Hello World! This is Frank AKA The Bronze Hound here. I'm an avid collector of Western art, especially bronzes and paintings, but I also play around with oddball antiques and antiquities. Here's the rub - I don't have much money. I really dig deep to buy what pieces I can, and I'm quite proud of the collection that I've managed to build up. It's not a Rockefeller or Guggenheim level collection, but not bad for someone who never seems to have two nickels to rub together.
I truly believe that art should be enjoyed by everyone. Now, I'm not a proponent of putting everything into a museum, not at all. I truly love owning art, knowing that I'm the only person in the world who has an original work (or if it's a limited run bronze, being one of a very privileged few). But with the advent of the Internet, it is now possible to create a Virtual Museum for everyone's privately owned art. Some of my collection may be kinda kitschy, many pieces not to the taste of all, and maybe a few are totally amazing and awesome to everyone, but they're all mine and I love them.
I guess, in a way, I've started this blog to show that ANYONE can collect art. You don't have to be a millionaire, or even comfortably well off. In fact, you can be downright poor and still have some fine works. It just takes the drive to collect and the will to sacrifice (a bit) for it. I've skipped plenty of lunches and dined on crackers many times to buy a special piece. I feel that I'm more than repaid in the enrichment that fine art brings to my life.
Another definite reason for blogging about my collection is to show people that buying art from an unfamiliar artist is a fine thing to do, as long as you like the piece. So many people think that you have to buy only works by famous artists to have a REAL collection. That's completely FALSE!! The thing to remember is, once upon a time EVERY work of art that is now on a pedestal in a museum, or published in a coffee table book, was a fresh and new work by a living artist. There had to be a first purchaser, that person who bought the piece just because they liked it. Don't fall into the common trap of thinking that the artist MUST be famous for you to buy a piece of art. That's why the market has become flooded with cheap Frederic Remington and Charles Russell knockoffs. They're aimed at suckers who think they're buying something of value just because the name scratched into it is a famous one. Buy real works of art, and don't get stuck on the name. If you like a work of art now, chances are really good that if (when) you decide to sell it on, it will speak to someone else, too.
I do appreciate comments of a constructive nature. If you know something about a piece that I have posted, or even if you just happen to like something, drop me a note! I love learning more about the art in my collection, as well as sharing a mutual appreciation or two. Virtually all of the art in my collection has been purchased on the secondary market, and often I don't know anything about either the artist or the piece before I receive it. Many pieces and artists, I still know almost nothing about. If, on the other hand, you feel the need to vent your bile, try screaming it at your screen instead of posting it here. We'll all be happier.
All of the photos herein have been taken by myself, and I am the copyright holder. All of the artworks herein I own and physically possess, and have collected over the last several years (and continue to collect), unless otherwise explicitly stated (like if I happen to take a picture of an awesome statue at a museum). Please do not use my pictures for any purpose without my permission, or the artworks for any reason without the artists' permission. I consider any and all photos that I take of artworks that I own to be Fair Use of the artworks, as a catalogue of my collection and hopefully as an educational tool. If any artists take exception to their works appearing here, please let me know and and we can discuss their removal.
Just FYI, my collection is not for sale. This is just my way of spreading some awesomeness around, helping others to Walk in Beauty...
And now, on to the show!
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