Relationships: A Love of Collecting

January 24, 2025 - May 4, 2025 - Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Brooker Sr. Grand Gallery

Gifts from the Collection of James Cottrell and Joseph Lovett

Dr. James Cottrell, an esteemed anesthesiologist and professor, and Joseph Lovett, an award-winning documentary filmmaker, have been collecting art for over forty years. Today, their collection numbers more than 500 works encompassing a wide array of paintings, prints, photography, and sculpture that comprise a broad of spectrum of styles, including abstraction, representation and conceptual art. Living in downtown Manhattan on the edge of SoHo since the mid-70s, Cottrell and Lovett had an almost immediate awareness of emerging artists. They acquired works by Jean-Michel Basquiat when he was still unknown. After meeting David Hockney through mutual friends at Water Island, Long Island, numerous works by the British artist were added to their collection. As they collected works in depth by Suzanne McClelland, Deborah Kass, Malcolm Morley and Adam Fuss, they developed a knowledge and intimacy with them. The collection is also energized by the inclusion of artists from a younger generation such as Tom McGrath, Dana Schutz and Jorges Queiroz.  

The collection also has a strong international component. Cottrell and Lovett are as interested in abstraction as they are in social commentary and, through their relationship with Roland Flexner, were introduced to members of the French movement Support/Surfaces, such as Noël Dolla and Daniel Dezeuze, as well younger French artists Dominique Figarella, Edouard Prulhière and Damien Deroubaix. Cuban artists, Luis Gomez, and Damian Aquiles were acquired during a trip to Cuba. In 2004 and 2016 the Orlando Museum of Art organized the exhibitions Co-Conspirators:  The Collection of James Cottrell and Joseph Lovett and The Conversation Continues.  This exhibition curated by Coralie Claeysen-Gleyzon (OMA) will be the 3rd major exhibition of the Cottrell Lovett collection at OMA.