ASPEN ART MUSEUM Warhol and Collecting
ANDY WARHOL: LIFETIMES
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RAS I think that over the last two years, during the pandemic, we have seen that, if you give creatives the right platform, anywhere can be a really generative place. On my recent visits to Aspen, I was stunned by the creative community that has been cultivated there in the last few years, and how dynamic that felt. JN Oh yes. As retail stores went out of business in Aspen, every other store was taken over by a gallery. There is a hunger there for art. RAS That Anderson Ranch, the Ideas Festival and those pop-up galleries can all be sustained by what is actu- ally quite a small community, is really a testament to the energy of the people there. JN Yes, Anderson Ranch is really a terrific place. My fantasy is to take a few classes there every summer. There’s
always a great artist in residence— Cathy Opie was there in 2016 and many other great artists have taught there every summer. MN And, really, the reason why Jane and I love Aspen so much is because, even though it’s a relatively small town, it has such a vibrant art community. We have so many friends there. As well as Anderson Ranch, you have the music school, the Aspen Institute and many other interesting things besides restaurants and hotels. You won’t find as vibrant an art museum or art community anywhere else.
yes, we’re looking to the future of young emerging artists. It’s different because it’s very much a global art market now. I don’t think I’m as attuned to everything that’s going on everywhere. It was a lot easier when we started collecting and it was just New York—[Roy] Lichtenstein, Warhol, all of the pop artists of the 1960s and ’70s. MN We really try to wait until a piece that we love comes up. We were interested in an Urs Fischer, and we waited two, three years before the right one came along. RAS Over the past decade, so much of the development in the LA gallery scene is a reflection of the fact that there is this incredible community of LA-based artists. JN Yes, we’re not hungry in LA anymore for galleries or for local artists. There are some very talented people working here.
MN We have very colorful works, other than the Double Elvis , and so the black and white appealed to Jane when we first saw it, because it was so unique. RAS You are iconic collectors because you are discerning. You are looking for the ideal work by an artist and are willing to wait for it, which is indicative of a patience and a long- term commitment that maybe not every collector shares. I am curious if there are younger artists that have caught your eye in the last couple of years? JN Yes, I am a big believer in collecting living artists. Some of the ones we collected are dead now, but they were very much alive at the time. There are two pieces that we’ve acquired this year: one is by Lauren Halsey who I think is an up-and-coming, exciting artist. And we’re just looking at a Jack Pierson. So,
Above Portrait of Jane and Marc Nathanson, with Andy Warhol, Double Elvis (1964),
Los Angeles, October 2021
Rebecca Ann Siegel is a former director of Frieze. She lives and works in New York.
Marc & Jane Nathanson are National Council Board Members of the Aspen Art Museum and have provided major support for ‘Andy Warhol: Lifetimes’.
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