Why I Collect: Lu Xun

'I always knew from when I was very small that alongside the mundane world we live in, there are great artworks: masterpieces that are spiritual and beautiful beyond ages and eras. My father holds a unique collection of modern Chinese paintings and works on paper. The artist who got me hooked when I was little was Zhang Daqian, one of the great Chinese painters of the 20th century. He went from making traditional landscapes to experimental expressionist works with splashed ink. My dad would bring his paintings home as scrolls, rolled up under his arm. He would call me to open the scroll on the table or floor and an amazing painting would gradually emerge. It was an incredible experience.

The starting point for my long, enduring journey of collecting art, not simply appreciating it, was in Art Basel in Basel in 2009, with a pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama. The pumpkin is now in Sifang Art Museum, which I opened to house my collection in 2013, where it sits in the middle of a water surface in the outdoor courtyard. Designed by Steven Holl, the museum was the first contemporary art institution in the historical city of Nanjing and a natural progression for me after a number of years of collecting. It has already become one of the most important spaces of its kind in China, and I hope it will continuously challenge and inspire people and society. I now collect mostly living artists from both China and internationally. William Kentridge's major five-channel video with moving sculpture, The Refusal of Time, which debuted at Documenta in 2012, is probably the most significant installation. The most recent acquisition is a painting by Brazilian artist Marina Perez Simão.

There is now a rapidly growing contemporary art scene in Nanjing. I just opened a two-person exhibition in the museum, featuring the Swiss painter Miriam Cahn and Peruvian artist Claudia Martínez Garay, curated by Weng Xiaoyu, and the response from the local audience during this tough period was impressive. At the same time, Nanjing is the most important city in China for traditional ink paintings and literature, which means there are a lot of great eyes and hands.

As a collector and art museum founder, I see myself as an ambassador and spokesperson. My recent video of my art collection in my own apartment received more than one million views, and I am honored to be able to share my passion like this. At home, I live with many works by artists including Lucas Arruda, Haegue Yang, Anish Kapoor, Wang Xingwei, Paul Chan, Takashi Murakami, Rashid Johnson, Christine Ay Tjoe, and Tehching Hsieh. I find most of them terrifying to live with because it’s like being with all those artists’ souls. I can feel the energy and universe stored in these works, and it is not an easy feeling.

Going to fairs, gallery shows and museums, having conversations with curators and artists I admire, and scrolling through Instagram are all different ways for me to discover new artists. I buy both within the primary and secondary market, depending on price and accessibility. To buy internationally can be intense as I am forced to make a decision quickly, because many people want the same hot artist, and sometimes I do this without seeing the art in person. I have even purchased art via Instagram DM from an unknown dealer thousands of miles away on the other side of the world, without any previous knowledge of his/her credibility and the same for him or her with me, but that’s unusual. 

The recent pandemic has forced me to rely completely on the Internet for international artists, though at the same time, I find myself having a lot more time to visit local studios in Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou, since we are free to move around within China. I find the tempo here is less frenetic, so I have the liberty to slow down and appreciate art and what happens in studios much more.

“Meet everyone” was the advice once given to me by a much more senior Chinese collector. The international artworld is about relationships, and I listened and came out of my own shell. To aspiring collectors I would say: The possibilities with art are enormous, much wider than other forms of culture. Clear the mind, let art influence and engage you, and question freely.'

Lu Xun is the founder of the Sifang Art Museum in Nanjing, China.

Skye Sherwin is an art writer based in Rochester, UK. She contributes regularly to The Guardian and numerous art publications.

Top image: Lu Xun with Olafur Eliasson's Possibility Projector, 2018. Collection of Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing.