In an article in its October 2009 issue, Art in America mourns the loss of an important African American, Latin American and Asian collection. Peggy Cooper Cafritz’s collection, which included works by artists Emory Douglas, Romare Bearden, Hank Wills Thomas, Nick Cave and Norman Lewis, was engulfed in a fire July 29. The entire collection comprised more than 300 works of art, mostly contemporary. Cafritz ardently supports new art but says she will never be able to afford the range and calliber of pieces she used to own. She says she doesn’t know when she’ll be able to purchase again but adds, “I don’t think that I can live without it. No matter on what level, and what quantity, I will definitely collect again.” Not only did her purchases amount to an incredible collection of modern and contemporary African American art, but they were highly philanthropic in nature: She bought pieces by artists not well known in order to boost their recognition and revenue. By buying important, well-established pieces, she says, you boost your collection and make an investment. Buying artwork by young, lesser-known artists, which she started doing more and more recently, is always a gamble. Cafritz says she was willing to make those kinds of risky purchases because she knew she was helping contemporary artists build a reputation. Because of the numerous fundraisers, political dinners and other social events that took place at her Washington, DC, home, being in her collection “was a measurable boost to their sense of themselves as an artist in the world,” says Thelma Golden, director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem. Cruel coincidence would have it that her collection was featured in O, The Oprah Magazine only a month after the fire. You can take a virtual tour on the magazine’s Web site.
For more information, check out the full article in the Washington Post by clicking here
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