There has been a huge sale today at Bonhams of the Davids Collection. This is an amazingly diverse and eclectic group of papers and portraits covering a fantastic range of personalities and periods.He wrote an insightful essay on collecting as the introduction to his sale which reads like a justification for all collectors- including us. The sheer scale of his task strikes us as we see that he understands that collecting is not just about acquisition of things but an essential part of making sense of our past, present and future. He has a rare ability to see how hybrid collections of manuscripts and pictures can enhance each other; the one highlighting something in the other. In many ways this is how the National Library has always seen the Collection: different media, genre and formats but all capable of illuminating each other.
For me this is clearly shown in lots 314 and 315- a copy of Sir Joshua Reynold’s Self portrait and a note by him which mentions the ambitious artist is someone who has much to say but ‘never says all’. The portrait shows a dignified, scholarly artist, knowing, aware but slightly uncertain as to how he will be seen in the future and his note speaks into that fear: that however hard he tries, he will not be able to achieve his goal. In a sense, to see these two lots in the catalogue and now, perhaps, forever separated reminds us that even the greatest certainties of culture bring a level of doubt.
My elder daughter Siriol celebrates her birthday today. She introduced me to the subtle art of Werner Herzog, although I completely forgot his name until I saw his film last week of the cave at Chauvet. Herzog managed to create a gripping film which to my mind asked the questions posed by the Davids sale: how do we really know that someone existed unless we see something of their work or a portrait with our own eyes?