Sometimes the paths of two collectors cross without either of them realizing it.

When a collector came to pick up By the Horn, another work happened to be there. It belonged to a different collector, who had brought it back because I had forgotten to sign it. Nearby was another painting that same collector had acquired—a rhinoceros.

He noticed both.

For a moment, he found himself drawn to each of them, uncertain which one held the stronger connection. In the end, it was the first painting—the one that had simply happened to return briefly—that stayed with him.

The other collector ultimately found his connection with the rhinoceros.

I liked the quiet symmetry of it. Two collectors. Two works. Their paths briefly crossing through paintings that moved between us, until somehow, each person found the one that felt like his own.

Moments like this remind me that collecting is not always about searching for a particular work. Sometimes it is about encountering one unexpectedly—and recognizing something in it before you can fully explain why.