Art collecting has traditionally been the domain of wealthy individuals in search of rewards beyond the purely financial.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Art is often valuable precisely because it isn't a sensible way to make money.
Artists need a lot of collectors, all kinds of collectors, buying their art.
Once we start collecting, the more you have, the more it gets valuable and that will stop us from responding to the present and taking on new ideas what the artists are doing now.
If you try to go beyond your interests just for the sake of pretensions or wealth, your art becomes less legitimate.
I collect a lot of art.
Art is for the elite because it has a very high price-point of entry. And when one is in that social strata, they look down at illustrators because they just draw things directly for a few hundred dollars, and that's seen as being a bit grubby. Galleries allow artists to stay relatively divorced from the financial aspects of their trade.
Historically, art has always had a market. When one medieval fiefdom defeated another they would drag back its jewels, gold, tapestries and art objects as the spoils of war. Art equaled power, riches and culture.
You can spend your money on art works and sit down and look at them. Or you can use your money to help people.
I love art that haunts me, that stays with me, that is left embedded in my mind. I don't really think there is any use for owning or collecting art; it is more about remembering and preserving it in the minds eye and allowing it into your cultural DNA.
Art collectors are pretty insignificant in the scheme of things. What matters and survives is the art. I buy art that I like. I buy it to show it off in exhibitions. Then, if I feel like it, I sell it and buy more art.