She was the Buddha of Paris. They said she had the laugh of a bull. She sat in her chair, pulled her feet under her and sat there like a massive object overseeing the most famous salon in Paris. The place was 27 rue de Fleurus, home of Leo and Gertrude Stein.

Saturday night at the very beginning of the twentieth century... that was the place to be. Gertrude Stein, the woman who sat in her chair as Leo, her brother, expounded L'Art Moderne. And on the their walls hung ...Renoir...Cezanne...Matisse...Picasso.

In time...from all over the world they came....to the door of Gertrude Stein. The guests... Hemmingway, Picasso, Matisse.....everybody who was anybody. They came to see the woman and her collection of art.

The collector who became famous as a result of her collection...the collector who entertained the big names of art and literature...Gertrude Stein.

Such is the power of art to make a collector famous...perhaps as famous as the artist.

Gertrude Stein who dismissed anyone who displeased her with the famous words, "We are not amused." The woman who wrote, "A rose is a rose is a rose."

THE CONE SISTERS

As Picasso painted the portrait of Gertrude Stein in a studio littered with objects, Gertrude insisted that the Cone sisters buy the sketches by Picasso that littered the floor...two dollars a piece. Perhaps Picasso thought he was taking advantage of the sisters...perhaps Gertrude thought she was helping out the impoverished artist.

If that is what they thought then the joke was on them. The collection of the Cone sisters became the backbone of the Maryland Museum of Art. And what of the Cone sisters themselves?....those gullible Americans...well...they became famous as their collection toured the world. What was in that collection?.....the famous portrait of Gertrude Stein....Joy de Vivre by Matisse, Picasso and Friends by Laurencein.

The big letters that were draped across museum after museum did not say, "Stein Collection, or Picasso Collection." The words said, "Cone Collection." Picasso would have grumbled, "Oh, what advantage they took of me," the same words he used to describe Gertrude Stein herself after she supported him all those years.

The collectors became famous through the art they collected.

For the artist the collector is supporter. And what of the collector? The collector gets to live vicariously through the fame of the artist. The collector can become as famous as the artist. Art history books are filled with names of collectors.

Want to live vicariously? Are you chasing fame and fortune? Want be in history books? Collect art.

ART COLLECTING IS ONLY FOR THE VERY RICH
FALLACY!

Not true! As Leo Stein discovered in Paris, "one could actually own paintings even if one were not a millionaire." The Steins had only about $150 a month to spend on art and books and travel. This priced them out of the range for buying the more expensive works of art. Instead they collected the then very inexpensive works of Picasso, Matisse, Cezanne.

Timing.....timing is everything. As any good stockbroker would say, "Buy when the prices are low. Sell when the prices skyrocket."

How good it feels....to be able to say, with an air of superiority, "I bought that painting before the artist was well-known. Let me tell you how much I paid....." How good it feels to be a visionary...to look into the future and know that what you saw in an artist others have yet to see. You got there first. How good it feels!

When they are gone...they are gone. Paintings by an artist are in limited supply. If you don't get there first, you might not get there at all. Someday you may be forced to say, "Art collecting is for the very rich." With passing time that phrase does become TRUE. Timing...timing is everything.

Paintings are like "silent money". But unlike money, they don't sit in the bank waiting to grow in value. There is a little secret that few understand. Paintings are alive...they reach off the walls, expand into the room and create an atmosphere. They are a presence that will not be ignored. They seem to think that room in which they hang was built exclusively for them and they darn well are going to make themselves known. They demand attention. And if they are ever removed....there is this feeling....this feeling of "something is missing."

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