Collecting For... The Home: Anne Lose

What is the difference between collecting art and buying art in your mind? Do you see those as different ideas?

I think that buying art, comes from the heart. When you say the word “collecting,” I think it has this suggestion that it needs to be a good investment. And I have never “collected” art for that reason. I have bought art, but I have bought art because I liked it – it did something to me, it gave me a physical emotional reaction and I wanted to put it in my home.

Sometimes I post pictures from my home on Instagram and I have found, if I tag the artist, that people from all over the world contact me and want to buy it. Some of them have offered me a huge amount of money – and that has tempted me, but when I bought the work, it wasn’t meant as an investment. It was a personal thing that really means something to me and my family in our home. But one of the offers I had, it was… sometimes I think of it now and think maybe I should have done it. I could have had a lot of holidays!

In your experience, what are the biggest overlaps between the worlds of art and fashion? Do you think there is more opportunity for collaboration between these fields?

I think there have always been collaborations. If you go back to the 1920s and 1930s and look at people like [Elsa] Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel, they collaborated with artists. It has always been there. I think these days, with social media, the whole design sector has grown so much. Design, interiors, art, fashion, I think they get inspired by each other and it’s more and more normal to see collaborations.

Do you think more people are collecting art today, than in the past? And if so, why do you think that is?

I don’t know if that’s only because of the two magazines I do, but I have contact with a lot of people that collect or buy art. I think it has grown. In some of the homes that I visit, I see pieces of art that I didn’t see before. Art is now hanging on the walls that is not only a poster in a nice frame. Paintings, ceramics, sculptures – I think sculpture in particular is really growing. I have never seen as many sculptures in people’s homes as I see now.

What are the different reasons people buy art?

It’s interesting, I think some people buy art, like they buy a new chair. They buy it because it fits the room. Sometimes they only buy it because it’s a cool artist, and they know that if they buy that, other people are going to think it’s cool. Then you have the people who buy the art, because the art piece, or the artist has meant something to them, and to have it in their home everyday will give them "livskvalitet," or quality of life.

I have been influenced by all of the things that I just mentioned. But first and foremost, I try to steer out of the “who is hyped now, lets buy it” way of thinking – but of course you still get influenced by it. For me, it is the physical emotion that I feel when I see something. It’s not that I buy it in 2 minutes, but the feeling that I get inside is quite true to me.

It seems like ideas of sustainability, ethical supply chains and representation, have had a big impact on how fashion is marketed and people’s buying habits in recent years. Do similar ideas effect the way you approach art and buying art?

I had a few years when I thought to myself, I am going to invest in art made by women, because of all the data that came forth about how many of the exhibitions at big museums were actually by men, and also about the market and what was actually selling. The whole art world is dominated by men. It’s also the same in the music industry, it’s not only in art. But then again, I would never buy art from a woman, only because she’s a woman. I want to buy it because I love it.

There was a time when I thought if an artwork says something to me, and it’s by a woman, then I would buy it sooner than if it was by a man. I had a few years when I did that. Now I buy what I love. But it felt good to invest in women, because I am also a woman and I have also been in the media business for many years and I know how important it would be. If I could help change the narrative just a bit, then I would be happy. So now most of my art is by women, but I have art from the 60s and the 70s, inherited from my husband’s parents, that is by men.

Do you think there is a generational shift in people’s attitudes towards collecting art?

I have my daughter, she’s 19. I don’t know when she’s moving away from home but I hope it’s soon. But you know, I often say to my husband, let’s buy her a piece of art, so she can bring it with her. My parents would never have talked about that when I moved. They would have bought me a desk or a bed, so something has changed. We want to give her something personal, hopefully a passion we can give her. Sometimes when I buy something I think, my kids will inherit this from me one day, I hope they will never sell it, or perhaps they will, but it has meant something to me. I don’t think my parents thought about that. And they also have art, they have good art (not crazy good art) but they just bought what was popular.

I think there is a new generation. And I mean the world is evil today! It was 30 years ago also, but people are stressed, people want to be in nature, but we can’t be in nature all the time, we still have jobs etc. So if we have something at home, that we know has been made out of creativity and love, it also means something to us. And I think that’s why the interest is bigger also. It’s an amazing world to get lost in I think.