Collector Spotlight

Robert Wilson, United States

Marina Abramovic and Robert Wilson performing during 'The First Mutual Gaze', the fourth annual art and science workshop at the Watermill Center, 2013.
©Lovis Dengler Ostenrik November 12, 2019 By: Adenike Cosgrove

How did you discover classic African art?

John and Dominique de Menil supported my early work and I discovered African art through their collection in Houston.
©Chloé Bellemère, 2019

Robert Wilson's apartment at The Watermill Center including a Dan judge's mask and an early 20th-century Bini mask from Nigeria.
©Laura Brichta and Chloé Bellemère, 2019

To me, The Menil Collection is the best institution we have in the United States.

Dominique once said, "I want people to come to this museum and lose their heads!" They were true visionaries.

What motivated you to start collecting?

I first started collecting when I was a child. I collected stamps, postcards, arrowheads, flintstones etc. For a long time, I focused on collecting chairs.
©Lucie Jansch, 2018

©Lovis Dengler Ostenrik

When I was eight years old, I went to New Mexico to the White Sands Desert, to visit one of my uncles who lived there as a recluse.

His house was very minimal, with very little furniture. In one room, there was just a chair, and nothing else. So I said to my uncle, ‘That’s a very beautiful chair.’ At Christmas, he sent me the chair as a present! It became very important to me.

What types of objects do you collect?

I collect doors, ladders, drawings, glass, textiles, chairs, sculptures, tribal arts, among many other things. My favourite piece is the one I am looking at. My advice—you can never see too much. Look, look, look!
©Laura Brichta and Chloé Bellemère, 2019

It is fascinating to me how one group of people can have such a different visual sense from another. That distinction in style and taste is something I think we see being lost today. In general, I am attracted to abstraction from contexts outside our modern tradition of painting.

Robert Wilson's apartment, including a Zulu ceramic beer pot, a Zaramo figure, and ancestor figures from Madagascar.
©Laura Brichta and Chloé Bellemère, 2019

20th-century Lwalwa mfondo mask, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Unknown artist.

I have a number of masks from different regions of Africa.

I recently acquired a beautiful Lwalwa mfondo mask. I also have a Dan judge's mask from Cote d'Ivoire.

Do you think it necessary to have knowledge of the history of pieces?

I think to look is the most important. This is the first step. What you learn after can sometimes change everything. But your first impression is the most important.

The Watermill Center with a double bird figure from the Sakalava people of Madagascar, early 20th-century.
©Chloé Bellemère, 2019

25 years ago I established a centre for the arts and humanities, two hours outside of New York City—The Watermill Center. We have been open to the public year-round for over a decade now, we host artist residencies and educational programs.
©Lovis Dengler Ostenrik, 2016

I went to an art school in New York City, and there was no art! At Watermill, one works surrounded by the art of previous generations. It is a visual history of humanity.
©Chloé Bellemère, 2019

I usually buy when I am travelling, things that I find in shops or from certain dealers that I know well. I usually respond immediately if I like the work or not, and then purchase it. Usually, the first reaction is the one I trust.

I am not an academic. I think research sometimes adds to one's understanding of an artwork, but not necessarily.

Which collectors have positively impacted you?

Besides the Menils, the collection of Jean-Paul Barbier-Mueller and his wife Monique, in Geneva. Jean-Paul and Monique were both dear friends and mentors. Jean-Paul was remarkable in the breadth of his knowledge, about a variety of subjects—poetry, language, art.
©Lovis Dengler Ostenrik, 2016

Shaman's cape, Cameroon (detail), 20th-century. Unknown artist.
Photo: Laura Brichta, 2018

We would send letters to each other frequently. Monique had her own vision and she was a lot of fun. We travelled to West Africa together some years ago. Our photograph was taken by Malick Sidibe. I was very sad to lose both of them, one after the other very recently.

How do you live with your collection?

I surround myself with my collection. I like to look at it in my apartment. I have always lived in this way. I travel frequently. I usually travel with a few recently acquired works so that I have time to live with them when I am not home for months at a time.
©Lovis Dengler Ostenrik, 2016

Much of my collection is situated at The Watermill Center, where it is seen by artists doing residency programs, as well as schoolchildren, visitors, and the local community. I never place anything under glass or with wall text. Art is something that can be seen and held. It is another way of learning.
©Lucie Jansch, 2018