Aida and Allan Flamm, Atlanta, GA

“Everything in this sale is from our home; the personal pieces we collected from our travels around the world. We fell in love with art in Amsterdam in the early eighties after we watched artists at work. We wound up buying one of their pieces, and it’s in the sale: the small oil painting with flowers on a green background. We realized how much the artists loved the process, and it just created a whole new passion for us.

When I say we collected art, that means everything. It means fabrics, metalwork; it means art that tells a story. We ended up buying rugs in Istanbul that we said we weren’t going to buy. We bought rugs in India when we said we weren’t going to buy any rugs in India. We bought rugs in China; we bought the chandelier from France — anything that was beautifully made. No wall should be empty when you love art. You cover it from ceiling to floor, the way the French cover their houses, and the Italians. I can always find the space.

Allan always loved watercolors, and I had a passion for collecting women artists in addition to works with female subjects. One of my favorite paintings is the S. Hodgson one of the women on the dock. When we bought that painting at an auction it was dark and gray, but when we had it cleaned we saw that it was a portrait of spring – the buds on the trees popped up. I love that painting; it was the first thing I’d see when I’d walk into the house. Another one I love is the John Thomas Peele painting of the young girl with the little black cat — I’m a real animal nut. The Rembrandt sketching was what I gave to Allan as a gift when we got married in 1986, and that Chiparus bronze is a classic piece of art deco that was given to us as a wedding gift by our business partners in China.

We’re moving to Palm Beach and getting rid of everything! We went to visit friends there and were supposed to stay for 4 nights and wound up staying for 9. It’s got a whole new energy, and we bought a place that’s right near the ocean. We’re starting over!”

Tell us about the Buddhas!

My little Buddhas! A girlfriend and I went to China in 1986, the first week the government had reopened the country to Americans. They were knocking temples down to build modern structures, so you’d go to the antiques stores in Hong Kong and find the temple relics. Of course, I always wanted the female goddesses because I felt like they gave great female energy. I loved giving them as gifts to my girlfriends, or to auctions for nonprofits. Can you tell I’m a bit of a feminist?

And the fashion?

I’ve always loved fashion. I bought Claude Montana and Thierry Mugler when the stores here weren’t yet carrying those labels. But for me, it was never about the labels. Allan and I would go to Paris and I would run around like a maniac buying pieces that I just thought were fabulous. I remember I bought a pair of jeans from Roberto Cavalli the year he came out. We were in Venice and I just ran into his store and bought a pair. Not because I knew who he was — I just love animal print.