"Glass demands immediacy. Working at temperatures above 2,000°F leaves little room for overthinking, so the process becomes a kind of live dialogue between material, colour and chance. That same immediacy informs what I'm drawn to as a collector: works that carry a decisive gesture, a tactile presence, and the feeling that they could only exist in one form."
"The common thread isn't provenance or a category; it's what I find beautiful and what brings me joy—objects where technique and sensibility are inseparable, and where you can feel the maker's decisions. Collecting across periods is a reminder that what looks 'contemporary' is often a continuation of long histories of technique, experimentation and taste."
Paul Arnhold, a New York-based glassblower and fourth-generation heir to a significant 18th-century Meissen porcelain collection, finds his artistic practice and collecting deeply intertwined. His glassblowing work at extreme temperatures demands immediate decision-making with minimal room for revision, creating a live dialogue between material, color, and chance. This same principle guides his collecting approach—he seeks works displaying decisive gestures and tactile presence. His personal collection spans from ancient Etruscan stone works to contemporary photography and paintings, unified not by category or provenance but by beauty and joy. He lives with portions of his inherited porcelain collection alongside these acquisitions in his Upper East Side home, viewing collecting across periods as a reminder that contemporary work continues long histories of technique and experimentation.
Read at The Art Newspaper - International art news and events
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]