lady’s choice seemed to be a more emotional connection for her, as if she were well acquainted with the poetic coastal landscape that seemed to mirror her essence. The children practiced seeing, reflecting, and discerning the best choice among many.
I know there are people who encourage art collecting with their children but they are far too rare. One of my clients gives each of her children a budget of $500 a year to collect art they enjoy. The eldest daughter, now 16, already has a very interesting collection of pencil drawings. Because she collects art she reads about it, loves to go to museums, thinks about what she is experiencing visually and is able to communicate this quite well.
What I notice about these young collectors is their confidence, their certainty that they belong in a gallery or anywhere else, a self-possession that escapes many adults. I have no doubt that they will continue to evolve into conscious and accomplished adults. It gives me great hope for the future.
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Boston Artist, Melody Phaneuf is well known for her evocative still life, landscape, and portrait paintings. Her paintings are regularly on view at The Guild of Boston Artists, 162 Newbury Street; at Fenway Studios, Boston by appointment; and North Shore Art in Gloucester from May through October. Phaneuf ‘s paintings have been exhibited at The National Arts Club in New York City, Galerie Herouet in Paris, and with Art du Monde, in Japan.
Melody The Artist Home, founded with photographer and color specialist, Martha DiMeo, features Phaneuf’s original oil paintings on tumbled marble tile murals and beverage coasters, fine art prints, and handmade note cards.
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