Komal Shah on what she collects and why

Komal Shah, a former engineer and govt at tech firms together with Oracle and Netscape, is now one of the influential collectors in California. She serves on the board of trustees of the San Francisco Museum of Trendy Artwork and, collectively along with her husband Gaurav Garg, has spent a lot of the previous decade assembling a virtually 300-piece artwork assortment. Largely dedicated to trendy and modern works by ladies artists, it contains items by Elizabeth Murray, Jennifer Bartlett, Laura Owens, Carol Bove, Carrie Moyer, Phyllida Barlow and Cecily Brown.

The couple routinely mortgage works to museums—their Jaune Fast-to-See Smith portray Escarpment (1987) is at current hanging on the Whitney Museum of American Artwork within the artist’s retrospective (see our preview on p. 19). Many extra works from their holdings are collected in Making Their Mark: Artwork by Ladies within the Shah Garg Assortment, a 432-page e book revealed earlier this month by Gregory Miller & Co.

The Artwork Newspaper: What was the primary work you obtain?

Komal Shah: A portray on paper by Rina Banerjee in 2011, titled It rained, so she rained. I noticed it throughout my very first public sale preview at Christie’s New York and was instantly drawn to it. It’s a beautiful and poignant portray, with a lady holding her tears in an upside-down umbrella. I wasn’t registered to bid within the public sale, however as soon as bidding began, I begged my pal to lift her paddle for me—which she did, very graciously! I nonetheless love the work to today, and it additionally jogs my memory how fortunate I’m to have such nice buddies.

What was your most up-to-date buy?

A wall hanging by Trude Guermonprez from round 1974. Trude had a storied profession. After the Second World Struggle, she left Europe to show at Black Mountain School upon Anni Albers’ invitation. After Black Mountain School closed, she moved to California and ultimately taught on the California School of Arts and Crafts, turning into the chair of the crafts division. There she taught artists Kay Sekimachi and Barbara Kasten—I accumulate works by each, too—and left an indelible mark.

If your home was on hearth, which work would you save?

That’s a troublesome one. Joan Mitchell’s Untitled (1992), which is one in every of her final identified work. It’s a reminder of how she depicted the wonder and pleasure of sunflowers. The strokes are highly effective and assured. I see this portray as capturing her sense of freedom and energy in being her truest inventive self. The exuberance in that portray jogs my memory of the quote: “A flame burns brightest simply earlier than it goes out.”

If cash had been no object, what could be your dream buy?

There are such a lot of works on my dream checklist. The last word buy could be the complete suite of Hilma af Klint work. I might additionally like to have a Joan Mitchell work from each decade, a significant Ruth Asawa wire sculpture and a Nineteen Sixties Lee Krasner portray within the vein of Fight (1965).

Which work do you remorse not shopping for while you had the chance?

A Lee Bontecou aid. I used to be the underbidder six years in the past and I nonetheless remorse it to today.

What’s the most shocking place you might have displayed a piece?

I don’t know if that is shocking, however we attempt to make use of each area in the home. The home was designed earlier than our assortment grew and matured, so over time we now have modified the home to accommodate extra artwork. We changed our fire with a Mary Weatherford neon portray, and we raised ceilings for an essential work by Charles Gaines. Proper now, each inch of wall within the stairwell is roofed by artwork.

Which artists, useless or alive, would you invite to your dream ceremonial dinner?

I might journey again in time to the Seventies and have a raucous celebration with powerhouse ladies artists. The founders of the AIR Gallery, like Howardena Pindell and Mary Grigoriadis, and Lynda Benglis and Louise Fishman, could be there. I’d guarantee that Jaune Fast-to-See Smith and Kay WalkingStick and Miriam Schapiro and Judy Chicago had been in attendance, too. That might be a very wonderful celebration!

What’s the greatest accumulating recommendation you’ve been given?

Gather what you’re keen on and imagine in—you would possibly by no means know the way the market goes, however you’ll be able to encompass your self with pleasure and marvel. Museum curators are a useful supply of data—assist and be taught from them. And nothing beats mileage—go to as many museums, biennials, artwork gala’s and galleries as you’ll be able to, so that you just begin growing your individual accumulating imaginative and prescient.