The Art of Collecting® – Institutional and private collections compared

Anja Ottmann, a passionate private collector, and Dr Christina Schroeter-Herrel, who works for Deutsche Bank’s collection and art programme, provided fascinating insights into their collection concepts and methods.

How has your collection developed over the years?

Dr Christina Schroeter-Herrel: Deutsche Bank’s art collection has always been dedicated to young, contemporary art on paper, at least since the late 1970s. At that time, it was mainly works by artists from German-speaking countries. Today, the focus is on young international art, but our aim is still to focus on contemporary works.

Anja Ottmann: We started with contemporary figurative canvas painting: the artists were not allowed to be over 40. As we got older, we gave that up – in a way also to continue supporting the artists we loved. However, a goal that we consistently pursue is that no work should be older than this millennium. Today, our collection is characterised by the fact that – for example in the case of works by Katharina Grosse and Gregor Hildebrandt – it also encompasses the broader concept of painting.

How do you make your selection?

Dr Christina Schroeter-Herrel: In our “Artist of the Year” award, for example, we select promising artists who have already created an artistically and socially relevant work that incorporates the two focal points of the Deutsche Bank Collection: works on paper or photography. The work must be convincing, it should be relevant to our times, and the artist should not yet have had any major institutional exhibition.

Anja Ottmann: In the meantime, I enjoy the fact that, as a private collector, I don’t necessarily have to slavishly follow a concept. It’s important that the pictures communicate with me. It really is the case that I feel pictures. I saw a piece at the art fair in Basel and I had the feeling that I wanted to hug it, as if I were wrapping my arms around a tree in the forest. The gallery owner then told me that the artist had used a frottage technique to take rubbings of a 350-year-old pine tree when making the work. Of course I had to have the picture and am already looking forward to bringing a piece of that relaxation into my home the next time I hang my art.

Are there any exclusion criteria when buying?

Dr Christina Schroeter-Herrel: At Deutsche Bank, we don’t simply want to collect everything that might potentially be relevant from an art historical perspective. There are a few exclusion criteria. These include, for example, erotic or discriminatory works. Socially critical works are, however, included.

What role do art advisors play for you?

Dr Christina Schroeter-Herrel: We already had external advisors in the founding phase. Between 1979 and 1986, these included Klaus Gallwitz, the then director of the Städel Museum in Frankfurt. For more than ten years, we worked on the “Artist of the Year” with an external team of experts who advised us on the selection process. This year Stephanie Rosenthal, the director of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, proposed the Indian artist Rohini Devasher as “Artist of the Year” 2024. The international art scene is diverse and dynamic. That is why it was and is important to us to include external opinions.

Anja Ottmann: That’s what makes being a private collector so special: that you yourself are always trying to discover something new, something that hasn’t been seen before – like pig hunting for truffles! If you really collect out of a genuine interest in the artists and the art, then that’s what makes it fun for you to go off on your own and discover new things on the market.

“We don’t chase after trends”
Dr Christiana Schroeter-Herrel

Do social and political aspects influence your selection?

Dr Christina Schroeter-Herrel: Of course. We collect art partly because it reflects or anticipates social developments. We want people – employees and customers of the bank – to engage with these issues through art – each in their own personal way. The structure of our collection breathes, so to speak. Works by artists from German-speaking countries dominated the collection until well into the 1980s, but we adjusted the concept of our collection when Deutsche Bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt was modernised and reopened in 2011. The focus is still on contemporary art on paper and photography, however, our collection has become international because the bank is also globally active. The collection now includes works by artists from over 90 countries, and the proportion of works by female artists has increased significantly.

Anja Ottmann: As a social being, you are naturally fundamentally sensitised by the society around you. What is important and decisive for me, however, is that the statements are not strikingly superficial, but are conveyed through aesthetics. For example, aside from very few exceptions, we have only purchased works by women in the past three years. I only realised that recently and it was not consciously planned at all. I assume that it is a reflection of the greater visibility of women in today’s art market.

How do you operate when purchasing art?

Dr Christina Schroeter-Herrel: Part of our concept is to promote artists. Galleries are the place where artists are publicised with a great deal of effort and ultimately helped along their way. That’s why it was important to us from the outset to acquire art primarily from galleries. We also wanted to promote the middle class, to which most galleries belong. In addition to this, we frequently acquire works at art fairs, especially at the Frieze Art Fair, of which Deutsche Bank has been a global partner for 20 years.

Anja Ottmann: The galleries are also the place where we acquire our art. As collectors, we don’t experience any disadvantages vis-.-vis institutional collections. However, it is also well known that we are open to giving out works on loan to exhibitions, because the later visibility of the artworks is usually important to galleries, and rightly so. In this respect, sales are carried out very fairly – according to the principle of “first come, first served”. If another interested party comes along, we are called and asked to make a decision as soon as possible. Only museums are given preference if the work is suitable for a museum.

“I have put my heart and soul into building up my collection.”
Anja Ottmann

What do you want to do with your collection in the future?

Dr Christina Schroeter-Herrel: Our collection has always been a breathing collection. We want to keep moving – just like the artists themselves. We find exciting new works, but also return some things to the market: especially those that no longer fit the core of the collection. This way, we are constantly renewing and sharpening our collection, which is something that is very important to us.

Anja Ottmann: Here, too, we allow ourselves the luxury of not thinking about that yet. In the knowledge that it will of course be necessary at some point – if only because of our children – and that there are various options. When the time is right, we will decide how to proceed with our collection and what the best opportunities are for the works in it, and then examine those options.

Discover the Journal 2024 here