Independent Collectors

Roberto Toscano

It all started with the purchase of an etching by Richard Serra in 2011, which turned out to serve as the very foundation for Roberto Toscano’s art collection.

Since then, Toscano has been searching for artworks that enter into a dialogue with this specific piece. Not only do they prompt questions about his perception of life, they also drive him to engage with them in a more systematic way. The best works fuel his curiosity and makes him want to look at them from up-close. For Roberto Toscano, collecting art is an in-depth study of art’s physicality and life.

In collaboration with Artland, we share stories of the people behind the collections and the motivation to want to own contemporary art. This week, we caught up with Miami-based collector Roberto Toscano.

STERLING RUBY
STERLING RUBY

How did you become an art collector?

I started collecting art around 2011. Being a composer, I had already been thinking about the relationship between the visual arts and music for many years – but it was not until 2011 that I decided to begin to acquire works for myself. Before that, my research was mainly focused on art from the first half of the 20th century, work that I would not particularly want to collect – not that I could afford any of the work that was preoccupying me at the time anyway.

How would you describe yourself as an art collector?

I collect in depth. I am looking to acquire as much work as possible by a small number of artists. I am especially focused on the work of Sterling Ruby, Oscar Tuazon, and Daniel Turner, whose work in particular intrigues me the most. The ideas Turner grapples with are closest to the analogues I am dealing with in my own work.

STERLING RUBY
STERLING RUBY

What was the first artwork you purchased?

The first work I acquired was an etching by Richard Serra from the “WEIGHT and LEVEL” series. In a way, that etching set an aesthetic perimeter for me to engage with the subsequent work I went on to acquire.

What is the main motivation behind your collecting?

My main motivation is being able to study work from up-close. I collect the work of sculptors – so actually physically having the work is a very different experience from seeing them in photographs. My goal is to extract as much information from them as I can, and to build as many parallels and bridges between physical and sonic objects as I can.

Describe your collection in three words.

Index. Mass. Entropy

OSCAR TUAZON
OSCAR TUAZON

My goal is to build as many parallels and bridges between physical and sonic objects as I can.

ROBERTO TOSCANO

DANIEL TURNER
DANIEL TURNER

Is there any particular type of art that appeals to you or anything that unites all the works in your collection?

I started with the piece by Serra and then attempted to add pieces that entered into a dialogue with it, be it for or against. Sort of like establishing a giant weight that other objects fall towards – this kind of gravitation around the Serra work is always on my mind.

How important is it for you to meet the artist behind the artwork?

It’s very important although it does vary. I am very close with some of the artists and others I have only said a quick hello to at an opening. If they value their privacy, I am fine with that as well.

What do you enjoy the most: The hunt associated with collecting art or the joy of ownership?

The hunt – not in acquiring work per se, but in the anticipation of what these guys are going to come up with next. Whether it is “Un Pont by Oscar Tuazon or “Particle Processed Cafeteria by Daniel Turner, there are always new projects being developed which extend my understanding of the field, as well as offering new possibilities for me inside the realm of music as well.

DANIEL TURNER
DANIEL TURNER
DANIEL TURNER
DANIEL TURNER
DANIEL TURNER
DANIEL TURNER

What are the wishes for the future of your collection? What would you like to see happen to it?

I am open to showing the collection, although it is still a bit early. I collect for myself, but I am happy to share the work with whoever is interested in it.

What work of art do you wish you owned if the price tag did not matter?

I think it is too early to worry about this. My goal is to support the careers of the artists that have added so much to my own work and my own life. This dialogue with them, whether direct or indirect is what I care about the most. I rarely think in terms of the price tag or the market. I guess, right now, it would be a small painted-over photograph by Gerhard Richter; it is my favorite series of works by him.

DANIEL TURNER
DANIEL TURNER
GARDAR EIDE EINARSSON
GARDAR EIDE EINARSSON

How do you know when you stand before a really great piece of art?

When the work makes me question something about myself or my own work or life, then I know I need to engage with it in a more systematic way.

What is the best advice you have given or been given in terms of art collecting?

“In dark times, the definition of good art would seem to be art that locates and applies CPR to those elements of what’s human and magical that still live and glow despite the times’ darkness. Really good fiction could have as dark a worldview as it wished, but it’d find a way both to depict this world and to illuminate the possibilities for being alive and human in it.” ― David Foster Wallace

Roberto Toscano
Roberto Toscano
(l–r) OSCAR TUAZON; DANIEL TURNER
(l–r) OSCAR TUAZON; DANIEL TURNER
DANIEL TURNER
DANIEL TURNER

USA (55)

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de la Cruz Collection

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The Broad Collection

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Marciano Art Foundation

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The Mallin Collection

Nestled on 15 acres in the scenic town of Pound Ridge, New York, Buckhorn Sculpture Park features gardens, woodlands, a lake and an orchard.

Transformer Station

Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell’s transformation of an electrical power station in Cleveland

The Goss-Michael Foundation

A place that grew out of a romantic connection between Kenny Goss and the late pop music legend, George Michael

Franks-Suss Collection

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Mera & Donald Rubell

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Thoma Foundation

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Martin Margulies

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Seth Stolbun

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The Donum Collection

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March 8th 2022

The Stolbun Collection presents “March 8th 2022”, likely the only exhibition at Ferndale–Seth Stolbun’s rental home, as captured by his iPhone

Rubell Family Collection

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Saint Georgina Slays The Dragon

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Flippin The Script with Armand-Paul Family Collection

In “Flippin The Script” we warmly welcome the Armand-Paul Family Collection in New York to IC, with its focus on the African and Latin diasporas, and interest in performance.

Donna Huanca – Obsidian Ladder

Skin painting artist Donna Huanca participates in the current MAF project series, exploring gender and sexuality in contemporary life.

We Still Have Wild Birds Here

Overlooked American artist Gene Beery (b. 1937), declared and depicted reflections in his paintings with a relevant truth and irony that is no less today.

Life Cycle

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The Wig Museum

LA's MAF was inaugurated in 2017 with a solo show of Jim Shaw, curated by Philipp Kaiser.

Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation

Delve into the digital art of the collection exhibited across two spaces.

Art Now, Art Forever: Damon Zucconi

As collectors dedicated to following artist careers in depth and breadth, Clayton Press and Gregory Linn describe their on-going relationship to the work of Damon Zucconi, whose works are frequently accessible online.

www.Simco Web Works

In context of exposing art digitally and exposing digital art, we wanted to present artworks that have only and always existed on the web, as URLs, here in the collection of Stefan Simchowitz.

Responding to Nature

Tucked away in the vineyard’s of San Francisco you’ll find the secret sculpture park of Nancy and Steve Oliver.

Go Figure / Alec Soth

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John Morrissey

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Stefan Simchowitz Collection

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Carole Server

The New York-based collectors with an enthusiasm for patronage and education.

Force and Form

The private collection studying contemporary visual culture.

Elayne & Marvin Mordes

The sun has just risen over the eaves when we meet on Park Avenue one peaceful January morning and Marvin and Elayne Mordes seem just the way we’d had hoped – warm, open and sympathetic.

Buckhorn Sculpture Park

Located in the scenic town of Pound Ridge, New York, you’ll find the private home of collector couple Sherry and Joel Mallin and their Buckhorn Sculpture Park.

Visions From India

The exhibition “Transforming Vision” includes some of the most prominent Indian artists working today, with all forty works coming from the Pizzuti Collection.

Clayton Press & Gregory Linn

Since 1980, Clayton Press and Gregory Linn – New Jersey collectors – have evolved from being energetic art aficionados to art market specialists.

Steve Shane

Manhattan-based collector Steve Shane is completely in love with art.

Soul Of A Nation: Art In The Age Of Black Power 1963-1983

HEAR this Online Exhibition, exclusively put together with an abundance of images, to view whilst listening to a curated playlist by Quincy Jones.

The Broad Survey Of Shirin Neshat

Downtown L.A.’s The Broad presents Shirin Neshat in an immersive survey.

PHANTASMAGORIA

Exhibition at the Stolen Collection

The Herskovic Collection

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The Dikeou Collection — Part III

A variety of artworks by both established and emerging artists.

The Dikeou Collection — Part IV

A variety of artworks by both established and emerging artists.

The Dikeou Collection – Part II

Artworks by both established and emerging artists, ranging from installations, sculpture, photographs, videos, drawings, to painting.s.

The Dikeou Collection – Part I

Founded in 1998 by the siblings Pany and Devon Dikeou, the Dikeou Collection is located in downtown Denver.

Times of Change

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Working Hard for Art

An art consultant and curator by day, the Brooklyn-based Collector is a self proclaimed “gutsy newcomer”, working with emerging artists to help her push her collection further.

Chaotic Contemporary

Chicago based collector Troy Klyber, is a contemporary art collector that loves to engage in a bit of chaos.

No Man’s Land

Just in time for the opening of Art Basel Miami Beach 2015, the Rubell Family Collection/Contemporary Arts Foundation has opened its new exhibition, “NO MAN’S LAND: Women Artists from the Rubell Family Collection”.

Letters to Pia

Having been given the chance to acquire intimate images of Morrisroe’s muse, Pia Howard, Boston-based collector Adam Larson speaks to IC about his relationship with the following photographs, and of course about Pia.

Select Works from the Stolbun Collection

The Stolbun Collection has turned its attention to featuring younger American artists

R F Jefferies – Don’t Postpone Joy

A look inside the collection of San Diego-based collector R F Jefferies.

THE OJIKUTU COLLECTION

Exquisite showcase of treasures of African art, culture, and history