Already I can hear you. "Art consultants are bad! Don't talk to them! There are better ways to learn about art collecting."
Ok, fine. I get it. But art consultants continue to fascinate me because of one simple fact. My aunt* needs a piece of art, preferably Asian, and even after all these years of trolling around galleries, I still don't know how to help her.
Her budget is $300, maybe even $700 (with a huge amount of convincing and her falling in
love with a piece).
Unfortunately, that price range really rules out most galleries.
Lisa Boumstein-Smalley, our first contributor in the collecting series, put it this way: "A Collecting 101 guide will start with simple advice like, 'brush up on art history.' Even for the most seasoned of us, that's no small feat, let alone for someone who just wants to buy a painting."
Which is why consultants didn't seem that bad to me. Plus, I had heard so much badmouthing about these creatures that I wanted to see for myself what lies behind the scenes.
I entered the labyrinth and found a new world. One full of conspiracy theories, gallery rivalry and intrigue, bargain hunting, warehouses, and an entire underground network of artists never seen in galleries or traditional exhibit spaces.
My mind was blown. So let's continue with Lisa as she starts to tear down a few myths about collecting. Trust me, she's got a lot of candid insights, more than I'm usually allowed to hear. We'll be expecting more posts from her soon.
Next, I'll be posting a piece about a consultant who was nice enough to welcome me into her office and explain how things work--the buyers, the wholesale market, the whole bit. By the time we were done, I was ready to write her a check to help her find my aunt a piece of Asian art to hang above the couch.
The third step (and we're just getting started) is to go to one of these wholesale places for art collection. Our destinaton? A place that is the art collecting equivalent of The Merchandise Mart, an art warehouse open only to the trade.
And it will only get even more intense from there, as the world of collecting entails the discussion of money. An uncomfortable reminder that art can be a part of a market, that money is tied to a reality that few have been keen to talk about; the collectors didn't want to talk because of uncomfortable discussions about finance, the artists didn't want to admit that they think about cash and the dealers didn't want to be seen as, well, dealers.
But times are tough, and candid discussions concerning fiscal matters are more accepted. If the veil of the market could be pulled back, everyone would be happier and wiser. The artist would learn how to position themselves to be on the radar of collectors, the collectors would have more options, and the competition between the sales channels would be more transparent.
* Relatives have been re-designated to remain anonymous.
Copyediting by Allison Mull
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Tags: artcollecting
