Customer Reviews

The Collector: Allan Stone's Life in Art

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Length:: 1:29 Mins

I was fascinated watching this documentary on the life of Allan Stone. This film is poignant, funny, personal, and an important contribution to the history contemporary art. I loved going into the mind and life of a famous art collector from the point of view of his daughter, meeting his family, the artists he represented, the careers he launched, all giving you such a rare and intimate look at the art world. Visually, this film is beautiful-- the art work, the shots of the collector's house and all his bounty. The film is so rich with images that when I watched it a second time, I saw paintings and art works I had completely missed originally. I highly recommend The Collector to anyone interested in art or psychology or how to give up everything to follow your passion.

For anyone with even a passing interest in 20th Century/contemporary art, this film is a banquet for the eyes. Director/creator Olympia Stone takes us into the unique, zany, brilliantly cluttered world in which she grew up, offering a very personal glimpse of her remarkable father, Allan Stone. Stone was a collector of art as well as one of New York's most successful and mercurial gallery owners. He gave wings to numerous contemporary artists, most famously Wayne Thiebaud, with whom he had a lasting and deeply personal friendship. A former Harvard grad, lawyer-turned-art dealer, Stone amassed a collection of art over a period of nearly 50 years that would be the envy of most museums in the world, if they prized such things as vintage tobacco store Indians, classic automobiles, jars of pickles sculpted into penises, life-size bovine display signs, and some of the finest work by such giants as Joseph Cornell, Willem DeKooning, John Chamberlain, Franz Kline and Wayne Thiebaud (to literally name just a few!) Add to this some of the most remarkable primitive 19th and 20th century African folk art, a pair of authentic shrunken heads, furniture by the automobile visionary, Ettore Bugatti, objects created by Barcelona's visionary Antoni Gaudi...
But what makes this homage to her father so compelling is Ms. Stone's personal touch, reflecting both awe and ambivalence regarding her famous father. He was addicted to collecting, as we readily see from the wonderfully intimate clips of him guiding us along narrow footpaths through his home, where some of the collection resides and where Ms. Stone spent her childhood among myriad phantoms of inexplicable size and mystery. Yet her father's addiction was anything but arbitrary, and we readily see that he knew the exact placement and provenance of every single object in his vast trove, as well as having deep feelings for the even the slightest of them.
The film is filled with humor and respect, and will appeal to art afficionados as well as people with only a passing interest in the countless ways human beings have found to express their joy, sadness, curiosity and passion through the creation of art. The greatest artist of them all, we soon realize, was perhaps Allan Stone himself, who managed to compile this startling collage.

Back in 1986 when I was searching for a gallery in New York City I was recommended to go to the Allan Stone Gallery on the upper east side. I arrived at his gallery to notice that his gallery's canopy had a crossed out the "e" on Allan. I thought to myself this must be some character here! After climbing a long staircase I came upon the gallery. It was as if I walked into someone's enchanted attic....sculptures, masks. They all seemed to be staring at me!

I met with his gallery manager Joan Wolff. She was so refined and looked so stately sitting among the forest of sculptures. "Allan likes visceral paintings." she said. "I think Allan may respond to the humor in your work." Meanwhile I wondered what I could be stepping on and I looked down to see that there was a huge sculpture of a foot under my feet!

I made another two appointments to show my works to Allan, himself. On my way out of the gallery at the top of the long staircase I saw a sculpture made out of toilet brushes and asked Joan. "What's this?" She said, "Oh, that's The Fuller Brush Man".

As it turned out I met Allan ...a most imposing, expressive man who selected some works to go into his "Talent" show in fall, 1986. It was a thrill to meet such a unique, completely self directed individual! When I view "The Collector" it brings back the memory of having met him and what a great impact that, alone, had on my life as an artist.

When I think of art collectors, humor does not often come to mind. Yet this marvelous portrait of the wildly successful art collector and dealer Allan Stone, shows an eccentric, obsessed, and wonderfully human and funny man who lived through (and was instrumental in) some very important moments in the American art scene. You walk away not only with a better understanding of Art, with a capital A, but also insight into the art of living your dream. We should all be so fortunate as to discover and pursue our passion as devotedly as Mr. Stone. Toward that end, The Collector provides inspiration and illumination, with an unexpected and delightful side of warmth and humor.

Alan Stone had a keen eye for talent and discovered some major artists during his time as a dealer in New York. He was also a bigger-than-life and often self-obsorbed character who often let his obsession with collecting get in the way of everything else in his life - including his family. Olympia Stone, Alan's daughter, has made a thoughtful, funny and fascinating film about a lesser known but important player in late 20th century American art. The film also gives a first hand and not often seen look at the business of art dealing. This is a must for any art lover. Just seeing Stone's amazing collection spill over every room of his large home is worth it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Having worked in the art world in NYC during the go-go 80s I met people like Allan Stone and many of the artists represented by him but, until this insightful film, I didn't quite understand the obsessive, loving nature of "the art dealer." His house (and mind) may appear cluttered, but there's a splendid sense of composition at work and the movie makes it clear that he was a singular visionary in terms of speaking for artists and loving art. His daughter, the filmmaker, is honest and affectionate all at once. It's quite inspiring!

Genuinely true to self, Allan Stone is exposed through his daughter's lens as possessing an irresistible passion for human expression in art.
The kind obsession of collecting could destroy him and his loved ones. Instead, they fall in as a troop enlisted and the audience too acquiesces. The contrast of endearment and possible frustration due to the collector's intense preoccupation gives the movie its undying tension and the length of the documentary is mysteriously diminished to an almost brief opportunity to feel tenderness. Our diverse group left the preview enamored, feeling as if we knew the man. -Meg Ryan