Oct 18th, 2020 • 8 minute read
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Collector Stories: Anne Culotta
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Nothing brings us more joy at Art in Res than the stories we hear from our collectors. From small-world discoveries (i.e. “He painted the Footlocker I grew up above!”) to heartwarming hand-offs, to the compliments our collectors forward us from friends and family on their new art, we’re proud to say Art in Res has grown from a fledgling startup born of happy-happenstance into its own quirky generator of shared serendipities that remind us how small (and good!) a world full of art can be.
In this new weekly column, we are excited to present the inspiring supporters of emerging artists who make up the other half of Art in Res. These are our Collector Stories.
Art in Res Collector Anne Culotta resides between Sarasota, Florida and Austin, Texas with her husband Ken, a retired attorney. Her collection includes works by Art in Res artists Claire Price and Mathew Tucker.
I think of every piece as having its own story. A collection is a patchwork that makes up a life.
What was the first piece of art you ever bought?
Our first piece was actually a tapestry. We purchased it because our car broke down and we ended up asking for help at an artist named Laura’s house.
I was probably 28. I’d just gotten married. This was in Houston, Texas and the year would have been 1987. Ken and I were renters at the time, and the reason we were driving around the neighborhood was because we were on the market to buy our first house. Laura was a textile artist. Her husband was an architect.
It was coincidental. Our car broke down as we were driving through the neighborhood, and we happened to say, “You know what? Those people will probably let us use their phone.” That’s because they had the same old model beater car in their driveway that we were driving. So we figured they’d understand this kind of thing is bound to happen.
It was a Sunday afternoon, and Laura was in the middle of weaving this incredible tapestry. I was totally fascinated. I knew nothing about weaving, and certainly nothing about textile. We stayed for lunch and we became friends.
We purchased that piece for $1200 to be paid out at 100 bucks a month. I could never have afforded to pay that much up front at that time, and 100 dollars a month coming in regularly was a big bump in their monthly income. So it was a win-win.
I still have the Laura Nicholson weaving, and if you google, I saw that she became more and more well known for her work.
How have you grown your collection over time?
From that point on, we lived in a neighborhood in Houston Texas, called The Heights, where artistic types tend to congregate. The Heights was full of both fine artists and performing artists, so between buying from friends, and people who then became friends, we started to have a lot of local art in our home.
We were also actively involved in the community board, where artists often couldn’t make a donation of money but would donate to a live auction that sponsored, say, the playground or the schools. The artists might donate a piece of art, and we would have a dinner-and-auction fundraiser for a new community project. I always really looked forward to those, and usually acquired a new piece of art at said fundraiser.
What elements do you look for when considering purchasing an artwork?
I have never been a collector who had a specific thing, i.e “horse paintings.” I have never looked at it from a decorator perspective. It’s kind of like what that Supreme Court justice said about pornography; I can’t really tell you, you just know it when you see it.
Lots of times my decision is very influenced by the artist themselves. I have abstract pieces, I have classical, landscape, ‘could-have-been-painted-in-the-1700s’, I’ve got quirky, I’ve got photography, black and white, and color, but every piece means something to me and it has its own story.
Generally, part of that story is: I can tell you something about the artist. Probably 80 percent of the time I’ve had a face-to-face experience with the artist. That’s important to me.
Do you think of your artworks as investments?
They’d definitely be the thing I’d haul out of the burning building, as in they are precious to me, but I do not think of them like the people who invest in a Picasso and it lives in a vault, and if they come on hard times or, you know, their kids inherit it, it’s sold as part of the estate… I don’t think of them financially.
I do think of every piece as having its own story. A collection is a patchwork that makes up a life.
How do you choose where an artwork should hang?
Sometimes I think I know where it’s going to go, and then in fact when you live with a piece, it finds where it’s going to go.
For my Maori Chief I had prepared the way, but I didn’t see it enough, so it ended up above the kitchen table. Anything that goes near my kitchen table you know I’ll be seeing frequently.
How was your Art in Res experience different than your other online art-buying experiences?
It’s a lot more personal than my other online art experiences. It feels like it comes from a friend. Mathew Tucker sent me a postcard, certificate of authenticity and an invite to “come to the studio next time you’re in the city.”
I guess Jeff Bezos doesn’t pack up all the stuff you order on Amazon, but I never got a note!
How did you choose your Mathew Tucker piece?
Because of the nature of my husband’s work for 35 years in oil and gas—particularly natural gas—when my husband retired we bought our retirement home in Florida and I’ve always referred to it as “the house that gas built."
Mathew Tucker happened to have this great, colorful painting of a gas storage facility which isn’t all that often represented in artwork, so its great because it now hangs in the house that gas built.
What makes an artwork meaningful to you?
Having dabbled in playing the role of artist on occasion, I know that the artist was in a place at a time in their life, and there’s a story behind why they were moved to choose that subject matter, how long it took them to find that, what was going on in there.
What they sent you is a part of their life and it comes to be a part of yours. So it’s connection.
Once my kids were grown, I really enjoyed taking art classes, mostly painting classes at the Art League of Houston. I would like to take more classes, because I actually don’t know much about paint, and I really benefit from the advice of somebody who’s been doing it their whole life.
Just the basic stuff like, well ok, what should be the background color? What paint goes on the canvas first? Where’s the light source coming from? If that person’s sitting there, and there’s light on their forehead, is there light on their knee?
Somebody who has been painting for a long time….they’ll say, “Do you know how to paint water?” I sure didn’t, but the old man that was my teacher said, “Look, if you take your brush and do this, what does that look like?”
“Looks like water!”
How did you choose your Claire Price painting?
The Maori Chief by Claire Price that I got from Art in Res is particularly special--not just to me, but it’s always going to mean something to my whole family.
For two years we planned to take the trip of a lifetime together: the lot of us were going to go to New Zealand in spring of 2020.
We were very excited about that, and in fact Christmas 2019 before the trip, we exchanged gifts that included Air New Zealand T-shirts and guide books, and I was given an Art in Res gift card to choose a painting of our choice. It was a no-brainer, because I was already familiar enough with the website that I knew I loved one particular artist’s work a great deal—and that is Claire Price.
So when I had the opportunity to choose a piece—any piece—I started with Claire’s work, and then lo and behold! Here is this fabulous piece of a Maori chief that was just perfect, and I remember thinking, “That will be a marker of the time we spent in New Zealand.” Little did I know then that the world would be on hold, and we would not be going to New Zealand any time soon.
Now I have the Maori chief, and he is a marker of the time that Corona Virus prevented anybody from going anywhere—most notably New Zealand, who had the sense to close the door early on.
But also the Chief, while he looks pretty fed up right now, I always see him as a constant reminder of something to look forward to as soon as a vaccine is available and things get back to a new normal. When travel is once again possible, the whole family will go to New Zealand and enjoy the trip that had to be postponed.
I also should mention that Claire, the artist, is in fact a Kiwi herself. One of the great things about Art in Res is, it’s sort of a personal relationship. When you choose a painting, you hear from the artist because they’re going to arrange to have it sent to you. My experience has been that they send you a note thanking you for supporting their work, and giving you a little background on the piece itself.
Claire is on Facebook, and she is hilarious, and we have become Facebook friends. So I didn’t just get a wonderful piece of art, I got a new friend. And that, I think, is particularly encouraging for me, because I’m sort of a frustrated artist-wannabe, and if I post a picture of one of my latest attempts, it’s very affirming when someone like Claire says, “I really like that piece Anne, it’s coming along nicely.”
Explore artwork by Claire Price and Mathew Tucker on Art in Res.
Want to share your collector story? E-mail us at everyone@artinres.com