At Home With... Alex and Sander
EP, 7.11pm, 16th August 2002’ from the ‘Guest Series by Christopher Bucklow
Histories/(Hi)stories… no. 20, 2006 by Gérard Mermoz
We were welcomed into the lovely home of our dear clients Alexandra and Sander. Their home feels light and cosy, a beautiful townhouse opening up to a secluded garden (precious in Amsterdam). Alex and Sander, working in Corporate Communications and Media, live here with their two teenage children, dog Hero and the newest addition to the family: two fish called Spotty and Goldy.
Their photo collection is a great mixture of what Elliott Gallery has to offer: both contemporary and historical, bright colours and black-and-white: they have a bit of everything. The ‘star’ of their collection is a stunning Christopher Bucklow, closely followed by five Antoni + Alison’s and complemented by pieces of Brian Duffy, Lee Miller, Susannah Baker-Smith and Gérard Mermoz.
You are friends and clients of the gallery for almost two decades… How did you come in contact with the gallery in the first place?
Alex: It was when I first moved here, over 17 years ago and Sander was away for the weekend. We lived in Oud-West at the time and I was new to Amsterdam. I thought: I need to go and discover another part of town, so I got on my bike and I started cycling around. I didn’t know Addie, I just happened to cycle past the gallery. I’m not sure which exhibition was on but I remember thinking: ‘wow, that looks so cool!’ Matt, a friend of Addie’s, was there and he told me to come back, which we did. That’s how we met Addie.
Monumental Deer by Antoni + Alison
The first piece you bought from the gallery is ‘EP, 7.11pm, 16th August 2002’ from the ‘Guest Series’ by Christopher Bucklow. A bold and blue eye-catcher, a true centrepiece in your interior. How did you come across Bucklow’s work and why did you pick this one?
Alex: At the time when we found out about the gallery, there was a big art exhibition at the RAI, which we visited. There we saw the work by Chris Bucklow and immediately thought: ‘Oh what’s that!?’ We didn’t know him before. What drew us to his work, was that we had never seen anything like this before. It is so unusual and the colour is so beautiful and intense.
I came into some money through an inheritance and rather than putting the money in the bank or go on a holiday, I wanted to buy something. I don’t know why I decided to buy art, I just decided that I wanted to invest in something beautiful… Addie was amazing, she brought the Bucklow over by taxi to see what it would look like in our house, because it was such a huge investment. We have been living with her for 17 years and we still think she is amazingly beautiful. You just don’t get tired of her, I think?
Sander: We also immediately loved the story of how it’s made. How he only portrays people he dreams about and that no one really know who it is.
A: It truly became the centrepiece of the house: we decorated the house around this piece, towards it almost. For example, we bought the lamp above the table to match the piece, even those cushions have some blue in the pattern. Yeah, the blue in our living room… because of her!
Bunny Hammer, 2003, London Brick and Marie Antoinette (as 2 French Fancies), 2001 by Antoni + Alison
You have accumulated a wonderful collection over the years. How did you start your collection and how did it grow?
S: Well, you started with the photo you gave to me, right?
A: That’s true! It all started when we first started dating about 20 years ago. It was for Sander’s 30th birthday. It’s a picture of a sink, taken in Mexico, which now hangs in our loo—we thought that was funny. I bought it for his birthday and I thought I was being very sophisticated buying him some art. I guess that’s where the interest in photography started…
S: If you have disposable income that you want to invest in something material, you can buy jewellery, but you probably won’t wear it often, at least not the expensive pieces, because we’re in Holland and no one really cares what you look like. You can buy a car which you can’t park in front of your house here in Amsterdam anyway. Or you buy something for in the house and you look at it every day. More than eight hours probably. And it never gets boring, not any of them.
Sequined Sausage, 2002 by Antoni + Alison
Chaise Longue 17 by Susannah Baker-Smith
A: I guess we’ve been lucky—my brother did a fine arts degree, my mum has always been interested in art. I grew up going to galleries a lot. So, we do now what we used to do, which is going to gallery openings and drinking wine…
S: …which makes it very difficult to not come home with something new.
A: The girl is the only piece I bought, for the rest, it’s all Sander. Some were just Sander going like: ‘That’s amazing, I want it!’
S: For the Antoni + Alison’s: they are fun. I wanted to have something fun.
A: And then a few years later, when we bought this house and rebuilt it, we came across the brick with the pink ribbon by Antoni + Alison. We met them and they told us that the brick was actually from their studios, and that the photo was taken when the studios were being rebuilt. We thought that was nice to have after we’d finish our own house…
Fashion Shoot, Florence for Vogue Magazine, 1962 (dropped Flowers) by Brian Duffy
Floral from The Still Life Series, 2017 by Antoni + Alison
What would be your advice for young collectors or couples who want to start collecting?
A: I think you have to really love it.
S: Well, you don’t both have to like them… I’m not particularly keen on your pieces in the bedroom.
A: Really? But you bought them for me?
S: Yes, because you liked them!
A: But that’s another thing! I can say ‘oh that’s nice’ without necessarily thinking ‘I want to own that’.
S: So next time, you have to tell me ‘I want to own that!’ Maybe the advice is this: when you both recognise a story in an artwork, regardless of whether it is the same story, then it is probably a good buy. But if you don’t feel a story, or a connection..
A: Yes, an emotional connection. For instance, every time I look at the girl, I also think of my grandma!
S: A lot of the work we bought together was referring to a story in our lives at that moment in time: Alex’s grandma, the birth of our children, a new house, but then some were just more impulsive. Also, I’d say talk to Addie because she taught me a lot and I started appreciating art more. Now I also know better which questions to ask myself: where is it from, what do I like about it, where would I actually hang it.. Because buying and actually hanging it in your home are two different things.
A: That’s something we have definitely learned now: that we might like a piece but then had to ask where are we going to put it? So I’ve stopped him from buying more but now he thinks I ruined all his fun.
S: Definitely!
Time Will Tell by Stella Gommans
Jimi Blue Smoke, Mason's Yard, London, 1967 by Gered Mankowitz
If money (or space) was no issue, which piece would you want to add to your collection?
S: I really like the Jimi Hendrix by Gered Mankowitz, the coloured one. But more as a business piece, not for at home.
A: Yeah, not in my home! Maybe in a bachelor pad… or a cool office space!
S: If I were really close to buying another one, it would be that one. Or some really old stuff, like the vintage ones by Jacques Henri Lartigue.
A: For me, it would be the work of the new lady: Stella Gommans. I think they are amazing. Very matte, they look like Old Masters. They are gorgeous… Intense but stunning. I quite fancy them! You need to see the print in real life, though, they are so striking. They are like luxurious still lives, rich and velvet. The texture of the paper is great.
S: ‘Like it’ or ‘Own it’? That’s a difference now…
A: Haha.. If I had space, I would like to own those. But I would want a series, a couple of them.
S: They are just flowers…
A: Have you not noticed I like flowers?
S: True…
Interview by Winke Wiegersma (ElliotHalls Gallery) May 2021
