Picture-perfect memories

Not many can afford to hang a Van Gogh or a Rembrandt on their walls, but there’s always the next best option — pick up prints of their paintings instead.

Available at most museums and art galleries, these imitations are attractive, affordable and crammed with all the detailing that their originals possess. For Iris, a retired English professor, they serve as both a substitute for the works of art she loves, as well as mementos of all the places she’s travelled to. What started off as an interest quickly developed into a hobby, and she now boasts of a grand total of 133 prints from around the world. Metrolife caught up with the collector to find out more.

Iris believes that her interest in these prints— and art, as a whole— stemmed from her love for literature. “I was an English professor, and taught for four decades at colleges in the City. I think art and literature are linked. In fact, after I retired I’ve started painting on my own,” she says.

She began collecting these prints much before that, however. “In 1986, I went to England to study linguistics. I started going to galleries there, and began to pick up these prints. It’s kind of a poor substitute for actually owning the painting,” she laughs, adding that she can’t pinpoint the exact moment when this interest transformed into a full-fledged hobby.  Her collection now includes 133 prints, gathered from ten galleries around the world. They include some of the staples of an art connoisseur’s collection — Van Gogh, Picasso and Botticelli, as well as some lesser-known artists. Her favourite prints, maintains Iris, are of Van Gogh’s paintings. “His life was just so fantastic,” she says. Other than his classic ‘Starry Starry Night’, she also has prints of some of his lesser-known paintings, including one christened ‘Woman Digging Potatoes’, which portrays a simply-dressed peasant woman tilling the ground. “He identified with the poor and the suffering, as well as simple things,” she explains, admiringly.

She also has a few prints of Salvadore Deli’s works, which are distorted in terms of perspective and colour. Another interesting aspect of her collection is a book of prints christened ‘Art By Offenders’. “It was put together by a man named Koestler, and I found it at the Solomon Guggenheim Museum in New York City. The entire collection has been created by prisoners,” she describes. Where she can’t buy prints, she simply takes snapshots of the works of art. One of her favourites, she confesses, is a mural which hangs in the UN Building in New York City, which runs the entire length of a wall and depicts different scenes of unhappiness and suffering.

Iris feels that these prints serve as a wonderful reminder of all the places she travels to. “As a professor, I get invited to several international conferences. Once, when I showed someone these prints, they were shocked that I had actually seen the originals. That’s when I realised that there are so many people who don’t get the chance to go abroad to see these; what’s more, it’s too expensive for the government to import. These prints give people a chance to witness these paintings right here,” she says.

Iris also maintains that she’s selective in the prints she brings home. “I’ve left out the ones which are too modern and abstract, because I don’t like them. I’m traditional, and like realistic paintings. However, I don’t mind the modern ones if they have some meaning,” she says. An example of this would be a print by Giorgio de Chirico, entitled ‘The Song of Love’. The oil-painting, dated to the early twentieth century, depicts the head of a sculpture, a rubber glove and a ball set against an ethereal blue background.
Her collection may be exte­nsive, but Iris is quick to menton that she still plans on ad­di­ng more prints to it. “I’m going to Hong Kong for a conference in a little while— so I hope I can pick up some Chinese prints there,” she concludes.

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