Major Philadelphia Museum of Art donors talk about some of their favorite works
To say art has dominated the lives of Keith and Kathy Sachs is to say the sun shines during the day.
To say art has dominated the lives of Keith and Kathy Sachs is to say the sun shines during the day.
Throughout 47 years of marriage, the Sachses have been dedicated collectors of modern art. Since the 1980s, they have focused their attention on the art of their time.
In 2014, the Sachses announced that they would give the bulk of their art to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
What that transformational gift will mean to the museum will be on view beginning Tuesday, when "Embracing the Contemporary: The Keith L. and Katherine Sachs Collection" opens for a run through Sept. 5.
The 97 works in the exhibition bring a range of contemporary masters into focus: Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Richard Hamilton, Howard Hodgkin, Neil Jenney, Anselm Kiefer, Brice Marden, Charles Ray, Richard Serra - and many, many more.
While the couple have tended to favor the abstract and the minimal in their collecting, the Sachses have been happy to deviate from their itinerary - depending on the artwork and the timing.
The only constant has been a deep interest in what art reveals about the heart and mind, and what it has to say about seeing.
The Sachses know what they want.
We asked them to talk about a few of the works on exhibition. They began with Hodgkin's abstract portrait, Keith and Kathy Sachs, which is set in an old octagonal frame.
How did Hodgkin come to paint your portraits?
Keith Sachs: We first saw Howard's work at a show in Pittsburgh in 1985. We really loved the work. The following year we bought a painting of Howard's and, eventually, became very friendly with him.
Kathy Sachs: Howard came to our house for lunch, late October 1988. Many people wonder, "Well, how do you sit for a portrait with Howard Hodgkin?" He paints abstract pictures of real emotions. The way we sat for Howard was to have dinner with him, lunch with him - in London, New York, Philadelphia, Paris even. Sometimes, when we were eating, after a few courses, Howard would look at us and say, "Could you switch places?" We realized he was looking at us the whole time. One of the greatest lessons we both learned about art in general was the day we actually saw the picture for the first time, which was in 1991, three years after it was commissioned. We never expected it to be orange. We never expected the frame to be shaped in this way. We learned very quickly that wonderful art, great art, is truly something that surprises you. . . . We continue to this day to see things in it that we did not notice before.
Does it represent you?
Keith Sachs: Howard is a very emotional artist, and meeting with us and producing this painting, I think what he tried to do is convey the feelings he was feeling toward us and maybe the feelings we had for one another.
Kathy Sachs: We do look at it as two figures that are close together, that are actually held together by a band of blues that you can see going across the back. And it is about a relationship. It's a wonderful symbol for the show.
You spent a decade and a half seeking to acquire an ink-on-plastic drawing in three parts, "Voice 2," painted by Jasper Johns in 1982. Why?
Keith Sachs: We fell in love with it.
But Johns didn't want to sell. You asked every few years, and he declined over and over again until 2003.
Kathy Sachs: I think that ink makes it very luscious and elegant. Each panel is basically two drawings, basically two different colors, and one emphasizes the vertical, another the horizontal, and then the last, the diagonal. The title is on the piece, Voice 2, with each letter in the title being repeated twice. . . . The variation in this one work, three parts, is what is so extraordinary and characteristic of Johns. That he can take one thing and do something to it and then do something else to it. Every line is slightly different. Whether it's thin or thick, whether it ends in a blob or light - you can spend a long time looking at them, and it's very rewarding in that way. We love it.
Keith Sachs: At this point, there's no question in my mind: He's the greatest living artist anywhere.
Sculptor Charles Ray's white steel sculpture of a nude boy holding a frog is deeply disorienting in some way.
Kathy Sachs: The boy was outside [the Sachs home] in the garden, which is very nice because it almost feels as if he had leaned down and picked up the frog.
Keith Sachs: From the ground.
Kathy Sachs: And he's beautiful. And he changes with the seasons. He gets a little snow Mohawk. He has the azaleas around him. He's got the changing leaves, and he looks good all the time.
Does he get late afternoon light?
Kathy Sachs: He gets the light in the morning, actually. There was one person at our house . . . and she looked out the window and she saw the boy and at that moment of the year and that moment of the day, she looked at him and there was a little glow of light in his hand, and she sent me a picture. The caption was "Tinkerbell." It's magical.
215-854-5594@SPSalisbury
VIDEO: Kathy and Keith Sachs
talk about their portrait: philly.com/philly/blogs/the-arts/Kathy-and-Keith-Sachs-embrace-the-contemporary.html
ART EXHIBITION
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Embracing the Contemporary:
The Keith L. and Katherine Sachs Collection
Tuesday to Sept. 5. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Tuesday-Sunday, closed July 4. Included with general admission: adults $20, seniors $18, students and youth 13-18 $14, children free. 215-763-8100, www.philamuseum.org.EndText