Features
F E B R U A RY 2 0 2 1 28
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FEW OF MY FAVORITE
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HISTORICAL PRESER-
NEW ORLEANS W
C U R AT E D A C C U M U L AT I O N
Greg Milneck is a longtime collector of vintage cameras and watches. And each time he finds a new addition to his collection, he embarks on a mission to learn its story. Photo courtesy of Milneck.
The Fourth Story
CONSIDERING COLLECTORS AND THEIR COLLECTIONS By Elizabeth Chubbuck Weinstein
T
he perennial curator, I regard objects with the same sensibility I feel toward children. Each object has its own identity and special needs. I enjoy their unique attributes and I am proud when others admire them. When parted, I look forward to their return and check them over 28
carefully when reunited. I like to share their stories. I used to tell people that every object has three stories, but upon reflection, I believe there are actually four. The most obvious story is the first: the tale that an object conveys visually, whether it is a straightforward picture or an abstracted image painted on the surface of a canvas.
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Or it might be a suggested narrative generated by its style of craftsmanship, like an Eastlake chair dating to the British Arts and Crafts Movement. Secondly, there is the story of the object’s making: who made it, where, when, and what it is made of. The journey, or provenance, can be considered the third: this record tracks the object’s movement,
from its birth in the studio, through its different owners and locations, to the present site. Lastly, but no less compelling, is another story—a private one. This fourth story is generated by the owner of the object, the collector who imbues the item with personal meaning. It is the story of the object’s significance in the eyes of the collector.
