COLLECTOR'S ESSAY October 29, 2007 (Laguna Beach)
by Ron Duby

I believe that for any art collector, the true test of a piece of work is its “staying power." Does it draw you back to the gallery again and again, until you simply must have it? After that, does your love for the piece grow year after year, or do you move in another direction?

I first saw John Ruggieri’s massive and beautiful oil Flesh Forest in 1993. I wanted desperately to own it, but had no room for such a large piece. Six months later, I bought an apartment in a Victorian row house in the South End of Boston, which had incredibly high ceilings. The first call after signing the contract was to John’s former gallery director David Simpson, to finally acquire Flesh Forest.

Two years later, I relocated full time to my tiny beach cottage, which required reconfiguration of one wall to accommodate Flesh Forest. Years later, I purchased an extremely contemporary house in California. A large wall adjoining the main entry was reserved for nearly four years, until Flesh Forest moved once again. Being the full-service artist and friend that he is, John made its shipping arrangements during our chaotic cross-country move. And in a wonderful twist of fate, the new contemporary house cried out for our collection to turn towards photography, soon after John moved in that direction artistically as well. Flesh Forest was joined on the opposite wall by John’s microsummer triptych series.

As our friends now enter our home, they “enter” our collection first by seeing Flesh Forest and the Microsummer series. How fitting.

Copyright © 2007 John Ruggieri. All rights reserved.