FEATURES ARCHIVE

With his academic mind, business acumen, and an insatiable passion for art, Peter Tillou is a rare hybrid of dealer and collector. The works on offer from this esteemed Connecticut-based connoisseur illustrate Peter’s ability to juxtapose seemingly disparate works of art in a compelling and cohesive collection. Cathy Elkies, Head of Christie’s Private Collections Department, recently sat down with Peter Tillou to discuss his early love of collecting, his 50+ year career, and why he still loves the thrill of the hunt…

Cathy Elkies: Tell me about the very first piece that launched your collecting career.
Peter Tillou: I became fascinated with coins, medals, old guns, and stamps at a young age. My first purchase was a very rare coin, when I was about ten years old. I had virtually memorized my coin book so I knew the dates to look for and the values I could expect. I later visited a coin dealer my father knew, and learned it was worth a lot more than what I paid—about $100!

CE: What inspired you to collect in the first place?
PT: I was blessed with great parents who instilled a love of art at a young age. They took me antiquing, to the symphony, to the fantastic Albright Knox museum—they were very supportive from the start. For example, I once was caught skipping school; my father’s colleagues spotted me downtown and I was immediately sent home. When my mother returned that afternoon, she reprimanded me, asking, “Well, what was so important you had to miss school?” I described the special gold medal that I had spotted in an antique store, and that I had intended to purchase. She paused, then said to me, “Don’t say anything to your father, but let’s get in the car, that sounds interesting!” And we went and bought it that very day. So she was often a partner in crime!

CE: From coins, what direction did you move in?
PT: Next it was antique guns and swords, and that developed while I grew my business during college. My father was a businessman, and he wanted me to go to university. He chose Ohio Wesleyan—a small liberal arts school—and that was a real dream for me. I went there on a golf scholarship, but I never participated in sports once I got there! Instead, I started a business out of the house I was renting. I attended class just enough to maintain a gentleman’s C average; otherwise I was traveling to Europe and bringing back antique guns, swords and other objects which I would then sell. It was a full-time business that laid the foundation for my lifelong career.

CE: With its encyclopedic breadth and depth, today your collection might best be understood as many collections within a collection. Early glass and pottery, American Folk Art, Old Master Paintings, Antiquities, Natural History, African Art, and European Furniture (among many other genres) are juxtaposed comfortably in your Connecticut home. How would you describe your taste?
PT: Adventuresome. I find beauty or history in just about everything. I just have this eclectic eye that falls in love with beauty and form in all directions.

CE: One thing that makes you unique is the extensive knowledge you bring to the table. That’s why our specialists love talking with you. You do a lot of research and a lot of speaking with experts in the field to puzzle out a work of art.
PT: Well, yes, it is part of the great curiosity I have about everything. I see something wonderful and immediately go to the books to learn about it. In some cases that study developed into a new collecting field, as was the case with my Antiquities collection. Usually I collected in a field first, then once I knew I was comfortable and confident, then I would deal in it.

CE: Do you react intuitively to an object, or do you develop an affinity for something over time?
PT: Good or bad, my reaction is always immediate. I’ll look at something  unexpectedly, and see if and how my soul responds. When I went to Australia and viewed the aboriginal paintings you see in the sale, I swooned. I knew that I had to start collecting them. These works have what good art has in the sense that they don’t rely on a big name, they rely on their originality, how creative they are, how meaningful they are to the human race.

CE: Tell me about a work in the auction that carries personal significance to you.
PT: It’s difficult to select just one. The George II mahogany bureau cabinet is very special—it was the centerpiece in my living room. I’d never seen one like it—the form was extravagant, yet simple and beautiful—embodying that pure Georgian taste. Bombé is a difficult form to be successful with, not only in Europe but in America. Often the base is too heavy, or the top is too short. But for me this piece just worked beautifully. I bought it at a point in my life when I appreciated the sculptural nuances of a piece of furniture. Earlier in my career, I would not have bought it. I would not have understood its rarity and uniqueness.

CE: What pieces would you expect new collectors to gravitate toward in your sale?
PT: They might gravitate toward the fanciful dog, a very interesting object that assimilates into any type of interior, and at $3,000–5,000 it is affordable to most new collectors. Also, the beautiful pottery figure of a court lady from the Tang dynasty—I think she is utterly elegant. From the standpoint of modern collecting, I think something like the brass and wood African Kota reliquary figure embodies the perfection of abstract African art. Most people with an interest in Abstract Expressionism would like this.

CE: What advice would you give to new collectors?
PT: I get so excited to think about young people collecting. There can be pressure to buy big names, but terrible examples. They’re buying on a name basis. My advice is, to the extent that you have financial ability, buy something that has quality, and buy it on the basis of love and genuine interest, rather than shopping for a mediocre thing that has a big name. I’m a great believer in that. Personally, I also like an element of mystery—something that motivates me to learn more about a work of art.