Andrew Graham-Dixon: preference

Transcript context

…I think it’s often quite good, some of them. Yes. I felt that he was talking to himself. When I feel that an artist is talking to themselves, when it’s real, this is what I love about Vermeer, that it’s so real. He’s only painting what he cares about. That’s it. He wants to paint the conscience. He’s not thinking about who likes it, who’s going to like it, how much it’s going to be worth. Likewise, de Kooning, at the end of his life, he—not likewise, but in a very different way, but he’s within a different tradition and so on. He’s genuinely thinking about what he’s doing. I’ve seen artists, an artist that shall not be named. I remember being at the Royal Academy and standing behind this artist in the queue for the cloakroom. There was a very pretty attendant taking coats, and he just said, “Do you not know who I am?” She said no. He said, “I am a very important artist.” I thought, “Oh, man. It’s over.” As soon as that happens, you know it’s over. You have to be thinking about the art that you’re making, and you have to be caring about it. I think we can always tell when that’s the case, or I hope we can. I think we can. When you’re acting in a role as an art buyer, obviously, you ask yourself, “Do I like the work? Can I afford the work?” What’s a deeper question that you would apply that other art buyers should apply for making better decisions?…

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