For art collectors Dr. Mark and Irene Kaufman, part of the excitement of collecting lies in the stories attached to every piece of art they acquire. Sometimes the story is the painter's, told on the canvas itself; sometimes it's the story of how they themselves found and purchased the work, or of the fellow art lovers they met in the process. In every case, their keen appreciation for and curiosity about art is obvious.

Today their Longboat Key penthouse condominium is a gallery of the works they've fallen in love with over the years. Yet the couple's passion for collecting is relatively recent. "We always appreciated art, and were always interested in the opera, dance and theater," says Irene. "I had a music background." (That's attested to by the baby grand piano in one corner of their living room and the guitar in another room).

But for the first 25 years of their marriage, they focused on raising their three children and their careers in the medical field. He is a retired orthopedist turned Sarasota downtown developer amd she is a registered nurse who worked side by side with him in his practice for years. It wasn't until they moved from Pennsylvania to Sarasota in 1978 that they met two Sarasota physicians, both art aficionados, who introduced them to the world of collecting.

As Mark puts it, "We got introduced to the history of American art and found it utterly fascinating. And we decided we would take up collecting in that field, especially in the art of the first half of this century."

They went about it with care and dedication. "We did extensive reading and went to museums and galleries all the time," says Mark. "And we became educated a lot by gallery owners who spent a great deal of time with us. They would start out by asking, 'Do you appreciate so-and-so's work?' Or, 'Do you know of this artist?' And if we didn't, they'd say, 'That's OK, you will.' They made us feel very comfortable with it all." In fact, the first painting the couple purchased was a small one of circus lions by John Marin that had previously been owned by a gallery dealer they became friendly with.

"We became totally thrilled by the history of American art, from the Armory show in 1913 on, and the way that it's changed, all the way from the Hudson River School to modernism," Mark explains. "And when we went into that field, many of those works were still quite affordable. They're not so much that way now. And the more you collect, the better your eye gets, of course, and so the prices go up, too. But there's a definite feeling of pride of ownership when you're at a museum and you can say, 'We have one of those, and ours is better.' We only collect major artists who have had a major impact on the art world by virtue of their originality."

A tour of the Kaufmans' home reveals who those major artists are, and how carefully the couple studies the life and background of each artist they acquire. Many of the 75 works in their collection are on display all the time (when not out on loan to museums); they occasionally rotate some of the smaller pieces. And, they admit, dinner with friends at their home often turns into a discussion of the art.

How could it not? The dining area is probably the best place to start when exploring the collection. Over one end of the table hangs a significant piece by Jack Levine (one of only two artists the Kaufmans collect who is still alive today). "On the Block," dating from 1990, is the artist's view of an art auction, and it's chockful of well-known figures in the art world, each making various bidding gestures: dealer Alfred Barry, pop icon Andy Warhol, collector Joseph Hirschhorn, the late gallery owner Leo Castelli, and Museum of Modern Art founding director Alfred Barr. It's a painting with a joke at its center: The item these experts are all bidding on turns out to be a worthless boot.

Another auction-themed piece, this one by William Gropper, who began his career as a cartoonist, hangs nearby. Here the characters are made even more grotesque, not excluding the artist himself, who's seen with a very red face.

The Kaufmans are big fans of painter Walt Kuhn, another cartoonist turned artist, and have several of his works in their collection. "He always did circus performers," says Mark, "and their deep-set eyes are a Kuhn trademark."