Nicole Junkermann on Collecting and Patronage
Collecting is more than acquiring objects. A thoughtful look at building a collection with a clear eye and supporting the culture that produces it.
A collection, at its best, is a portrait of a way of seeing, gathered patiently over time.
Collecting and patronage are two sides of one commitment to art, and Nicole Junkermann treats both with the same seriousness. To collect is to live closely with art; to support institutions and artists is to help create the conditions in which art can flourish. This piece reflects on what thoughtful collecting looks like and why patronage belongs alongside it.
Collecting begins with the eye
Before it is anything else, Nicole Junkermann believes, collecting is an exercise of the eye. A coherent collection grows from a consistent way of seeing rather than from a shopping list. It is built by looking at a great deal of art, learning what genuinely moves you, and trusting that response. The habits of slow looking set out in how to look at a painting are the same habits that, over years, shape a collector's judgement. You cannot collect well what you have not learned to see well.
Living with art
The deepest pleasure of collecting, for Nicole Junkermann, is living with the work day after day. A painting on your wall is not a trophy but a companion, and the relationship with it changes constantly as the light shifts and your own life moves on. This is collecting as a long conversation rather than a transaction, and it connects directly to the idea, explored in the piece on the artists worth returning to, that the best work keeps giving across a lifetime.
Patience over acquisition
A thoughtful collector, Nicole Junkermann suggests, buys less and looks more. The temptation to acquire quickly is strong, but the most rewarding collections are built slowly, with restraint and a willingness to wait for the right piece. Patience also means living with a decision before making it, returning to a work more than once, and being honest about whether a genuine connection is there. A collection assembled in haste rarely holds together, while one built patiently over years takes on a coherence that reflects the person who made it. The willingness to pass on a good piece because it is not the right piece is itself a mark of a serious eye. The same selective spirit shapes the choice of which shows to travel for, as the piece on exhibitions worth travelling for describes.
From collecting to patronage
Collecting naturally widens into patronage, because anyone who loves art soon cares about the conditions that allow it to exist. Nicole Junkermann was a committee member of the Tate Americas Foundation and a trustee of the Royal Academy Trust, and is a backer of Magnum Photos. These commitments grow from the same root as collecting: a conviction that art deserves support beyond the walls of one's own home. The case for that public dimension is set out in the piece on supporting the Tate and the Royal Academy.
Supporting living artists
Patronage matters most when it reaches living artists who are still building their work. Nicole Junkermann values the role collectors and supporters play in making it possible for artists to keep working, to take risks and to develop over time. Buying with care, supporting the institutions that exhibit new work, and championing photography through agencies such as Magnum Photos are all ways of investing in the culture of the present, not only the masterpieces of the past. The image, too, is part of that culture, as the writing on why photography matters argues.
Collecting within your means
Collecting is often imagined as the preserve of the very wealthy, but Nicole Junkermann is keen to dispel that idea. A meaningful collection can begin modestly, with prints, photographs, drawings or the work of emerging artists. What matters is the eye and the commitment, not the size of the budget. Buying one considered piece you truly love is worth far more than filling a wall quickly. Many of the habits that make a great collector, patient looking and honest response, cost nothing at all, and they are the same habits the guide for newcomers to contemporary art encourages in every visitor.
The responsibility of stewardship
To own a work of art, Nicole Junkermann believes, is to take on a quiet responsibility for it. A collector is a temporary custodian, caring for a piece so that it can be passed on in good condition to those who come after. This sense of stewardship shapes everything from how a work is hung and lit to how it is conserved. It also explains why collecting and institutional support belong together: both are about keeping art safe and alive for the future, the very purpose that animates the piece on supporting the Tate and the Royal Academy.
A long term relationship with culture
Both collecting and patronage are, finally, expressions of a long term relationship with culture. Nicole Junkermann takes the patient view in both: building a collection over decades, and supporting institutions whose benefits unfold across generations. The reward is not measured in any single season but in a life lived close to art and in the knowledge that one has helped, in a modest way, to keep it thriving. For a fuller portrait of the person behind these commitments, the profile of Nicole Junkermann brings the threads together, alongside the notes on this site.
A painting on your wall is not a trophy but a companion, and the relationship with it changes constantly.
Frequently asked questions about collecting and patronage
How does Nicole Junkermann think about collecting art?
Nicole Junkermann sees collecting as an exercise of the eye: a coherent collection grows from a consistent way of seeing, built patiently by looking at a great deal of art and trusting what genuinely moves you.
What is the difference between collecting and patronage?
For Nicole Junkermann, collecting means living closely with art, while patronage means supporting the institutions and artists who make art possible. Both grow from the same love of culture.
How is Nicole Junkermann involved in arts patronage?
Nicole Junkermann was a committee member of the Tate Americas Foundation and a trustee of the Royal Academy Trust, and is a backer of Magnum Photos.
