Obsessions: Collectors and Their Passions

by Stephen Calloway

Collecting obsessions have, since the beginning of civilization, led their devotees to beg, borrow, and steal -- and sometimes even to murder -- in order to possess the objects of their desire. The passion for collecting still runs unmistakably throughout modern times -- whether following the theme of shoes, Americana, fairgrounds, or musical instruments, the assiduous building up of each collection fulfils the urge to have all possible forms of one defined genre. "Obsessions examines the extraordinary phenomenon of collecting. A brief and entertaining history of the collecting mania from ancient times reveals both famous and almost-forgotten collections of the past. The main part of the book looks at some of the most passionate and eccentric collectors of the present day, with collecting strands of antiques, art, natural history, or modern eccentrics. Featured collectors include Frederique Julien, who collects aeroplanes and aerial combat memorabilia in his house just outside Paris, Hamish Bowels and his New York collection of classic couture from the 1950s and 1960s, and Berlin-based Ernst von Loesch who is passionate about architectural models. With specially commissioned photography by internationally renowned Deidi von Schaewen, "Obsessions offer a unique glimpse into the world of collecting, revealing bizarre assemblages in little-known places, and fabulous hoards in the secret and inaccessible worlds of the great private collectors.

Genres: Art

192 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2004

About the author

Stephen Calloway is a curator of paintings at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

He is an expert on 19th century art, and has made a particular study of the decadent and dandy culture of the fin de siecle.

He staged the V&A's exhibition on the 1890s, 'High Art and Low Life' in 1993, and curated the 'Aubrey Beardsley Centenary Show' in Tokyo and London in 1998.

He writes on the history of taste and lectures widely in England and America.

He also worked, in his role as a consultant on period sytle and manners, with Nicole Kidman and John Malkovich on Jane Campion's film of Henry James' novel 'The Portrait of a Lady'.