Passion & Purpose: William Arnett’s Tinwood Collection

Hailing from Columbus, Georgia, Bill’s youth was defined by his rigorous athleticism and love of sports, but also a deep joy of collecting. Anything from marbles, to baseball cards, to comic books were fair game, and this hobby reinforced a disposition to collect things in an encyclopedic manner, to accrue things in a way that made one’s trove an all-encompassing catalog of the relevant area of interest. But growing up in the Deep South in the 40s and 50s, the specter of segregation was omnipresent. Its existence was never something Bill understood; skin color never mattered on the baseball field, but it was in college when he fully recognized that half of the story wasn’t being told, a realization that would prove formative.

Purchasing that first painting reawakened that childhood joy of collecting that had perhaps lapsed into dormancy over the intervening years. But now, that joy was stronger than ever. Bill first began collecting works of Ancient Greek and Roman art and civilization. His fascination gradually made its way across Eurasia, evolving to Ancient Egyptian and Levantine, then to Mesopotamia and the Middle East. He compiled his collections with a discerning eye, emphasizing finding artifacts of day-to-day life in these ancient cultures as much as objects of great rarity. His approach was holistic: what fascinated him most about the material culture of any given people was how it all linked together, how the things left behind by these different shapers of history were all interconnected. 

Eventually, Bill’s calling took him further, to China, India, and Southeast Asia, where collecting was more difficult. Whereas with previous destinations that held his fascination, Bill could collect by going to the countries of interest personally and hunting down coveted pieces himself. But by this time, China was closed to the West. He tried to tap into the rich artistic culture and narrative of China from his limited access to Hong Kong and Singapore. In a stroke of good fortune, he found a store in the Crown colony, run by art experts from the People’s Republic of China, who taught him about Chinese art and culture. This gave him some access to an otherwise insular nation, the teachings of which he could share with an audience in the United States that might otherwise never have experienced it.

Bill’s experiences traveling and collecting abroad, breaking into the social cordon and bringing back art and culture to a wide uninitiated audience, foreshadowed the work he did with African American artists in the later half of his life and both the Tinwood Foundation and Souls Grown Deep benefitted tremendously from it.  Each buddha and piece of jade is testament to the purpose that defined Bill’s life, that art, regardless of origin, unites people from all over the world in its appreciation. 

Brunk Auctions is honored to be a part of Bill Arnett’s legacy of sharing the material culture of some of his favorite places. We invite you to take part in this exemplary offering of Asian art, to experience, enjoy and learn from it just as Bill Arnett intended.