With Leonardo, Co-Founder of PatronageDAO
PatronageDAO is diving into the fascinating world of collecting, and what it means to be a collector today. Behind every great collection in the world is a collector’s vision — and every great collector had to start somewhere! Most of us, usually as kids, had something that obsessed us — something we had to have — maybe it was baseball cards, maybe it was a rock from every place we visited, the latest football kit for your favourite team, or ticket stubs, autographed programmes, matchboxes… Many of us still feel compelled to own and collect certain things, and a few of us might go on to make it a life-long pursuit…. Likewise, most of us have been to a museum at some point and seen some amazing things gathered in one place — just to be marvelled at…
So our mini-series Q&A, Let’s ReCollect will invite collectors, art-lovers and art world professionals to share their memories and musings on unforgettable collections, how they got started with their own collecting, and the top three pieces they would love to own (or perhaps already do!). Answers will be posted on our social media for all to enjoy!
Welcome to Episode 3 of Let’s ReCollect with, Leonardo, co-Founder of PatronageDAO
Hi Leonardo, we’d love you to **ReCollect **what got you started… Let’s take a trip down memory lane…
What’s your earliest memory of collecting?
Insect collection, rock collection, Pog collection, marble collection and coin collection.
What was your first experience of a collection?
The insect world was incredibly magical to me, I would find them outside and bring them to my terrarium. Their little lives were so fascinating. The smaller you focused your attention the bigger their world seemed to be.
The rocks were very satisfying. The more I collected the more I thought about what the collection was about. I never settled on a theme, but it was quantity, beauty of the stones, rarity, price, series of a sub category, and their significance throughout time.
I didn’t know it then, but I spent a lot of time wondering about the curation of the collection and what story I wanted to tell. The coins were frustrating because I was often priced out. The older, rarer, more historically interesting coins were out of my price range as a child, strangely whenever people gifted me coins it didn’t give the same satisfaction as finding and acquiring them myself. It felt like I was cheating. In a way I feel a similar sense of being out priced in the art market as well.
The marbles and Pogs were the most fun because there was a game element to them as well. You could buy or win more of your collection through skill. Of course I lost plenty of Pogs and marbles in games which really hurt as well!
How did that lead onto what it is you collect now?
Currently I collect art and wine. I love wine collecting because I am spending time exploring and finding wine that I enjoy to drink. It is my most steadfast rule, only collect something you really really love. With art I have the same rule. With wine the biggest challenge is to grow the collection and not consume it. I think wine collecting is most similar to my Pog and marble experiences as a child. It is a living collection that not only changes through buying and selling, but also an element of gaming.
What is your favourite thing about collecting?
Telling a story through time and the value of a collection being greater than the sum of its parts. I collect wine because I look forward to drinking it 20 years from now. I collect art because I love seeing it every day on my walls and want to support the artists that dedicate their lives to crafting stories and meaning on subject matters that move me.
If you could own any 3 works of art, what would they be?
The Matador from Miro, Persistence of Memory by Dali, and Bridge over a pond of lilies by Monet. I also love Guernica by Picasso, I want 4.. :)
If you could spend a night in any museum, which would it be and what would you do?
MoMA New York, it has the Persistence of Memory by Dali, and many many other beautiful things, actually the Hermitage in St Petersburg would also be one, they have so many amazing things, like thatched cottages by Van Gogh.
Joan Miró**, Le Matador, 1969 **(The Tate Collection, ©Succession Miro/ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2022)
Salvador Dali, The Persistance of Memory, 1931 (The Museum of Modern Art Collection New York, ©Salvador Dali, Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York)
Claude Monet, Bridge over a Pond of Water Lillies, 1899 (The Metropolitan Museum of Art collection New York)
Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937 (The Museo Reina Sofia Collection, Spain, ©Succession Picasso 2022)
We would love to know what YOU love most about collecting and what got you started. Join our community and share your stories with us.
