Collecting art is an act of love. A Vietnamese artist asked me, “Why do you like and collect lacquer?” The best I could answer was with another question: “Why do you fall in love?” The challenge collectors face is that beauty comes in many forms, shapes, and media. This is what drives collectors to acquire other objects outside their true love. While this true love remains the center of their universe, the act of collecting can evolve into obsession. If what you love is beauty, it is very hard, if not impossible, to stay loyal to one art form, or one type of media, or one artist.
Lacquer Art focuses primarily on art produced by Vietnamese women artists and lacquer paintings centered around themes of womanhood, but for the reasons above, we have acquired other works as well. Some of them will remain part of the permanent collection. For others, the time has come to set them free for others to enjoy and love.