• We often ask: Why do we collect art?
  
  
  • It’s a surprisingly difficult question to answer.
    
    
  • Unlike collecting objects such as coins, art collecting isn’t purely about accumulation.
    
    
  • Memories and emotional connections matter more than the objects themselves.
    
    
  • Sometimes it’s hard to explain our motivation because we fear getting it “wrong.”
    
    
• People collect for many reasons:
  
  
  • • Institutional preservation (libraries, museums).
      
      
    • Wealth and status, and investment.
      
      
    • Psychological compulsion.
      
      
  • Yet most collectors don’t identify with any single one of these motivations.
• The myth of the “cultural patron”:
  
  
  • Artists often imagine collectors as patrons advancing art history.
    
    
  • Surveys show most collectors don’t cite cultural enrichment as a motivation.
    
    
• What research suggests instead:
  
  
  • Collecting is closely tied to self-identity.
    
    
  • It fosters connection, community, and communication.
    
    
  • Collections educate us, comfort us, and carry personal meaning.
    
    
  • Sharing collections helps connect with others who share our values.
• Circumstances vs. choice:
  
  
  • Purchases may be tied to events, places, artists, or moments.
    
    
  • But among many options, one piece is chosen.
    
    
  • That choice reveals something deeper than circumstance.
    
    
• A personal realization:
  
  
  • Collecting is less about ownership and more about recognition.
    
    
  • A work reflects something back we didn’t know we were seeking.
    
    
  • Understanding our personal “why” brings clarity to how we collect and live with art.
    
    
• Early impactful art experiences:
  
  
  • Childhood exposure to unsettling Caribbean portraits at a grandmother’s home.
    
    
  • These made an impression, but don’t “count.”
    
    
• An interesting observation about collectors:
  
  
  • While writing a book on collecting art, many interviewees refused the label “art collector.”
    
    
  • Even those with homes full of artwork didn’t identify that way.
    
    
  • Collecting, for many, is personal—quiet, intuitive, and deeply human.

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John Bishop Fine Art is an art business run by visual artist John Bishop. John is an abstract painter and illustrator, a blogger, a vlogger, podcaster, and creative writer. He has authored several children's zines and books, as well as co authored books on photography, and art business themes. He maintains a studio at Silver Street Studios in Houston. John posts a weekly blog/vlog/podcast that creates a community, a conversation, between art enthusiasts of all sorts. John's art explores how to turn mythic, archetypal symbols into individual experiences allowing us to see them in a new way, with fresh eyes. Join the conversation, the community, and share the journey together.

John Bishop: http://www.johnbishopfineart.com

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