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| Shared Passions |
Framing the Future
Regan Good
08/02/2004
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Spread the Wealth
Others of us dream of casting our art about the country
like seeds, bit by bit. Werner Kramarsky of New York is the anticollector: he is
certain that during his lifetime he will give away all of his world-renowned
collection of abstract Modern and contemporary drawings. The word “perpetuity”
makes Kramarsky, who calls himself an “old lefty,” almost mirthful with
displeasure. “I find the concept of controlling one’s collection after death—and
the concept of institutional maintenance of a collector’s identity—repugnant,”
he declares.
Works by Eve Hesse, Cy Twombly, Barnett Newman and other
abstract mininimalists hang in Kramarsky's Soho office. His father collected
Rembrandt, Cézanne and van Gogh. Kramarsky and his wife, Sarah-Anne, have been
collecting drawings and works on paper for more than 50 years, ever since he
bought a Jasper Johns drawing for $175 in the mid-1950s, a sum he recalls he
could barely afford at the time. Today, he estimates that he owns 1,500 to 2,000
works and has donated more than 800, which he generally accomplishes through
fractional gifts to museums. When we view a drawing from Kramarsky’s collection,
however, we will not know it. The placard will often state simply: “From a New
York collection.”
Knowing that fine art will outlive a long line of our
descendents, each of us must assess our wishes for the peregrinations of our
favorite pieces. The nature of art ownership is fluid—whenever one collector
sells, another one buys. The art of acquiring and disposing of art collections
is part of a great American tradition. In the end the most worthy pieces do end
up in public spaces, belonging to the people and the ages.
Photography by Susan Anderson
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