“Collectors find their own meaning in the art they gather.
That’s the point of it all. I connect with the spirit and insights
a piece produces in me, more than the object itself.”
At age seven, Bud Stone was given a small, cast iron 1930’s model A-Ford. He kept the car with him at all times and it became a kind of obsession. “The form and texture was what attracted me, though I didn’t have that language at the time.” As a young adult, Bud made frequent visits to the Philadelphia Art Museum with his mother, and later, the Rodin. He went so often that the museum attendants began to recognize him and converse with him about the art. Bud realized that their observations had little to do with his experience of the works. “That’s when I first started to understand that what appealed to me was not solely the physical object, but what it meant to me, and how it enabled me to develop a connection in a way that was distinct from any other relationships with the physical world.” This appreciation for sculpture would develop into a lifetime engagement with more contemporary works.

Through his life in academia, Bud became involved in a great deal of travel, which led him to artists all over the United States, as well as in the former Soviet Union, Estonia, Mexico, England, Scotland, Norway and eventually, Zimbabwe. From the beginning, there were two characteristics that Bud looked for in the pieces he collected. First, he only acquired work from artists he knew personally. Second, the piece had to strike him –

bud-stone-4
which meant that it not only had to catch his eye, it needed to present an energetic form that transcended the physical realm. His criterion was that of impact, not value. This passion has driven Bud to explore sites around the globe with the sole aim of experiencing sculpture, and its creation, in its native environment. Two weeks after seeing a single piece of Shona sculpture owned by a friend in the U.S., Bud boarded a plane to sub-Saharan Africa. There, he was introduced to five or six artists, all who later became significant players in the Shona movement. Bud would accompany
them on overnight trips to select stones out in the bush, some of which served as the raw material in pieces he later acquired. “Zimbabwe is a landscape that was unique to my experience. It introduced me to a new dimension of possibilities in spirit and form.” Other notable sculptors in Bud’s collection include Darrell Petit, who works on a grand scale, with pieces that often weigh anywhere from five to thirty tons. “Darrell’s work is elegance in simplicity. His forms are simultaneously humble and compelling. This unusual combination evokes stability, energy, and movement.” Bud has always found it surprising to observe how Darrell makes massive forms appear to move with fluidity, despite their obvious strength.

The sculpture of Bela Basci, a Hungarian artist working in Santa Barbara, presents another highlight of this collection. For Bud, Bela’s work holds an aesthetic and spiritual attraction that is plainly incomparable. “Bela captures humor, drama, and an incredible sensitivity to the human body in his work – all of which is executed with enormous sophistication.”

Bud does not have any favorite pieces in this collection. “Each one is my favorite at the time that I am experiencing it. When I’m interacting with a piece, there is nothing else on my physical radar. There isn’t a single work in this collection that I don’t cherish.”