METALLICA's LARS ULRICH: Art Collecting Is 'One Area Where I Can Go And Be Myself'

Stereo Warning has posted the third and final part of a new interview with METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Stereo Warning: Let's talk about art for a bit. How did you become an art collector?

Ulrich: We had art all over the house when I was growing up. It's been a passion of mine for 20-25 years. It's one area where I can go and be myself. It's not about being in METALLICA or being the drummer in a rock band. I'm accepted for who I am in the art circles. I love going into artist spaces and galleries and auction houses. It's great because it has absolutely nothing to do with METALLICA. It's my place of sanctuary.

Stereo Warning: What was the first painting you bought?

Ulrich: The first piece that I got was a Warhol. It's a lithograph of three apples that my parents had when I was growing up. My parents sold it when they divorced and I chased it down and bought it back. So I have the apples that were hanging in the dining room when I was growing up.

Stereo Warning: How did you get into Basquiat?

Ulrich: Basquiat is just so incredible in his rawness and he was the last great American painter who got a lot of his inspiration and influence from a lot of guys that I really like, like Jean Dubufett and Asger Jorn. I really like paintings. I'm not much into conceptual art. I respect it but it's not something that does a lot for me.

Stereo Warning: Do you feel any nostalgia for the paintings?

Ulrich: Yes, but it's also an exercise that I force myself to go through because you don't own art. The artists own art. You just hold on to it to enjoy it for a while. It becomes a revolving door, and I have to continue to put those paintings out there. There is very little art that I hoard. I've had 10-15 great years with some of these paintings and now it's time to get some other ones.

Read the entire interview from Stereo Warning.

According to The New York Times, Lars Ulrich found a buyer for "Untitled (Boxer)" (see image below),a 1982 painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat, in a sale of contemporary art at Christie's on November 12. Depicting a victorious black boxer against a richly painted background filled with the artist's signature graffiti scrawl, it was estimated at $12 million to $16 million, and a buyer on the telephone bought it for $12 million, or $13.5 million including commission.