Look at me! Checkpoints of an Art Collection

Private collections are characterized by discontinuity. Tastes change, and major events in the life of the collector lead to new orientations. Even though public collections are also shaped by individual actors, their permanence is seldom questioned. Directorial vacancies are quickly filled. But what happens to a private collection when there are changes at the personal level? Look at me! is a case study on the ongoing development and generational handover of private collections, based on the example of the Hanten-Schmidt collection. The married couple Klaus F. K. Schmidt and Sasa Hanten-Schmidt – he a private collector, she with a career in the art world and a generation younger – have opened up for this process to curators, critics, and close associates. Sasa Hanten-Schmidt retraces the genealogy of their collection and describes the steps involved in coming to a conscious decision to develop a joint collection and take it forward into the future.