Interview with Art Collector: Quezia Lourenço
Art sales are often discussed from the artist’s side: how to present, how to price, how to pitch. But to understand how art actually moves, it’s more useful to listen to the person deciding whether or not to buy.
Collectors rarely explain themselves in press releases or on panels. But every decision they make reveals something far more valuable than strategy: it reveals how art is experienced from the other side.
In this interview, collector Quezia Lourenço gives us a rare view into what she notices first, what she remembers later, and what makes a piece feel worth living with.
1. What is the most memorable piece of art you ever bought — and what made you say yes to it?
Sisters, by you (Sarah Lörenk). I know it can sound biased, but it wasn’t about who made it as it was about what it made me feel. There was something about the color palette and the textures close up, especially around the eyes. The way the waterline was painted felt incredibly human to me. It stopped me immediately, and I knew I wanted it before I even asked if it was available.
2. When you walk into an art space what makes you stop and really look?
The color scheme. That’s always the first hook. I respond to palette before anything else, sometimes before I even realize what the piece is depicting. After that, it’s the composition, how the work holds itself together, where the eye is invited to go, how it would interact with the rest of a space. If those two things work together, I give it more time.
3. How do relationships with artists, dealers, or galleries influence your collecting decisions?
If the aesthetic already fits meaning it matches the tone, color story, or mood I’m curating in a space, I’m much more open to connecting. And when there’s trust in the person behind the work, whether it’s the artist or the gallerist, that adds to the pull. I’m not someone who buys based on persuasion, so relationships do make the process feel more natural and considered.
4. Has there ever been a piece you couldn’t stop thinking about? What made it stay with you?
Yes. I was recently at the National Gallery in London, and I came across a painting I didn’t expect to react to. I don’t remember the artist’s name, but the subject was a group of people, young and old, gathered around someone explaining a scientific concept. The entire scene was lit by this intense light/dark contrast that felt cinematic, almost photographic. What stayed with me wasn’t just the technique, but how present it made the people feel. It was realism, but emotionally heightened.
5. What do you love about artists and the art world?
I love how artists translate what they see into something that can be shared — something you can return to. There’s so much they’re communicating without saying a word. It always amazes me how personal it can feel to stand in front of someone else’s perception, and still find part of yourself in it.
There’s a precision in how Quezia collects led first by palette and then by resonance. She doesn’t buy from explanation. She buys from instinct. And it’s that kind of instinct that artists would do well to understand: not to manipulate it, but to recognize when it’s been activated.