For those that collect art (serious collectors or art enthusiasts), there are many ways to acquire notable works. Sometimes these works are passed down from family member to family member over the ages. Other times, there are exhibitions that feature works that are for sale. Occasionally, some of these pieces show up at antique stores, or even flea markets and garage sales (if you’re lucky).
As a way to get more sought-after works into the hands of enthusiastic collectors, the fine art consulting firm Resource:Art (R:A) – operated by partners Emily Tucker and Elisabeth Samuels – has come up with an inventive and ingenious way to free up works from long-time collectors. The collectors/curators did this by “putting a call out,” according to Samuels, “to see if people had works in their collections that they might want to deaccess, and the resulting collection of work is very impressive, including pieces by Jim Dine, David Hockney, Sam Gilliam, Charles Burchfield, and many other notable artists.”
(R:A) partners Elisabeth Samuels and Tucker put out a public call for secondary market artworks for sale, and pulled together an impressive, curated selection from the vast submissions they received.
The pop-up exhibition – titled “DeAccession” – will be held at R:A principal Emily Tucker’s family gallery, Benjaman’s on Elmwood, which has been in business for 50 years, and is itself filled with thousands of works of art. Obviously, this is an incredible chance to add a new “favorite” work of art to a wall – after all, these types of deaccessioning opportunities do not come along very often.
“We feel very lucky to be part of an arts community filled with passionate and sophisticated collectors, some of whom are just starting out, and some have been collecting for years,” said Samuels.
Some of the pieces have the provenance of Martha Jackson Gallery and Nina Freudenheim, while others were purchased by local collectors from galleries in Toronto and New York.
“The exhibition provides another occasion for us to share the idea that collecting art creates the opportunity to surround yourself with joy every day.”
“DeAccession” by Resource:Art (R:A) @ Benjaman Gallery | 419 Elmwood Ave, Buffalo, NY 14222
Opens this Friday July 16th at 6:00 PM | The show will run through the end of August.
This exhibition reflects that wide ranging scope and vision, and includes work by such established artists as Beverly Pepper, Jim Dine, Jack Youngerman, Sam Gilliam, Victor Vasarely, David Hockney, and more. There are also works by regional artists like Robert Blair, Charles Burchfield, Alexander Levy, Martha Visser’t Hooft, and James Vullo.
Lead image: Joseph Whalen, “Lockport 1825”, Oil on canvas, 1965