This week, Larry’s List assembled ten of the best quotes from various international art collectors about art and the art world.

“Great artists are like loaded guns. They are dangerous in anybody’s hands.”

- Peter Brant -

“Investors have very short memories.”

- Roman Abramovich -

“I wore one of my (Yves) Tanguy earrings and one made by (Alexander) Calder in order to show my impartiality between surrealist and abstract art.”

- Peggy Guggenheim-

 “Damien Hirst should run Lehmann Brothers”

 -Alberto Mugrabi-

 “There are no rules about investment. Sharks can be good. Artist’s dung can be good. Oil canvas can be good.”

-Charles Saatchi-

 “From the phonebook!”

-Dakis Joannou- (on how he finds the artists he collects; from Ocula)

 “I hate that Basquiat, you?”

 -Alberto Mugrabi- (to Larry Gagosian discussing joint purchases at Sotheby’s auction)

 “You can either buy clothes or buy pictures.”

 -Gertrude Stein-

 “(…)we believe that if you don’t have the knowledge you’re lost. A lot of people talk but they don’t have the knowledge, and knowledge is power.”

 – Rosa de la Cruz-

“Instagram is custom-made for the art world: you get a quick flash of an image with virtually no text or explanation. There’s no need to read. It’s perfect for people with zero attention span, zero education and zero interest in learning about anything – perfect in other words, for the art collectors of today.”

 -Adam Lindemann-
(from the New York Observer)

Claire Bouchara