Collecting Stories: A new approach for a new era - Colección Aldebarán
Founded with the principles of access and community, CURA Art utilises a broad network and expertise to support collectors with all aspects of managing their passion and investment.
Whilst many of the collectors we know and work with choose to remain private, several have generously allowed us to share their stories with you, to inspire others and encourage open discussion on the role of the collector in the 21st century. The aim of the Collecting Stories series is to de-mystify the world of collecting, but also represent the many different approaches to acquiring and patronising the arts.
Young collector Victorino Rosón Diez-Feijóo represents a new generation of collectors in Spain, focused on collecting with purpose.
The son of one of Spain’s top collectors, he recently founded the Colección Aldebarán, and aims to continue in his father’s footsteps, as well as inspire further patronage and support for the arts.
This story talks to a common theme of collecting; inheriting a collection or a collecting interest from family, and the sense of responsibility that comes with that personal lineage and legacy, as well as the need to forge one’s own path.
Tell us a little about you:
Born in 1990, I completed my primary and secondary education in schools in Madrid, Spain and Reading in the United Kingdom, before graduating from the University of Navarra (Navarra, Spain) in Law with a Diploma in Economics. I also completed an Introduction to Common Law course at Fordham University (New York, USA) and a Masters in Financial Markets and Banking at CUNEF (Madrid, Spain).
My professional experience is focused on the financial sector (investment banking, IPOs and private equity transactions) which I have worked in for almost 10 years, in Spain and the United States. I am a partner at Oktopus Ideas Lab, a young digital agency committed to cutting-edge technological projects, sometimes taking an equity stake in them by acting as an investor.
Along with my sisters María and Caterina, I have decided to continue to expand the collection after a long learning process, during which I identified the focus of the project. I am a member of the 9915 Contemporary Art Collectors Association and the ART BASEL OVR Weekend Program Community. I am also part of the advisory committee of the Colombian-American magazine ArtNexus and maintain a close working relationship with Estampa Contemporary Art Fair, ARCO and the Noldor Residency in Accra, Ghana.
Tell us about Colección Aldebarán and its history:
The Aldebaran Collection is born from the desire to bring to life the personal project of the founder of the collection, my father, Victorino Rosón (1952-2016) who passed the collection on to his heirs. The collection bloomed in the 1980s and focused on Spanish local art.
Through the collection we seek to promote socio-cultural initiatives for art in Spain and worldwide, combining what we see as the two fundamental pillars of a professional art collection. Firstly, a patronage that supports and endorses younger artists, allowing them to develop their work while studying, researching and creating. Secondly, a strategic but heartfelt approach to collecting that can last a lifetime, and is always aligned with contemporary artists of our times.
You inherited the collection from your father, was it daunting starting out in the art world, and do you feel a great sense of responsibility to carry on your father´s legacy as a collector?
At first my sisters and I were a bit overwhelmed; it was a very important collection for us because of its sentimental value and its prestige. This great responsibility pushed us to take the decision of continuing with the collection and somehow, nurturing it. As for the present, we are about to launch a wide range of initiatives! Looking back, after 5 years I think we have done a good job so far, although we still have a lot to do.
Do you have a focus or theme for new acquisitions to the collection?
Absolutely yes. We want to focus on talented, emerging and young artists who are at the stage where they need to be sponsored to become well known and established figures. More specifically, I feel drawn to artists that work with light, colour and installations. Artists like James Turrell, Olafur Eliasson or Tomas Saraceno.
Recently, we have begun to rely on the advice of advisors for the focus of the collection and for the acquisition of new works, among which Ignacio Ortiz Estefanell stands out.
What do you consider when acquiring an artwork? How do you find new works for the collection?
I truly like to study before acquiring a potential new work (the artist, their work, their way of thinking, their techniques, and the most important thing (if possible), meeting the artist personally).
So far, since the creation of Colección Aldebaran, we have found new acquisitions in Art Fairs (Carlos Amorales in Zona Maco – Ciudad de Mexico - Mexico), at residencies (Emmanuel Taku in The Noldor Residency - Accra, Ghana), through galleries and sometimes contacting artists directly.
We see traveling as a privilege and great tool to learn and discover new talent. This year, we had the honour to visit the Biennale, Venice; the Gerhard Richter exhibition in the Kunsthaus, Zurich; the Tapies exhibition in the Chillida Leku, San Sebastian or the Alexej Von Jawlensky exhibition in the Fundación Mapfre and the Ida Applebroog in Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid.
I know that you would like to inspire a generation of younger art collectors, could you tell us more about this?
Such a tough question. I think everything should start by convincing young people that art collecting is something enlightening, enriching and accessible.
Would you like to provide access to the collection through loans and exhibitions in the future?
Of course, we would love to, in fact we have already made some loans of works to private companies and foundations in Spain and abroad. It is one of our mid-term goals to eventually exhibit the collection as a whole.
At this time, we are engaging in conversations with many international institutions to develop potential loans as a way of giving the opportunity to our artists to be accessible to a wide-ranging audience.
This August, we loaned a Lawrence Weiner typewritter to Ibiza, a Won Ju Lim plexiglass sculpture to Madrid and a Jacco Oliver video installation to Pamplona.
What are your expectations regarding to the future of the collection?
I really don’t want to sound pretentious but my aim, thinking ‘big picture’, is to locate Colección Aldebarán as a reference for emerging artists; an honor to have their work included in and a place they can trust and think of as a well-cared project. As for the general public, I would like for them to see us as a young collection that is constantly developing new ideas and initiatives.
What is your sisters’ involvement in this project? Could you tell us about the board of trustees of the collection?
The truth is that I am more involved and dedicate more time to it, my sisters delegate and trust in the criteria that I have been working towards. Caterina is focusing her professional career on the art scene and has worked so far for Albarrán & Bourdais Gallery and will start working for Marlborough Gallery in September.
We decided to create a board of trustees as many other institutions do, in order to have a different perspective. The board is formed of great professionals and members of the art scene (curators, advisors, journalists and designers) very close to our family and from five different countries (Austria, Colombia, Ecuador, Spain and USA) which help us create a complete vision.