Press: Inside the Head of a Collector

“The Neuropsychology of the Collector,” in Collectible Investments for the High Net Worth Investor. Editor: Steven Satchell, Academic Press, 2009, pages 31-51., 2009

This chapter implements a neuroscientific approach to the psyche of collectors. It is by a board certified neurologist and psychiatrist. The file uploaded is a final proof with minor alternations that were made for the book itself. They can be provided upon request.

Fine Art Connoisseur, January-February (2010), pages 58-60., 2010

GH O ne out of three adults is a collector, someone who acquires and treasures objects of value. The other two-thirds of the population either live with a collector or know several of them. Despite this large, interested audience, the question of exactly why collectors collect remains unanswered.

Published in "Miranda" e-journal n°7 (univ. Toulouse 2), December 2012, “Celebrating Ceramics – Pleins feux sur la céramique”

The Human Condition: The Stephen and Pamela Hootkin Collection of Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture, Exh. Cat., by Russell Panczenko, Garth Clark, and Christy Wahl. Madison: Chazen Museum of Art, 2014

This book is published on the occasion of the exhibition The Human Condition: The Stephen and Pamela Hootkin Collection of Contemporary Ceramic Sculpture, held at the Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin–Madison, September 4–November 30, 2014. © 2014 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright conventions

Eighteenth-Century Studies, 2010

Porcelain and Natural History in the Duchess of Portland's Museum Porcelain in eighteenth-century aristocratic collections was associated with both the curious and the foreign. The Duchess of Portland's Museum contained large amounts porcelain along with thousands of natural history specimens. The material and geographic plurality of the collection mirrored its totalizing claims to have a comprehensive display of the world's natural and artificial materials. This essay explores the relationship between porcelain and natural history, arguing that Portland's collection attempted to bridge conceptual distinctions between science and art in the eighteenth century, and that this project was particularly important to making sense of eighteenth-century female collecting practices and their sociable display.

2011

[By Christopher Lotis and Michel D. Lee; Foreword by P.M. Taylor. This full book is uploaded here while the Smithsonian website, where it was published online, is being revised.] An important theme of this volume is the relationship between ceramics and cultural identity, especially as it relates to a particular family’s collection, and also to the broader study of the personal and social aspects of collecting. The book thus forms a contribution not only to the study of Korea’s material heritage but also to Korean-American or Asian-American studies, and to the history of collecting. It will surely be of interest to art as well as social historians, and to all those who appreciate the aesthetic quality of Korea’s ceramic art. The authors’ “behind-the-scenes” study of this private collection included the creation of an extensive research database about it, not only the ceramics included in this volume but also paintings, costumes, bronze works, and many other objects that could form the basis for subsequent studies. The collection includes some important twentieth-century ceramics that have not been included within this volume; these await study alongside other works by contemporary artists in this wide-ranging collection. As the authors emphasize, the component of the Chang collection selected for publication here has been extensively tested using thermoluminescence testing. For this reason, these objects constitute an important “type collection” of tested pieces for this type of materials analysis, against which other ceramic works may be compared. This book should therefore serve as an important reference for work on its topic, as a unique and well-illustrated introduction to this private collection and its significance; and hopefully also as a stimulus for other studies within this and related private collections. [NOTE: 2 photos, available in the print edition (p. 12), have been extracted from this online book because the copyright holder disallows online publication of those photos.]

Collecting objects gives enormous pleasure to a large segment of the population. Collecting can provide intellectual stimulation, extend the thrill of the chase, and offer the opportunity to bestow a legacy for others to enjoy. But that same pursuit can also engender pain, such as when one pays too much, unknowingly buys a fake, or deals with the frustrations of collection dispersal. Recent scientific breakthroughs in neuro-and behavioral economics research permit greater understanding of the collector's decision-making process. Using examples from these disciplines, Shirley M. Mueller, MD, will draw from her own experiences as a collector and her expertise as a neuroscientist in order to illustrate inherent neurological and behavioral traits that characterize decision-making in this fascinating and beautifully illustrated lecture. Read more information at

Socio-economic Review, 2019

In cultural markets, where value is highly uncertain, intermediaries and consumers select products by using status signals, including public metrics and informal recommendations. However, certain intermediaries and consumers risk their statuses and access to informal recommendations if they appear to rely on these status signals. Drawing upon the case of contemporary art collectors in New York City, I reveal that collectors work to maintain their statuses while utilizing status signals through performances of 'aesthetic confidence'. In these performances, they claim a willingness to choose artworks based on their independent and good taste. Collectors flexibly cite multiple and sometimes opposing qualities of their purchases and interactions as evidence of aesthetic confidence. Higher status collectors reinforce status hierarchies through their privileged access to resources for displaying aesthetic confidence and their policing of lower status collectors' claims. Performances of aesthetic confidence are both influenced by status and necessary for displaying status.

organizing committee (RHA SéRIe w -03) bruno a martinho coordinatorS márcia Vilarigues e bruno a martinho tranSLation alexandra rodrigues autHorS daniel Hess | Suzanne Higgott | márcia Vilarigues anne-Laure carré | Paola cordera caroline blondeau-morizot | ann glasscock bruno a martinho | ulrike müller | daniel Parello alexandra rodrigues | Jayme Yahr | Yao-Fen You reVieWerS Susan crane | uwe gast | Sven Hauschke dedo von Kerssenbrock-Krosigk antónio Pires de matos | teresa medici antónio nunes Pereira | márcia Vilarigues deSign José domingues (undo)