Dennis Scholl is in his studio after buying over two thousand works of art
Those who write about or otherwise anatomise the artworld look at artists, dealers, curators but, except when confronted with such attention-grabbers as Peggy Guggenheim or Bob and Ethel Scull, seldom pay much attention to collectors.
At best they treat them as a plus, a crucial element in the art economy, at worst, as with Robert Rauschenberg’s inflamed encounter with Bob Scull at a 1973 Sotheby’s auction after the taxicab magnate had sold a painting for $85,000 that he had bought fifteen years before for $900, they diss them as artful speculators.
Collectors though are a powerful artworld presence, who often share behaviors, such as loyalty to their artists, and who may sometimes themselves become part of the art-making process. Which is very much the case with Dennis Scholl, who is now turning pieces from his substantial collection quite literally into his own art.
