Checkpoints of an Art Collection / Schlüsselmomente einer Sammlungsgeschichte

Private collections are characterized by discontinuity. Tastes change, and major events in the life of the collector lead to new orientations.

But what happens to a private collection when there are changes at the personal level?

Look at me! is a case study on the ongoing development and generational handover of private collections, based on the example of the Hanten-Schmidt collection.

Sasa Hanten-Schmidt retraces the genealogy of this married couple's collection (Klaus F. K. Schmidt is a private collector; Hanten-Schmidt has a career in the art world and is a generation younger) and describes the steps involved in coming to a conscious decision to develop a joint collection and take it forward into the future.

In his essay, Wolfgang Ullrich examines the social conditions and expectations towards art which led many entrepreneurs to take up collecting in the 1970s and 1980s. He is especially interested in the particular experience of German collectors, in insights lent by gender research, and in what it means to now manage a collection in the face of the completely different socio-psychological conditions of the present.

Designed by Michael Gais

Edited by Sasa Hanten-Schmidt and Wolfgang Ullrich

Published by Spector Books, 2018
Bilingual, in English and German

Hardcover, 224 pages, 250 color and 50 b&w images, 8 × 10.75 inches

ISBN: 978-3-95905-161-3