Vicki and Kent Logan have created a cohesive, uniquely personal, and original collection based on their beliefs about art: Art must reflect the social or cultural events of the time but also be visually arresting and contain powerful, engaging imagery. The stunning body of work put together by this couple celebrates Vicki and Kent Logan’s incredible personal vision and highlights their uncanny ability to detect what’s happening in art all over the world.

Manuela Lietti (Hereafter M.L.): Your contemporary art collection has a long history, so I would like to start from the beginning and discuss with you what convinced you to collect contemporary art.

Kent Logan(Hereafter K.L.): Gary Garrels, in his former capacity as the Elise S. Haas Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) first coined the phrase, “A Portrait of Our Times,” as the title of the 1998 inaugural exhibition of our collection at SFMOMA.  This exhibition introduced the roughly 250 contemporary works in our 1997 gift to the Museum.  Years later, Vicki and I still feel this title ideally captures the spirit of our collecting passion. In terms of general philosophy, the collection has reflected our belief that art is a mirror of our culture, and that the best of it provides insight into issues that face us as individuals and as a society as a whole. I have always been impressed by a passage that I read early in my collecting career: “Every work of art is the child of its age and, in many cases, the mother of our emotions.  It follows that each period of culture produces an art of its own which can never be repeated.  […].” This statement made by Wassily Kandinsky in The Art of Spiritual Harmony published in 1914, to me is a defining, enduring statement about the purpose of contemporary art, not only for the early 20th century, but also for contemporary art today. We have always been interested in collecting art at the time it is made, with particular focus on younger and emerging artists-—art produced in the past 10 to 15 years.  Art at its conception can be controversial, confusing and often times ignored.  Its ultimate importance is far from clear; most will be irrelevant within 20 years, regardless of whether the collector has a “good eye.”  Nonetheless, as collectors we have always found this to be the most exciting, and ultimately the most satisfying, part of the collecting process.  Alfons Hug, curator of the 2002 Sao Paulo Biennial, perhaps captured the entrepreneurial collecting spirit best when he said, “Rather than running after art history, I prefer to anticipate it.”  While Vicki and I concur completely, we felt that it would be important to anchor the collection with acknowledged masterworks from influential artists of the 1960s and 1970s in order to provide a reference point for the work of subsequent generations of artists. Vicki and I gradually came to approach collecting in much the same way as a museum curator does, obviously using private funds rather than public resources.  In our view, a curator’s responsibility, and challenge, is to assemble a collection which is a reflection of the culture of society at a moment in time and to preserve it for future generations.  Similarly, our objective has always been to create such a statement about current contemporary culture, as reflected in the visual arts, as private curators, and then return it to the public trust.

M.L.: Would you like to share with us the major steps in your collecting adventure, from the very beginning up to the present days?

K.L.: While our philosophy has evolved over the years, it is fair to say that we had no preconceived ideas when we began collecting in the early 1990s.  We did not set out to build a collection.  In fact, our initial exposure to contemporary art occurred in the late 1980s in Vail, Colorado, where a dealer, Arne Hanson, had a gallery above the Uptown Grill, our après-ski hangout.  My wife Vicki had also worked at the Denver Art Museum in the mid-1970s in the publications department.  In any case, our latent interest was rekindled in 1992 when a friend and dealer, Larry Evans, invited us on a gallery walk one Saturday in San Francisco. That afternoon we bought our first painting, The Butler’s In Love (1991) by Mark Stock, which is still in the collection today.  From that purchase, we got to know Martin Muller, owner of the Modernism Gallery in San Francisco.  Martin became my first invaluable tutor in art history; Larry, as well as Mark and Martin, have all remained good friends.  To me, this is what collecting art is all about—not a competitive contest, or a superficial means of seeking status, but a process involving friends which literally becomes a way of life. As might be imagined, our early collecting (1993-95) was concentrated on California artists including important 1960s Bay Area Figurative artists. The next important milestone in building the collection occurred quite by chance in the latter part of 1995 when Vicki accompanied me on a business trip to London.  Unannounced, we walked into the Anthony d’Offay Gallery one Saturday morning.  In the next two years the d’Offay Gallery became our largest dealer. Importantly, it was during the 1995-97 period when the art market was still depressed that we bought a large number of works by Andy Warhol including a large Self Portrait (1986), eight Skulls (1976), a number of Brillo Boxes (1966 and 1968), Double Jackie (1964), and Gun (1981), which ultimately became the cornerstone of the collection.  Today, there are a total of 34 Warhols in the collection, as well as an important Warhol/Basquiat collaboration painting from 1984. In addition to being the guiding light behind our acquisition of Warhol works, the d’Offay Gallery cultivated our initially reluctant interest in Jeff Koons (now represented by 10 works).  Koons, in addition to Warhol and Damien Hirst, are three of what we consider to be the “core artists” in our collection.  Other important artists that entered the collection during this period were Philip Guston, Anselm Kiefer, Francesco Clemente, Richard Hamilton, Gerhard Richter, Kiki Smith, Gilbert & George, and Bruce Nauman.  Interestingly, the first work by a YBA (Young British Artist) to enter the collection was purchased from d’Offay; the artist, Richard Patterson, was featured in an exhibition program of emerging artists run by Sadie Coles at the time.  It is safe to say that no one has had a greater influence on our collection than Polly Robinson, Robin Vousden and Anthony d’Offay.  To this day, Vicki and I count them as great friends and are deeply grateful for their guidance. Although Richard Patterson was the first YBA to enter the collection, the term YBA had not really been widely used by that time.  In truth, we did not foresee the importance that this group would assume in our collection, nor for that matter, in the art world in general.  The man largely responsible for the YBA component of the collection is, and was, the irrepressible, super-salesman Jay Jopling.  In my opinion, London would not have achieved the status in the 1990s art world that it did without Jay Jopling, Damien Hirst and Charles Saatchi.  While numerous other artists, dealers and collectors contributed enormously to the success of the YBA art scene, these were the “three horsemen.” Jay Jopling got me into a bidding war (with myself) for an Antony Gormley, Fruits of Life (1989).  To no one’s surprise, Whitecube became our second largest dealer during this period.  Important works by Damien Hirst, Marc Quinn, Sam Taylor-Wood, Marcus Harvey, Gavin Turk, Gary Hume and Tracey Emin were all added in the 1995-99 period.  And our collection of Gormley’s work expanded to five pieces, including the life-size maquette for the majestic Angel of the North at Gateshead, England, which is installed at our home in Vail, Colorado, overlooking the Rocky Mountains. In addition, our collection would not be what it is today without the invaluable contributions from London dealers Stephen Friedman and Nicholas Logsdail and Michelle d’Souza of the Lisson Gallery. While we were very active in London in the second half of the 1990s, we also dramatically escalated our involvement in New York.

M.L.: How did you shift the attention towards Asia and in particular what attracted you to collect Chinese artists?

K.L.: Given the growing importance of Asia in the world’s political and economic order as we enter the 21st century, it seemed particularly important to document that region’s transition as reflected in the visual arts. To date, our major focus has been on Japanese and Mainland Chinese artists.  These two societies have undergone, and continue to undergo, dramatic transformations. Given the magnitude of the change that China will inevitably undergo over the next two decades, it seems particularly important to us that its art be an integral part of our contemporary collection.  Consequently, artists such as Wei Dong, Wang Guangyi, Liu Wei, Li Shan, Zhang Huan, Fang Lijun, Su Xinping, and Yue Minjun are prominently featured in our collection as well as with works of The Luo Brothers, Zhang Xiaogang, Liu Xiaodong, Ai Weiwei, Yu Hong, Lin Tianmiao, Li Songsong, Gu Wenda, Sui Jianguo, Zhan Wang, Cao Guoqiang, Zhang Dali, Xu Bing among the others. Despite the attention towards Asia, I have to admit that from the outset the Logan Collection is truly an international one; only 50% of the artists are American; 13% of the collection is British, particularly those 1990s artists included in the YBA (Young British Artists) group; another 15% are linked to other European nations with an increasing proportion associated with a new generation of German artists primarily located in Berlin.  Finally, the Logan Collection includes about 170 works by 63 Asian artists (20% of the collection), which I believe makes it the largest collection of contemporary Asian art in the world; this group of works is as definitive in the current decade as the YBA movement was to the 1990s.

M.L.: Your wife and you have decided to donate part of your collection to the SFMOMA and to the Denver Art Museum. Would you discuss further this decision and how it was articulated?

K.L.: A major milestone for the collection (and Vicki and me) was reached toward the end of 1997.  By that time the collection had grown to roughly 250 works, far outstripping our ability to display all the work in our San Francisco home.  Additionally, we found ourselves reflecting about the ultimate disposition of the collection since we have no direct heirs.  Over the prior four years, we had been drawn into the orbit of SFMOMA and its unassuming, articulate, knowledgeable and charming curator, Gary Garrels. Without question, Gary had the most important impact on Vicki and me as collectors and on the composition of the collection itself; and, in fact, he was the key to our decision to make a gift of the collection to SFMOMA in the fall of 1997. Almost from the outset, Vicki and I envisioned “returning” our private holdings to a public institution, reflecting our view of the importance of the visual arts in the historical documentation of society. Consequently, it has always been our feeling that for art to fulfill the purpose of its creation, it must be seen, discussed and critiqued in the context of the times in which it was created. Because of that, the most important element in our 1997 gift to SFMOMA was the Museum’s commitment to stage a series of seven focused, thematic exhibitions curated from the collection over a ten-year period, in addition to a major survey of the entire Logan Collection held during winter through spring 2003-04.   None of this would have been successfully concluded without the dedicated and far-sighted assistance of the SFMOMA trustees and staff members. Concurrent with the gift of our collection to SFMOMA, we also endowed the construction of the Kent and Vicki Logan Center at the new San Francisco campus of the California College of Arts (CCA).  Along with our donation to the SFMOMA, in 2006 The Denver Art Museum benefited a major gift. The multi-faceted bequest, which is the largest planned gift in the Museum’s history, includes a $10 million donation to create a major endowment for the Museum’s department of modern and contemporary art.

M.L.: In the past years, you have organized many exhibitions and activities related to your collection. Which are your current and future plans?

K.L.: In 1997, Vicki and I made a gift to SFMOMA of more than 250 contemporary works. Additional gifts followed, with 330 total works gifted to the museum over the years. “The Logan Collection: Celebrating 15 Years at SFMOMA” is our future exhibition at SFMOMA and marks the fifteenth anniversary of our gift. The show, opening in December 2012, will highlight 37 masterworks from the 1960s to the 1990s.   A commission for the museum's atrium by Gu Wenda, which first premiered in the exhibition “Inside Out: New Chinese Art” in 1997, will be re-installed for the first time since that exhibition. Another important partner is the Denver Art Museum. In 2001, Vicki and I gave over two hundred works, the single largest donation in the history of the museum’s Modern & Contemporary Department. The opening of the Hamilton Building in 2006 set the stage to take the Denver Art Museum’s modern and contemporary art program to a whole new level. Our collection is now used as a catalyst to expand and enrich the scope of contemporary programming presented on this stage through insightful in-house curatorial presentation and unique collaborative initiatives with select contemporary art institutions around the world. Museum visitors are treated regularly to rotating exhibitions from our collection. Apart from this, the Logan Lecture Series brings important contemporary artists to the museum to talk about their work and engage audiences in stimulating discussion.