The Montague Collection Strategy:

Our Personal Collection Strategy is a running list of artists we want to collect, or whose work looks interesting to us. We follow the artists on our list has their careers progress, while we purchase what we can afford when we can afford to. Over time we have gradually worked our way up financially to purchasing more expensive work. Our list is dynamic, as new artists are added, many are also taken off as our taste, and the collection changes over time. An artist’s work often moves away from our interests, or we purchase another work that has a similar look or feel. Our taste has matured, it is nice to see the development of our interest over time. Keeping this list gives us an opportunity to really spend time considering and thinking about an artist’s work well before we attempt to buy it. It gives us a chance to really look at the pieces we like by the artists on our list.

The value of keeping more unattainable artists on our list is that it establishes a set of styles that are a visual preference for us. Setting art exemplars that embody our values and taste, while reminding us of the visual elements we might be seeking when looking at the work of more attainable artists. A major collector value of ours is to make sure that we are not collecting artwork that is excessively derivative of another artist’s work. Reminding yourself of a work that may be more unattainable, can help weed out things you might only be interested in because you were wanting a low cost replacement for something that you cannot afford. There are subtle but very clear differences in artwork that is influenced or inspired by another artist style but is still an original work for example compare: Henri Matisse’s Red Studio, and Andy Dixon’s Vancouver mural. Then there is work that is actively re-appropriating another artist style entirely and has nothing original about it, see: Andy Dixon vs. John Holcomb. We try whenever possible to go beyond unconscious preference or automatic visual interest and to make sure that an artwork inspires something deeper in us.

Sometimes we get to the bottom of why we really like an artwork, often it is enough to make us want it more, and other times it drives us to take the artist off the list. We keep images artist’s work that we like best on our phones. When we need something to look at, we go through them. Often, we look at pictures of a work, and get sick of them very quickly. However, some artwork no matter how long and how many times we see it in a picture the more we love it, and would love to live with it. We do purchase artwork by artists that are not on the list (probably once every two years). Sometimes we just see things and immediately know we want it. When the work really is desirable, it fits the collection, we all agree it’s great, and the price happens to be right then we buy it. We have found that you have build trust in yourself enough to have the freedom to do this. There are things that we will own forever and other things that we will probably sell when we are tired of looking at them. Collections that are relevant are not static in anyway…

The list below is the most dynamic page on this website as we actively purchase work from the artists listed on it. Dear Artists if you see your name at the top of our list and you have not heard from us. Feel free to reach out, we are looking at you!

Please note: There are some artists listed below that we would need to millionaires to purchase, but we can dream right?

The list

Still just staring at: Gabriel Sanchez, Alexis Ralaivao, Emma Steinkraus, Marina Dieul, Stephanie Rew, Bond Truluv, Marta Penter, Daria Aksenova, Jillian Evelyn, Paola Ciarska, Sali Muller Projects, Messy Desks a.k.a. Jane Lee & Alex Kiessling, Roxy Peroxyde-Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm, Megan Ellen Macdonald, Kamohelo Blessing Rooi, Phillip Singer, Shannon Taylor , Nick Thomm, Yoichi Nishikawa, Dirk Staschke, Amber Cowan, Laurie Lee Brom, Hanako O'Leary & Ema Shin,

Who is off the list: Linnea Strid, Ben Frost, Brandi Milne, Soasig Chamaillard, Camilla d’Errico, Audrey Kawasaki, Juan Francisco Casas, Tara McPherson,Hilary Pecis, Tara McPherson & Casey Gray, Shyama Golden,