The Human Condition: The Stephen and Pamela Hootkin Collection Sept. 2014 | Page 54

you can see how his ideas change and develop.
For us this is an ideal approach to collecting.
PH: However, this was not necessarily our approach

when we started. As we got more engaged with the work
of certain artists we acquired large bodies of their work.
This is particularly true for artists such as Michael Lucero,
Judy Fox, Daisy Youngblood, Michele Oka Doner, Anne
Kraus, Beth Cavener, and Ed Eberle. In some cases the
Ralph Bacerra, Blue and Silver Teapot, 1989.

acquisition of multiple works by a certain artist happened
over the long time period during which we were

PH: One of the wonderful aspects of collecting

contemporary work for us has been the ability to develop
relationships with many of the artists whose work is in
our collection—in some cases very deep and lasting
friendships. What matters to us is to not only see the
work or have an opportunity to talk to the artists, but
begin to understand the artists as people, where they
were in their career development, how they looked at
life, how they interpreted their art as part of their lives.
RP: How would you describe your collecting philosophy?
SH: We prefer to collect in depth. Unlike some

collectors who buy only one piece by a given artist,
we like to follow an artist’s development over some
period of time acquiring a number of his works.
For us, it’s like reading several books by the same
author. You can read one, but if an author has written
several and you read several of them you get a
much fuller understanding about his thoughts and
ideas. We believe the same is true for a visual artist.
If you collect an artist’s work over a number of years

collecting. Other times, Stephen would identify a piece
by a given artist whose work we may not have followed
during a certain period of their career. He would
then follow the auction market or have conversations
with gallery owners about our desire to add it to our
collection. So where we developed a strong engagement
with an artist whose early work we missed, we did make
a concerted effort to backfill some pieces along the way.
RP: Clearly for you there is a difference between

looking at wonderful art in a museum setting and the art
that you have collected and installed in your home. What
is the difference for you between the two experiences?
SH: The home for us is our museum and it is much more

personal. In museums, they present wonderful exhibitions
and a wonderful array of artwork whether they be sculpture,
painting, drawings, or prints. But we have built our own
world in our loft, which is more intimate. In a simplified
way, intimacy is the difference for me between looking
at art in museums and in our home. When I go to the
Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan or the Chazen

Stephen at home with Prophet, from the
series Reclamation (1996), by Michael Lucero.

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