Gil Bronner grew up with the art of George Grosz and Lyonel Feininger. He is a real estate agent by profession and a collector of contemporary art by inclination. In June, he opened the 1,700 square metre Philara Museum Collection in Düsseldorf. He talks about his love of freedom, intuition, and how to enjoy art slowly.
By Petra Schäpers
Gil, you were born into a family of collectors. Your parents are still active in the art world. You must have taken inspiration from your parents, but how did you start collecting?
Basically – and I’m not joking – collecting is a kind of genetic defect that is more pronounced in some people than in others. My passion for collecting is not a battery-driven motor but developed slowly. It was probably more difficult in those days to start collecting as a young person than it is today. The focus was more on Classic Modernism than on the contemporary art that dominates the market today.
It’s the same on the auction market. How do you buy art? What does a work have to have to attract your attention? Do you buy on impulse or with forethought?
First, I look at auction magazines and read the tips by the American – what’s his name? – Stefan Simchowitz. Then I consider what is likely to gain most in value on the market, and that’s what I buy, regardless of whether I like it or not. Just kidding. (laughs)
Seriously, I’ve always bought completely on impulse. But I see a lot of works. That means that it’s quite possible for me to see something and come across a name for the first time in an auction catalogue. I also look at what other collectors have, but mostly I go to galleries and fairs and buy art there. For example, I was recently at a fair in Turin and bought a work in a gallery that I hadn’t heard of before by an artist that I hadn’t heard of, Oscar Santillan, quite simply because I liked it. I also have lists of artists in my head who I would like to have in the collection.
Is there a common thread running through your collection?
The common thread is simply contemporary art. At first I bought mostly paintings, but now I buy works that stimulate me intellectually, although I find it a bit stupid if a work has first to be explained. My hair stands on end when gallery owners ascribe a hidden meaning to a work, which they then explain, while in fact it has little depth and content. I find that meaning is something intuitive. You can recognise good art; it speaks for itself. And with time, of course, you develop a sense of quality.
Fairs, galleries, auctions, studios, tours. Where do you buy most and what do you like best?
I prefer to purchase at fairs, galleries, and auctions. In the latter case, unfortunately, one frequently does not get to see the works of art in person, but only via the auction catalogues. That is why I prefer purchasing from galleries.
You have a lot of woman artists in your collection. Do you have a particular affinity for them or ist it just coincidence?
I like women more than men.
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I knew you’d say that.
Seriously, I’ve never made a distinction. In my opinion, that’s a bit of an old-fashioned way of seeing things, because women now have an equal position in the art world. The subject is no longer relevant. I don’t care at all whether a work is by a man or a woman – it’s about the work itself. And just because I’ve done three exhibitions with men, it doesn’t mean the next one needs to be with a woman. The only important thing is the content.
Let’s talk about your new Philara Museum Collection: 1,700square metres of exhibition space in Birkenstrasse, Düsseldorf. What made you build your own museum?
It’s a long story. I designed a studio building on Walzwerkstrasse in Reisholz, quite a long way from the city centre. Two years after I started putting on exhibitions in Walzwerkstrasse, I bought this site on Birkenstrasse. The original plan was to use the rear of the hall as an exhibition space and to build residences in the front. And then I had second thoughts. If you’re going to do it, then do it properly, take the whole building. And that’s how the idea came about. At first I was unsure whether our collection would be sufficient for the demands of a building that large. I’m now relatively confident that we’ ll be able to show interesting exhibitions from the collection.
Will there be temporary exhibitions and a permanent one?
Yes. The first temporary exhibition will be devoted to Friedrich Kunath.
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Wow, super! And then?
Should I tell you? Gregor Schneider, Absalon and Bruce Nauman. For these shows the permanent exhibition and the temporary ones will overlap. We’re dynamic! That’s the nice thing about this museum: if you do it yourself, you’re free of all restrictions and norms. There are no limitations except for the fire department and their regulations.
And you can spend as much of your own money as you want.
As long as it lasts … We are thinking of doing artist readings, not about art, but about what the artists are interested in: their favourite singer or football team, their dog, or whatever. Another idea is a spoton: everyone sits in the dark at a table around or next to a work of art and the light is focused on it. For two hours, 15 people concentrate on this single work and what they feel about it. After all, who ever devotes such attention to a single work?
You want to slow down people’s perception of art?
Precisely. We are used to high-speed consumption, and the enjoyment of art suffers as a result. It’s important to me that what we do is not fixed and that we can change every programme whenever we want.
Yes, you don’t have to wait for funding and much less apply for it.
It would be nice if I could wait for funding, because then I’d have support from the outside. Man! What would I give to be able to wait for funding!
But then you wouldn’t have this freedom!
The fact that we are free of limitations is the core idea. The government is passing an increasing number of restrictive laws. I am referring in particular to the abstruse Culture Protection Law in Germany, by which the federal states can forbid the export of a work of art more than 70 years old and worth more than 300,000 euros. It would only affect a few works, said Minister of Culture Monika Grütters. But how am I meant to know what works are affected? So I wrote to Ms Grütters and suggested that she put in place a laissez-passer so that it could be verified. It might result in a lot of high-quality works remaining in Germany. But if collectors can no longer decide freely about their works, most would make sure that the state couldn’t get hold of them. The result would be the opposite of the desired effect. Works would be sold and culture in Germany bled dry.
Thank you for talking to me.
Petra Schäpers is an expert in contemporary art and head of the Dorotheum branch in Düsseldorf.
(Dorotheum myART MAGAZINE No. 07/2016)
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