Painting For Kubler
Text Painting on Canvas
1966, John Baldessari  |  Acquired 1973

  Pre - 1980

We were both interested in art when we met. Our first acquisitions were European constructivist works, but when we saw John Baldessari's Ingres and Other Parables at the Pasadena Art Museum in 1972, our lives were turned around. Conceptual Art, emerging in Los Angeles, New York and Europe in the 1960s, operates outside the traditional forms and materials of art-making to expose a subtext of ideas. While we've often found the N.Y. version rather dry and intellectualized, we felt a great resonance with the works of Baldessari, Ruppersberg and other Californians. For many years we didn't even think of ourselves as collectors, and most of our friends were uncomfortable with our "stuff", but we kept finding that these artists were talking about things that were important to us.

  Selected Artworks

Sphere (Francois Morellet)

Painting for Kubler (John Baldessari)

The Dig (Bruce Metro)

  1980 - 1990

Conceptualism was not hot in the art market of the day. We could talk about a work that had moved us - sometimes talk every day for months - and when we finally decided we couldn't live without it, the work would still be available and affordable. We have almost always bought directly from the artists and their galleries (whom we recognize as invaluable in the artists' careers) at the work's first showing. We gradually came to trust our instincts more (we very often had the same intense reactions to pieces even when we saw them at separate times) and now make our decisions more quickly. In 1985, after we had loaned so much of Ruppersberg's work to MOCA for his mid-career retrospective, we were invited to join the board of LAICA, and became much more directly involved with the making and presentation of art.

  Selected Artworks

Picture of Dorian Grey (Allan Ruppersberg)

The Blind (Les Aveugles) English Version complete (Sophie Calle)

Crocodile Tears: The Great Corrector (Douglas Huebler)

The Blind (Les Aveugles) English Version complete
"23 sets of portrait, text, and descriptive photos"
1986, Sophie Calle  |  Acquired 1989

Oscar Wilde in Leadville April 13th 1882
Oscar Wilde hand holding Venus in Wild West
1991, Robert Williams  |  Acquired 1990

  1990 - 2000

During these years we most often applied our limited resources to under-recognized artists where our support and recognition could make a difference. For many years Friday night was "Pizza Night at the Spences" where friends, many of them younger artists, could show up unannounced for a good meal and better conversation. Judy (as Judith E. Vida, M.D.) began writing more about art, and was an invited speaker at LACMA, MOCA, Laguna, the Hammer and others.

  Selected Artworks

Oscar Wilde in Leadville April 13th 1882 (Robert Williams)

Disappearer (Charles LaBelle)

Squares Masquerading as Artists (Scott Grieger)

  Present Day (2000-)

We find we're getting out to exhibitions less and less these days, but are trying to use our experience (and Judy's writing) to share our ideas so that our voice is not lost - and now we have this web-site. Welcome!

  Selected Artworks

Metal Saber (Ryan Shook)

Feed It (?) (Mark Heresy)

The Media Miracle (Kevin Ancell)

The Media Miracle
Devotional painting with surfboard
1999, Kevin Ancell  |  Acquired 2000