Contributor: Veronique Savigné
On 5 April 2025, the BMW Collectors Co. members were invited to Veronique Savigné’s home to venture Inside the Collection of the seasoned collector.
Savigné is an art collector whose approach is deeply intuitive and critically engaged. Though her engagement with art began in childhood, it was in 2014 that collecting became a serious pursuit, transforming from an interest into a considered practice. Savigné describes her collecting as an intuitive process, one that is deeply personal and reflective of her evolving sense of identity. Yet beyond the personal, her collection reflects a broader commitment to the evolving narratives of contemporary African art, shaped through ongoing dialogue with artists and institutions.
In addition to actively championing contemporary African art, one of the things that sets Savigné apart is her insistence on access to information. In so doing, she invites others not only to observe but to engage with collecting as a lens through which art is lived, understood, and continually recontextualised. Some of what was seen in Veronique’s home has only ever been encountered in internationally acclaimed exhibitions or museum shows and never in homes. As a result, the exercise of visiting the Savigné home catalysed aspiration.
Key outcomes of day’s programme included:
1. Purchasing art for emotional or aesthetic admiration rather than focusing on its commercial worth.
2. Fostering relationships within the art ecosystem is essential to cultivate meaningful connections to enhance and establish one’s comfort, understanding and experience of the art community.
3. Evolving relationships with art are normal. However, this does not diminish the act of collecting itself.
4. Building an art collection can also serve as a legacy that can be passed down to future generations.
5. maintaining an art collection can serve as the collector’s personal expression and evolving identity.
If stepping inside an institution like A4 Arts Foundation revealed the ecology of contemporary artmaking, then stepping into the home of Veronique Savigné offered BMW Collectors Co. members something more intimate yet equally instructive: a look at how collecting lives, breathes, and evolves in the space of the everyday. On 5 April 2025, this rare opportunity to engage directly with Savigné’s private collection was not just a visual experience—it was a conceptual one, revealing collecting as a lived philosophy, an emotional archive, and a lifelong conversation with art.
Savigné’s collection cannot be reduced to an inventory of names or objects. Instead, it functions as an unfolding narrative—one that reflects both her personal trajectory and her critical engagement with contemporary African art. Beginning with childhood encounters and crystallising into a serious practice in 2014, her approach is both intuitive and intellectually considered. For members of the BMW Collectors Co., this encounter offered a vivid alternative to the view of collecting as driven by financial speculation or institutional validation. In Savigné’s world, collecting is neither passive nor prescriptive—it is a form of participation.
This was immediately evident in the way the works were installed throughout her home. Rather than existing behind glass or in formal isolation, artworks formed part of the rhythm of daily life. Some had only ever been seen in major museum exhibitions, and yet here they were—in conversation with furniture, light, sound, and memory. This experience helped to unsettle the idea that important art belongs in distant or inaccessible spaces. Instead, the collection embodied a form of aspiration grounded in care, curiosity, and the transformative potential of encounter.
One of the central lessons from the visit was the value of emotional and aesthetic intuition in the act of collecting. Savigné’s relationship with her collection is guided not by market trends or investment potential, but by an intimate resonance—works are acquired because they move her, challenge her, or reveal something new. For young collectors, this is a vital recalibration. In a landscape often dominated by commercial metrics, it is easy to forget that collecting can begin with affect, and that emotional sincerity is not antithetical to curatorial rigor. Quite the opposite: it can serve as the foundation for a collection with depth, coherence, and enduring relevance.
Closely tied to this is the importance of relationships within the art ecosystem. Savigné’s collection is not the result of isolated transactions, but of years spent cultivating friendships and conversations with artists, curators, and fellow collectors. This social fabric infuses her collection with life. The works are not trophies, but traces of relationships—each one bearing the imprint of shared context and mutual regard. For members of the BMW Collectors Co., the visit offered a potent reminder that collecting is not only about objects but about people. To collect meaningfully is to be part of a community, to listen actively, and to remain open to being changed by the works one lives with.
Equally meaningful was Savigné’s openness about how her relationship with certain works has evolved over time. As life changes, so too do the meanings of the artworks within it. This acknowledgment affirms that collecting is a dynamic practice—one that accommodates shifting tastes, questions, and insights. The art may remain, but its function, resonance, and role within the collector’s life may shift. This fluidity should not be feared, but embraced. For emerging collectors, it is liberating to know that one’s taste need not be fixed, and that the collection itself can grow as an articulation of changing identity.
Another dimension of the visit was the idea of legacy. Savigné’s collection is not only a reflection of her present—of her sensibilities and affinities—it is also a gesture toward the future. It is something that can be passed down, not only materially but ideologically. A collection, when assembled with care and conviction, can become an inheritance of values: curiosity, critical engagement, cultural memory. For BMW Collectors Co. members, this prompts a broader question: what do we hope our collections will say, and to whom? Legacy, in this sense, is not a distant concern—it is built through every decision, every acquisition, every conversation.
Finally, the visit brought into sharp focus the idea of collecting as personal expression. Savigné’s home is more than a container for art—it is an extension of the self, shaped by aesthetic instincts and intellectual commitments. For many, collecting is understood as an external activity, something separate from daily life. But for Savigné, the collection and the collector are inextricable. The artworks express her evolving sense of self as much as they reflect the wider world. For young collectors, this offers a powerful model of authenticity: that collecting can be not just about art, but about articulating who we are, who we’ve been, and who we are becoming.
In visiting the home of Savigné, BMW Collectors Co. members encountered not just a collection, but a philosophy of living with art—one rooted in intuition, dialogue, and sustained attention. It was a reminder that collecting is not a static achievement, but a dynamic, lifelong practice. And more than that, it was an invitation: to collect with care, to engage with purpose, and to let art change not only our walls, but our ways of seeing.