Lena Apler
“I mean, their art was as expensive as our new row house!”
She is one of the country’s leading women entrepreneurs. She founded finance company Collector in answer to the credit losses of the 1990s, starting with a staff of four which has now grown to 300 people with a total balance sheet of 7 billion SEK. Lena Apler was managing director of Collector for 15 years, five years longer than she had intended, but she has now given up that post in order to work on strategic goals.
Lena Apler also numbers among the relatively limited group of people who have had successful careers in two fields. She gained a lengthy experience of the finance sector, working in leading positions in the Société Générale banking corporation, Den norske Creditbank and SEB in Sweden as well as holding the post of managing director of Securum Finans. In 1999 she founded Collector and launched herself on her second career.
Lena Apler was born in 1951 in the west of Sweden and now lives in downtown Gothenburg. During her childhood her father, who owned a textile firm, constantly told her that she could become anything she wanted.
What was your first memorable art experience?
It was when I was visiting my granny at the age of five and I discovered that she had a beautiful portrait of her maid. She was not only kind, but so beautiful that she inspired an artist! The portrait now hangs in my elegant bathroom.
When did your interest in art begin?
I don’t know exactly. I have always been interested in pictures and narratives. At some time in my teens I discovered that art could be more than merely a picture; that it can communicate feelings and be interpreted freely by the beholder.
What was the first artwork you bought, and why did you buy it?
Two Jim Dine lithographs when my husband Thomas and I were furnishing our first apartment. The prints, together with a Flos lamp, ate up our entire furnishing budget. I bought the prints because they were so extremely rudimentary: a man in a black leather coat and a yellow bulb in a light fitting. It was about the year 1977 so prices for a Dine were very different from today. And naturally I still have them.
Can one call you a collector or just someone who wants nice things to hang on your walls?
Both, in point of fact. I am a collector to the extent that I never want to sell anything. I find it difficult not to appreciate the aesthetic aspect. I like having beautiful things around me where I live and this applies to the wall, too.
Are you a person who follows the art world in terms of spending a lot of time in galleries and museums?
Not a very great deal of time. I visit galleries spontaneously when something catches my interest. The only art museum that I really love and constantly return to is Louisiana in Denmark; so beautiful, so accessible, so exciting and just a touch playful.
Is there a red thread that runs through what you buy? A theme, artist, style, epoch, technique?
The only red thread is that the work should resonate with me in some respect, and should preferably be a little suggestive and mysterious, as well as being beautiful. I am an artistic omnivore!
What causes you to choose one specific work rather than another?
I rely entirely on my feeling. Why does someone prefer meatballs to fishcakes?
Do you rely entirely on your own taste or do you consult someone else?
As long as my husband Thomas was alive we discussed all our art purchases. We did not always agree and he was less cautious financially than I am myself. But fortunately we had a shared taste. Now I rely on my own taste and I am comfortable with that.
Is the value of a work important?
Yes, at the time of purchase; but not really afterwards. I own both expensive art that I like to see increasing in value, and new works that have hardly any economic value. The financial aspect does not play such a big role, except for the time when Thomas wanted to buy a Stella painting when we had only just landed our first jobs. That purchase never happened. We have bought what we could afford.
Do you ever sell art in order to buy something new? When, and in that case why?
No, I put something into store when there is not room for anything new.
What makes you decide on a specific artwork?
The immediate feeling that the work gives rise to.
What role does art play in your daily life?
It is as important to me as the written word or music. Art is essential to the quality of life.
“At some time in my teens I discovered that art could be more than merely a picture; that it can communicate feelings and be interpreted freely by the beholder.”
How have your and Wetterling’s paths crossed? What sort of a relationship do you have with the gallery?
It was Thomas who was curious about the very assertive gallery owner on Götabergsgatan in Gothenburg who showed such large and expensive paintings. Thomas became a hang-around who dragged me along and caused me to feel faint when I saw the prices for works by Stella, Dine, Rauschenberg and others. I mean, their art was as expensive as our new row house!
Do you get to meet the artists whose work you buy?
Sometimes, especially artists living in Europe. My favourite is Giovanni Maranghi from Florence. We have a wonderful relationship despite his only speaking Italian. He really loved Thomas and he wept copiously when we met following Thomas’ decease.
What will be your next purchase? Is there anything that you would like to have on your walls? A particular artist or work?
I have no idea. My purchasing is pretty unpredictable. There is no work that I dream about buying.
Can you summarize your interest in art in a single sentence?
No. To me, art is an essential part of life and it can communicate feelings that are difficult to put into words. Surely that is why people paint or sculptor photograph?
Text: Q&A
Photo: Patrik Sehlstedt
© Wtterling Gallery
