I want more than anything to have a signed piece by a great artist. Specifically, I want a Goya etching. I would be willing to lay out a bit of cash for it. I think that I would get up everyday and cry just a little bit knowing that I have a piece that was touched by the artist himself. It kind of brings his presence into the room in some way. My father has a Dali. It's cool, but I don't love Dali, so it doesn't have the same effect on me. Plus he was well known to have assistants sign stuff for him, so you can never be sure if it is authentic.
I noticed you mentioned Goya in another thread. What is it that grabs you about his work? I've always liked the "Black Paintings" for the brutal style, but honestly I haven't seen most of his work. There are a few artists whose work I would like to see on a daily basis, though I do wonder if that much exposure might render the impact of a work to be part of a new normal, if you get my meaning.
It's hard to say, really, why I like him so much. Whenever we used to travel as a family when I was a kid, my dad would always insist on visiting the art museum of whichever city we happened to be in. One particular time, and unfortunately the museum escapes me, there happened to be a special exhibit of Goya's wartime etchings. For me, it transformed the meaning of what art could be. It was the first time I can remember feeling what the artist must have been feeling. Stylistically, I think he single-handedly invented the horror genre, of which I am particularly fond. You can probably tell by the two works I've shown on Hubski, this and this, that I have a special place for the macabre in my heart. Goya is the master of that aesthetic. And in particular, his etchings that he did late in life really speak to me, as they are done in an almost proto-comic book style of drawing, with hashed lines and cartoonish stylization in some cases. It's remarkably beautiful. Anyway, the long and short of it is, who the hell knows why this taste fits me, and that taste fits you. Good thing there's enough beauty in the world to suit everyone.