Life in a jewel box with Courtney Kremers, Sotheby’s VP and Contemporary Art Specialist

The History of Now: The Collection of Daniel Teiger
Sotheby’s London

THE COLLECTION OF DAVID TEIGER, A MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT AND FORMER TRUSTEE OF THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, WAS SOLD AT SOTHEBY’S STARTING IN LONDON LAST OCTOBER DURING FRIEZE WEEK. THE COMPETITION BETWEEN THE AUCTION HOUSES VYING FOR SUCH A SUPERB, VARIED AND LEGENDARY COLLECTION MUST HAVE BEEN FIERCE BUT SOTHEBY’S MARKETING STRATEGY WON THE DAY. TITLED “THE HISTORY OF NOW”, THE COLLECTION FEATURED EXCEPTIONAL EXAMPLES OF MODERN, FOLK AND CONTEMPORARY ART, FEATURING EXCEPTIONAL EXAMPLES BY SUCH ARTISTS AS JASPER JOHNS, DAVID HOCKNEY, JOHN CURRIN, PETER DOIG AND MARK GROTJAHN IN A SERIES OF TEN TARGETED SALES WORLDWIDE.

Mark Grotjahn
The History of Now- The Collection of David Teiger

DAVID TEIGER CREATED A LIST OF PRINCIPLES TO GUIDE HIM IN HIS COLLECTING. SOTHEBY’S ADVOCATED THE SAME FOCUS AND CONCENTRATION IN ITS MARKETING AND SELLING OF IT: TRAVELING WORKS TO MANY CITIES, THREE IN ASIA ALONE; RESEARCHING, DOCUMENTING AND CATALOGUING EACH LOT; SELECTING THE VENUE THAT WOULD BEST SERVE EACH WORK OF ART, RESULTING IN AN OVERALL TOTAL OF MORE THAN $100 MILLION.

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2018/history-of-now-collection-david-teiger-l18623.html

Peter Doig
Buffalo Station 1
The History of Now- The Collection of David Teiger sale

THE HARD WORK, DEDICATION AND KNOWLEDGE OF WORKS  OF ART AND OF THE ART MARKET REQUIRED FOR THE SALE OF THE TEIGER COLLECTION IS JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF THE VIRTUALLY DAILY DEMANDS ON SPECIALISTS IN A TOP AUCTION HOUSE. CONSISTENTLY PLEASANT, CHEERFUL AND POLITE TO EACH AND EVERY DEMANDING COLLECTOR AND ADVISOR IS ANOTHER REQUISITE.

TODAY, THE LRFA BLOG IS DELIGHTED TO WELCOME BACK COURTNEY KREMERS, SENIOR VP AND CONTEMPORARY ART SPECIALIST, TO SPEAK FIRST HAND OF HER SOTHEBY EXPERIENCE.

WHEN DID YOU START AT SOTHEBY’S AND WHAT PROMPTED YOUR DECISION TO JOIN AN AUCTION HOUSE?  CUSTOMARILY, MANY PEOPLE START AT AN AUCTION HOUSE AND THEN GO ON TO WORK AS A DEALER OR ADVISOR?

Yes I did it backwards. But I am so thankful I did. I was able to understand the ecosystem that the auction house serves by first being a part of that ecosystem. Sotheby’s approached me about an opportunity to revamp their mid season sales in early 2013; that fall, we introduced the Contemporary Curated sales. It was an exciting new challenge, and when I left Kim to pursue it, she couldn’t have been more supportive.

Vija Celmins
Burning Plane
Good to Go: Property from the Collection of Joni Gordon

WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST ABOUT WORKING IN AN AUCTION HOUSE?

I am surrounded every day by people that love what they do. My colleagues, both in and outside the Contemporary department, are some of the most passionate, inspiring, and hard-working people that I have ever encountered. The energy is contagious. Not to mention the thousands of objects I get to see, handle, basically live with, every year. And not just Contemporary works… Our office is a rotating museum of Old Master paintings, jewels, photographs, Japanese scrolls, the most beautiful mid-century design objects. I spend most of my waking life in a jewel box essentially. It is a privilege to work at Sotheby’s, so I try to earn it every day. 

Ed Ruscha Broken Pencil In Its Own Light: Collection of Ed Cohen and Victoria Shaw

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MAJOR AUCTIONS OR SINGLE OWNER SALES OR SPECIFIC LOTS THAT STAND OUT AS HIGHLIGHTS DURING YOUR TIME AT SOTHEBY’S?

The Joni Gordon Sale in 2014 – we sold a rare Vija Celmin’s plane painting (now on view in the SFMoMA show) and achieved a record price for the artist. In 2017, the sale of works from the Collection of Ed Cohen and Victoria Shaw which included the most breathtaking works on paper by Anselm Kiefer, Michael Andrews, and Brice Marden… These weren’t the most high value consignments, or the biggest single owner sales in recent years, but the works were rare connoisseurs’ gems.   

Cecily Brown
Bonus
In Its Own Light: The Collection of Ed Cohen and Victoria Shaw

HOW DOES S/2, SOTHEBY’S GALLERY, WORK IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE SALES DEPARTMENT?  HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHAT THE BEST VENUE WHEN ADVISING A CLIENT INTERESTED IN SELLING A WORK THEY OWN?

Simply stated, when advising collectors regarding auction versus private sale, we need to understand what it is that they value most. For some, privacy and control of the sale process is paramount, and so private sale would be our recommendation. For others, the auction platform, which can present a unique opportunity for upside at a particular moment, is more appealing. With that said, every conversation is highly circumstantial and takes into account any number of factors. One that comes up frequently is depth of an artist’s market in relation to works currently consigned for an auction season (e.g. if we have four Calder mobiles already consigned for auction, we are likely not going to recommend adding a fifth).

Alexander Calder
Art Contemporain
Sotheby’s Paris, June 5, 2019

HOW FAR IN ADVANCE DO YOU WORK ON A FORTHCOMING AUCTION?  DO YOU HAVE A FEW LOTS THAT COME IN THAT ANCHOR A SALE AND THEN SEEK OUT WORKS COLLECTORS MIGHT HAVE THAT WOULD COMPLEMENT THE SALE AND BE ENHANCED BY EXISTING LOTS?

Yes – you nailed it. We generally work on sales six months in advance, but naturally the intensity ramps up about two months out. Roughly half of the sale comes in from collectors who reach out to us directly. The other half we seek out proactively. Based on what has come into the sale in the first few months, we seek out artists and periods that we don’t yet have. We start to create ‘wish lists’ that we work from. If we are a month away from deadline and see that we don’t have a great Joan Mitchell or Donald Judd, we will go out and try to find one. Our wish list changes a bit every season depending on what we know collectors are looking for, and also, opportunities we may see to tell a particular story in an auction season. We look at the ingredients on the table, and then figure out how to make a well balanced meal! 

Joan Mitchell
L’Arbre de Phyllis
Lumieres: The Levy Family Collection
Sotheby’s NY May 16, 2019

IN OUR NEXT LRFA BLOG POST, COURTNEY WILL SHARE HER PERSPECTIVE ON SOTHEBY’S PRESENT AND FUTURE.

PLEASE JOIN US!

AND HAVE A HAPPY AND LONG-AWAITED MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!

Collecting advice from an expert: Sotheby’s contemporary auction specialist Courtney Kremers

Courtney Kremers
Sotheby’s

AUCTIONS ARE BIG BUSINESS WITH EVER INCREASING INTEREST AND PARTICIPATION FROM ALL CORNERS OF THE WORLD. THANKS TO THE GLOBALIZATION OF THE ART MARKET AND THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF ART BOOSTED BY INSTAGRAM IN PARTICULAR AND SOCIAL MEDIA IN GENERAL, AND BY THE HEADLINE MAKING SUMS THAT ARE BEING REALIZED, EVERYONE FINDS THIS AN INTRIGUING SUBJECT TO FOLLOW WHETHER THEY ARE COLLECTORS OR NOT. THE COMPETITION BETWEEN HOUSES IS FIERCE AND THIS WEEK, IN NEW YORK, PRESENTS MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO PROVE THESE POINTS.

Claude Monet
Meules
Sotheby’s May 2019

ON TUESDAY OF THIS WEEK, SOTHEBY’S TRIUMPHED, OPENING THE NEW YORK AUCTION WEEK, WITH THEIR IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN SALE. ARTnews DESCRIBES IT AS SUCH:

Powered by a stunning Claude Monet landscape that doubled its estimate and elicited hearty applause in the grand salesroom, Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern evening sale in New York on Tuesday galloped to a market-affirming $349.9 million tally.

Only five of the 55 lots offered failed to sell, yielding a svelte buy-in rate by lot of 9.1 percent.

The buoyant result surged past pre-sale expectations of $252.6 million to $333.2 million. Those estimates do not include the buyer’s premium. (The hammer tally for the evening, before fees, was $300.5 million.)

The total also shot past last May’s $318.3 million result for the 32 lots that sold. The top lot at that sale was Amedeo Modigliani’s Nu couché (sur le côté gauche), 1917, which fetched $157.2 million, making it the most expensive work ever to sell at Sotheby’s.

Tuesday’s auction ranks as the highest-earning Impression-modern evening sale at Sotheby’s since one in May 2015 that took in $368 million.

http://www.artnews.com/2019/05/15/sothebys-imp-mod-monet-meules-record/

Hans Hofmann

BEFORE WORKS CAN REACH THE DAZZLING HEIGHTS OF THE AUCTION WORLD, THEY MUST FIRST BE ACQUIRED BY PRIVATE COLLECTORS AND THAT TAKES CAREFUL DELIBERATION, INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE AS WELL AS THE GOOD FORTUNE OF A GREAT EYE AND/OR A GREAT ADVISOR.

TODAY, THE LRFA BLOG IS DELIGHTED TO HAVE SOTHEBY’S SPECIALIST, SENIOR VP, COURTNEY KREMERS, TO SHARE HER ASTUTE INSIGHTS ON THE ART OF COLLECTING.

COURTNEY, WELCOME BACK! THE LRFA BLOG IS VERY HAPPY TO HAVE YOU HERE.

SOME COLLECTORS, SUCH AS THE MUGRABIS,  FOCUS ON A HANDFUL OF ARTISTS, BUYING NUMEROUS EXAMPLES OF WORK FROM ALL PERIODS OF THE ARTIST’S CAREER, THUS CONTROLLING TO SOME EXTENT THE MARKET FOR THE WORK?

WHAT IN YOUR OPINION ARE THE ADVANTAGES AND THE DISADVANTAGES?

There is a big difference between trying to control an artist’s market, by acquiring a significant number of works, and collecting an artist in depth. The pros/cons of this strategy are no different than having undiversified risk in any other asset class. It is high risk, high reward.

Lucio Fontana

WHEN YOU ARE WORKING WITH A RELATIVELY NEW AND UNSEASONED COLLECTOR, WHAT IS THE BEST ADVICE THAT YOU CAN GIVE THEM?

Collecting involves a careful balance of restraint and gut. At the beginning, the formula should be weighted toward restraint and research, but as you develop a real eye, gut becomes a crucial part of the equation.

HOW DO YOU EDUCATE THE POTENTIAL COLLECTOR IN THE ART OF COLLECTING? WHAT ARE THE PRIMARY CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES DO YOU GIVE THEM?

It isn’t only about buying what you love. For an unseasoned collector, that advice can be a recipe for disaster, or at the very least, for overpaying. The word, “love”, is also confusing to collectors, because what does that mean when it comes to art? Your relationship with an object can grow from something that first would be described as discomfort, because it gets under your skin, stays with you, challenges something you thought you knew. In other words, the reaction to a great object doesn’t always start out as positive experience in a traditional sense, but it can evolve into that. Aside from the gut reaction you feel, which is what makes collecting so emotionally rewarding, you should always ask questions and understand what you are buying, how the work fits into the artist’s overall body of work, what the condition is, which galleries support the artist, which museums have shown the artist, etc. The list of questions is long and you should consider the answers to each one.

Sam Francis

YOU WORKED FOR KIM HIERSTON, WHOM I LIKE AND ADMIRE, IN HER ART ADVISORY FIRM.  WHAT WERE YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES?

Tons of research, among other things. Kim is extremely thorough and disciplined about every artwork she puts forward for a collector’s consideration. It was an information gathering operation first, art advisory second; you can’t advise unless you have all the facts. We spent a lot of time reviewing the artworks on offer through galleries, at art fairs, and in the auctions, and then thinking about how those works might fit into a particular client’s collection, and if so, what the right price was. Once an acquisition was made, we handled all the back end logistics that come with building an art collection – insurance, shipping, framing, conservation. It was a soup to nuts job.

George Condo

WHAT WERE THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS YOU LEARNED WHEN WORKING AS AN ADVISOR?  YOU MUST INTERACT WITH A GREAT MANY ADVISORS NOW, AS A SPECIALIST AT SOTHEBY’S. WHAT CHARACTERIZES THE BEST AND THE WORST OF THEM?

There are advisors who do their own research and who spend a considerable amount of time looking at art and understanding the objects, and then there are advisors who just repeat what they hear elsewhere. The parrots are just that, parrots.

NB- THE WORKS ILLUSTRATED IN THIS BLOG (EXCEPT THE MONET) ARE FORTHCOMING LOTS IN THE SOTHEBY’S CONTEMPORARY DAY SALE, ON FRIDAY, MAY 17th.

IN OUR NEXT LRFA BLOG, COURTNEY WILL SPEAK ABOUT LIFE AT SOTHEBY’S IN THIS AGE OF COLLECTING. WE CAN’T WAIT!

The career path leading to Sotheby’s New York with Courtney Kremers, Senior VP and Senior Contemporary Specialist

Sotheby’s New York

SOTHEBY’S IS CELEBRATING ITS 275TH ANNIVERSARY BUT IS HARDLY AN OLD FOGEY, DYNAMIC IN ITS EVER INNOVATIVE EXPANSION IN TERMS OF ACQUISITIONS OF NEW COMPANIES, FROM EVERYTHING AS DIVERSE AS THREAD GENIUS, A COMPANY THAT DEVELOPED ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE CLIENT EXPERIENCE BY MATCHING AN OBJECT TO AN INDIVIDUAL’S PREFERENCE AT A CERTAIN PRICE POINT, TO THE MEI MOSES ART INDICES, THEREBY GAINING UNIQUE ACCESS TO AN ANALYTIC TOOL THAT PROVIDES OBJECTIVE AND VERIFIABLE MEASURES OF THE ART MARKET BY TRACKING THE VALUE OF AN OBJECT OVER TIME. IN 2016, SOTHEBY’S BROUGHT SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN-HOUSE WITH THE ACQUISITION OF ORION ANALYTICAL AND THE APPOINTMENT OF ITS FOUNDER, THE RENOWNED ART WORLD SCIENTIST JAMES MARTIN, KNOWN AS A TOUR DE FORCE IN USING TECHNOLOGY TO UNCOVER NEARLY UNDETECTABLE MISTAKES IN COPIES THAT APPEAR FLAWLESS TO THE NAKED EYE.

New Sothebys Galleries
designed by OMA

THIS SPRING, SOTHEBY’S NEW YORK, IN TIME FOR OUR FORTHCOMING IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN, POST-WAR AND CONTEMPORARY MAJOR AUCTIONS, OPENED ITS NEW DAZZLING RENOVATION TO THE PUBLIC. ARCHITECT SHIGEMATSU OF OMA, NEW YORK HAS UPDATED THE INTERNATIONAL AUCTION HOUSE’S HEADQUARTERS. THE INCREASED EXHIBITION SPACES, THE MIX OF VARIOUS SHAPED ROOMS, CORRIDORS AND GALLERIES  AND EXPANSION OF PRIVATE SALE VIEWING ROOMS, AS WELL AS  THE CREATION OF A DOUBLE-HEIGHT SPACE ON THE GROUND FLOOR ALL CONTRIBUTE STUNNINGLY TO SOTHEBY’S AMBITION TO BE THE BEST IN A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE ALTHOUGH REMARKABLY SMALL INDUSTRY.

Cecily Brown

SENIOR VP AND SENIOR CONTEMPORARY SPECIALIST, COURTNEY KREMERS, WAS KIND ENOUGH TO PROVIDE A TOUR OF THE NEW GALLERIES AND IT IS WITH GREAT PLEASURE THAT THE LRFA BLOG CONTINUES OUR CHAT.

TODAY, COURTNEY WILL TRACE HER PROFESSIONAL PATH FROM UNIVERSITY ACADEMICIAN TO SOTHEBY SPECIALIST WITH A HISTORY OF HER ART WORLD EXPERIENCE PRIOR TO JOINING THEIR RANKS.

WELCOME!

COURTNEY, DO YOU THINK THESE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS HAVE BEEN PUT TO GOOD USE IN THE WORK YOU DO TODAY, AS AN AUCTION SPECIALIST AND, IF SO, HOW?

There were plenty of confused parents when I said I was getting an Art History degree (from Duke). They would ask, perplexed, “Well what will you do with that?” A kid growing up in NYC probably received a different reaction, but in Frederick, where no one knew anyone who worked in the art world, I think they thought I was wasting a good college education. I feel very lucky that my undergrad/grad time was a precursor to what I do on a daily basis now. As a Specialist, I am constantly researching art works, analyzing importance, condition, etc. My job now involves an assessment of value, which wasn’t part of my formal education, but it is certainly an extension of it.  

Kerry James Marshall

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB IN THE ART WORLD?  WHAT WERE THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSONS YOU LEARNED THERE?

My first job out of college was working for the Mugrabi Collection. I had no idea who they were. I remember trying to Google them before the interview. In the first week, both Tobias Meyer and Larry Gagosian called. I answered the phone, and asking if they could spell their last names for me please almost ended my employment. 

The Mugrabi family taught me a lot, and they still do. They are tough businessmen who know their markets cold. If someone thinks the price they are quoting is too high, they will pull out five auction catalogues in which comparable works were sold and walk you through each result, and how that example stacks up to theirs and also where the markets were then/now. And for artists where they see future growth, they are more than happy to hold their position, and their asking prices, and wait for everyone else to catch up.  

Mark Rothko

THE MUGRABI FAMILY IS KNOWN AS MARKET MOVERS, TAKING MAJOR POSITIONS ON ARTISTS SUCH AS JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT AND DAMIEN HIRST. THE VALUE OF THEIR COLLECTION, WHICH INCLUDES THE LAREST PRIVATE CACHE OF WORKS BY ANDY WARHOL, HAS BEEN ESTIMATED AT OVER $100 MILLION.

WHAT WERE YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AT THE MUGRABI COLLECTION?  WHAT ASPECTS OF THE JOB WERE THE MOST REWARDING?

Day one through Day 365, I did a lot of answering the phone and fixing the printer, but also, noting auction prices in the catalogues, creating fact sheets for new acquisitions, and providing clients with research, images, etc. for works under discussion. My responsibilities grew. The Mugrabis were incredibly generous in opening doors, and encouraging me to attend gallery openings, dinners, and art fairs on their behalf. When we loaned works to a Basquiat exhibition in Rome, I flew over to make sure the installation was as promised. For a 22 year old, new to New York, and new to the art world, it was all pretty thrilling. Looking back now, probably nothing was more impactful than meeting the artists who would come in for lunch, and the artworks that would come and go from the walls.

WHAT WONDERFUL TRAINING FOR THE TIME AHEAD!

IN OUR NEXT LRFA BLOG, COURTNEY WILL GIVE US HER VERY INFORMED RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT COLLECTING ART!

PLEASE JOIN US!

Christopher Wool

NB The artworks featured in today’s LRFA blog post are lots in the forthcoming Contemporary Evening Auction on May 16th at their New York headquarters at 1334 York Avenue.

Face to face with Julia Wehkamp, co-founder of One Art Nation: seminars, symposia, lectures

One Art Nation
Co-founders Julia Wehkamp and Amanda Dunn

AS COMPETITIVE AND GLOBALIZED AS THE ART MARKET ITSELF, THE DEMAND FOR INTERESTING, INFORMATIVE EDUCATIONAL LECTURES ON ART AND ART MANAGEMENT AND SEMINARS FEATURING KEYNOTE SPEAKERS, LUMINARIES IN THE WORLD OF ART, HAS GROWN IN RESPONSE TO THE EVER INCREASING NUMBER OF PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD WHO VISIT ART FAIRS, MUSEUMS, AND GALLERIES AS WELL AS  THOSE WHO ACTUALLY PURCHASE WORKS.

ONE ART NATION OFFERS OFFLINE SYMPOSIA TO BRING TOGETHER LEADING ADVISORS, DEALERS, CRITICS AND ARTISTS TO SPEAK, IN NEW YORK, TORONTO, SOUTHAMPTON, AND OTHER VENUES, AND INITIATES PANEL DISCUSSIONS WITH  EXPERTS FROM THE CREATIVE FIELDS AS WELL AS FROM THE BUSINESS SIDE OF THE ART WORLD.

Guerrilla Girls

JULIA, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SYMPOSIUM IN TERMS OF ITS TOPICS AND ITS SPEAKERS?

Yes, we have had the pleasure of working with various art fairs, heading up their educational programing. All our talks have been recorded and produced as online content, for those who were not able to make it on site to the fairs. These can be found here. The One Art Nation Symposia have allowed us to work with some incredible experts and opinion leaders. Some highlights include a talk at CONTEXT / Art New York, where we featured a panel, led by pre-eminent art lawyer Barbara Hoffman with an original member of The Guerrilla Girls, Rosalba Carriera, legendary photographer Jeannette Montgomery Barron, and artist and filmmaker Jack Waters, as they discussed New York’s electrifying cultural scene, the artists that left their mark, and the vibrant scene today, which is the legacy: When Creativity Ruled the Streets. The same Symposium presented When Art Meets Rock n’ Roll, a discussion between celebrated photographer Bob Gruen ​and rock and roll icon Jason Newsted of Metallica, who was making his artistic debut. 

Barbara Hoffman
Hoffman Law Firm

THE SITE ALSO ACTS AS A GUIDE TO UPCOMING ART FAIRS, MUSEUM SHOWS AND GALLERY EXHIBITIONS. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE FAIRS AND EXHIBITIONS YOU PUBLICIZE AND HOW HAS THIS SELECTION – AN ENORMOUS UNDERTAKING – BEEN MADE?

Yes, we feature talked-about events in an easy to navigate calendar  with specific search functionality, ensuring art lovers never miss an important art fair, exhibition or event. We invite our Network Members to submit events, which are then vetted for relevance. Those that our selection committee deems to be significant for our overall global membership are published live within 24 hours. We also feature events that 1AN is involved with or attending, supporting the community as a whole. Every month, we select four of those events to feature in our eNewsletter.

Demystifying the Art World panel

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHICH TOPICS ARE THE MOST RELEVANT AND WHAT TO HIGHLIGHT TO YOUR READERSHIP FROM THE VAST POOL OF INFORMATION CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TO US IN EVERY FORM?

We curate our content very carefully to the needs of our membership. We do so, by sending out monthly polls to gather information on what type of education they are seeking, what is currently missing, where their interests lie, what their art market goals are, etc. By analyzing the results, as well as more targeted surveys, general market research and face-to-face conversations about the learning needs of our audiences, we design an ever-evolving selection of content, which we then match up with opinion leaders in those given fields to deliver education based on their experiences and expertise.

Evan Beard
U.S. Trust
National Art Services

YOUR NETWORK INCLUDES TOP PROFESSIONALS GLEANED FROM A VERY WIDE RANGE OF EXPERTISE: LEGAL, COLLECTION MANAGEMENT, INSURANCE, APPRAISALS, WEALTH AND FINANCE. WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR MOST RESPECTED CONTRIBUTORS AND HOW DOES THE SELECTION PROCESS WORK?

As mentioned above, we start by determining what our audience wants and needs to learn about. From there, we research the most knowledgeable sources to deliver that education. These sources are targeted, regardless of their geographic location, and invited to contribute to our growing program of courses under various models of collaboration. We are very selective of whom we invite to contribute, but some of our most popular videos are led by Annelien Bruins, whom Spears Wealth Management named Best Art Advisor multiple years in a row; Evan Beard, the Global Art Services Executive with U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management; and Gracie Mansion, legendary New York art dealer. 

Gracie Mansion
Art dealer

IN OUR NEXT LRFA BLOG POST, CO-FOUNDER JULIA WEHKAMP WILL INFORM US OF THEIR MEMBERSHIP PROFILE AND PLANS FOR THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS EXCEPTIONAL ART EDUCATION SITE.  PLEASE JOIN US!

Educating the art advisor, with co-founder of One Art Nation, the art education go-to site, Julia Wehkemp

Art Advisory 101
One Art Nation

IN TODAY’S OVERHEATED YET UNPREDICTABLE ART MARKET, WITH BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF ARTWORK CHANGING HANDS ANNUALLY, SOME COLLECTORS LOOK TO THE EXPERTISE OF ART ADVISORY SERVICES FOR GUIDANCE ON HOW TO COLLECT WITH CONFIDENCE AND LONG-TERM VALUE.  THE BEST ADVISORS START WITH AN INITIAL DIALOGUE WITH THE CLIENT TO ESTABLISH THEIR GOALS AND AESTHETIC DIRECTION, INVESTING TIME IN VISITING GALLERIES, PREVIEWING AUCTIONS AND TRAVELING TO ART FAIRS BEFORE ANY PURCHASES ARE MADE. WHEN THE SELECTION PROCESS BEGINS, THE HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE, INVESTMENT VALUE, CONDITION AND PROVENANCE OF THE WORK ARE BUT A FEW OF THE ISSUES THAT A PROFESSIONAL CONSIDERS IN DETERMINING THE ACQUISITION OF A WORK, AND HOW HIGH TO BID AT AUCTION OR IN THE SECONDARY MARKET.

Art Advisory 101
One Art Nation

THE AUCTION HOUSES OFFER COURSES, BOTH ONLINE AND IN PERSON, IN BUILDING A COLLECTION AND THE VALUE OF ART AND INTRODUCTIONS TO CONTEMPORARY ART BUT ONE ART NATION IS UNIQUE IN ITS FOCUSED AND ACCESSIBLE PROGRAMS ON BECOMING AN ART ADVISOR AND ON THE ROLE THE ADVISOR PLAYS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE ART MARKET AND COLLECTING.

TODAY, THE LRFA BLOG IS DELIGHTED TO INVITE JULIA WEHKAMP, CO-FOUNDER OF ONE ART NATION, TO EXPOUND ON THE ART ADVISORY PROGRAMS 1AN CAN OFFER BOTH THE ASPIRING AND THE EXPERIENCED ADVISOR.

https://www.oneartnation.com/

Julia Wehkamp
Co-Founder, One Art Nation

JULIA, ART ADVISORY 101 IS A VERY COMPREHENSIVE COURSE ON THE BUSINESS OF ART CONSULTING.

THE ART ADVISORY FIELD DOES NOT HAVE A STANDARD FOR BEST PRACTICE UNLESS ONE WISHES TO VOLUNTARILY APPLY FOR MEMBERSHIP TO AN ORGANIZATION SUCH AS THE APAA (ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL ART ADVISORS).

WHAT ARE THE TOPICS THIS COURSE COVERS?

That’s true… No industry-wide standard exists for best practice: not for individual art advisors nor art advisory firms. Oftentimes this opacity prevents collectors from hiring an art advisor. This is unfortunate because a good art advisor provides tremendous value to their clients: educating them on art, saving them time and money, and reducing their transactional risk.

Aspiring art advisors, too, are left to their own devices when it comes to navigating the idiosyncrasies of the art market. No education exists on topics such as appropriate fee models or managing client relationships, including potential conflicts of interest. Until now…

We have created the Art Advisory 101 Program to set an industry-wide standard for the art advisory profession. The program consists of a series of informative and interactive online courses, which have been created to guide aspiring art advisors on how to navigate the art world, set up a successful art advisory business and follow best practice. The five pre-recorded modules cover:

• Art Market Fundamentals
• The Drivers of Value in Art
• Helping Your Clients Build a Meaningful Collection
• Managing and Selling Art Collections
• How to Set Up Your Own Art Advisory Business

Annelien Bruins of Tang Art Advisory

ON THE ONE ART NATION WEBSITE, ANNELIEN BRUINS, CEO AND SENIOR ART ADVISOR OF TANG ART ADVISORY, SHARES HER EXPERIENCE ON HOW TO BECOME AN ART ADVISOR. THIS IS JUST A SAMPLING OF THE SCOPE OF THE 1AN ART ADVISORY 101 PROGRAM

What does an art advisor do?
An art advisor advises emerging and experienced art collectors on all matters related to the acquisition, sale and management of their art collections. In a market as opaque as the art market, art advisors provide value by acting as their clients’ advocate. By providing market research and art expertise, art advisors save their clients money and time, and reduce their transactional risk.

How can I set myself apart as a professional, best-in-class art advisor?
It starts, of course, with your knowledge of and eye for art. You simply have to be good at what you do. But in an unregulated market like the art market, it’s possible to distinguish yourself by how you conduct your business. You set yourself apart by following best practice guidelines: transparency on remuneration, avoidance of conflict of interest and complete independence from auction houses and galleries.

How can you distinguish between a novice and an experienced art advisor?
There is of course no substitute for experience. The longer you do something, the better you become at doing it. That said, we feel that we can make it easier for emerging art advisors like yourself to enter the market and set up your business. Rather than you having to learn the ropes for yourself over the course of years, we save you that time by providing art advisory essentials in the Art Advisory 101 program.

https://www.oneartnation.com/5-questions-on-becoming-an-art-advisor/

JULIA, HOW DO YOU PLAN TO EXPAND THIS PROGRAM?

Currently, we are producing Art Advisory 201, the sequel to Art Advisory 101 program, based on popular demand by more established art advisors. We discuss best practice, legal and business considerations for art advisors and how to successfully market their services and grow their firm. We have also included two in-depth modules on acquisitions and sales – all with the idea of bringing increased professionalism and transparency to the international art world.

CRUCIAL TO ANY BUSINESS BUT PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT IN THE ART BUSINESS, WHICH HAS EXPLODED TO GLOBAL PROPORTIONS, IS THE ART OF STAYING CURRENT. ART ADVISORY 201 SHOULD PROVE AN INVALUABLE TOOL FOR EVERY ADVISOR, NO MATTER HOW EXPERIENCED.

THE LRFA BLOG LOOKS FORWARD TO LEARNING ABOUT ONE ART NATION’S PARTICIPATION IN SEMINARS AND LECTURE SERIES IN OUR NEXT POST WITH CO-FOUNDER JULIA WEHKAMP.

JULIA, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE BLOG AND THE GREAT PROGRAMS YOU OFFER.

STAY TUNED!

Art Wealth Management with One Art Nation co-founder Julia Wehkamp

One Art Nation

ALL OF THE MAJOR BANKING INSTITUTIONS NOW OFFER AN EXTENSIVE RANGE OF ART SERVICES FOR INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES AND INSTITUTIONS. AN INNOVATIVE IDEA WHEN CITICORP INITIATED ITS PROGRAM IN 1979, NOW BANKS HELP CLIENTS BUILD, FINANCE AND PROTECT THEIR COLLECTIONS. CITI PIONEERED THE CONCEPT OF ART AS COLLATERAL AND NOW U.S. TRUST, FOR ONE, OFFERS A WIDE RANGE OF CAPABILITIES.  FOR INDIVIDUALS, THEY HELP COLLECTORS UNLOCK CAPITAL BY LENDING AGAINST COLLECTIONS, DESIGN ESTATE PLAN OPTIONS TO ADDRESS TAX AND OTHER IMPLICATIONS OF OWNING AN ART COLLECTION, AND HELP COLLECTORS PREPARE FOR THE SALE OF ARTWORKS VIA CONSIGNMENT SERVICES.

MORGAN STANLEY’S BLUE RIDER GROUP BRINGS SERIOUS EXPERTISE TO BUYING ART AS WELL AS FINANCING IT, ADVISING ON A PURCHASE AND PROVIDING TAX EFFICIENT PLANNING. INDEPENDENT FIRMS, SUCH AS ARTEMUS, OFFER INNOVATIVE ART FINANCIAL AND LEASING AND OTHER FIRMS, SUCH AS THE WINSTON ART GROUP, OFFER APPRAISAL SERVICES AND LIAISONS WITH MAJOR BANKS FOR FINANCING USING ART AS COLLATERAL.

IT IS A WORLD WHICH IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR THE ART PROFESSIONAL TO UNDERSTAND AS SO MANY COLLECTORS NOW LEVERAGE THEIR ART COLLECTIONS IN THE SAME WAY THEY DO THEIR OTHER ASSETS.

Art Wealth Management Program
One Art Nation

ONE ART NATION OFFERS AN EXTREMELY COMPREHENSIVE COURSE THAT COVERS THE FOLLOWING.

www.oneartnation.com/course/art-wealth-management

• Understanding the Art Market
• Understanding Pricing and Appraisals in Art
• Legal Aspects of Art Transactions and Risk Factors in Art
• Art Investment: Passion Asset vs. Equities and Fixed Income
• Art Finance Solutions in Wealth Management and Estate Planning

TODAY, THE LRFA BLOG IS DELIGHTED TO WELCOME BACK THE CO-FOUNDER OF ONE ART NATION, JULIA WEHKAMP, TO PROVIDE DETAILS!

Julia Wehkamp
Co-Founder
One Art Nation

JULIA, THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION.

WHAT DID YOU THINK WAS LACKING IN ART EDUCATION AT THE TIME THAT ONE ART NATION WAS LAUNCHED?

The market was lacking an unbiased source of accessible education, so we created one by working with experts and professionals from various areas across the globe. Although we include cultural aspects of the art world, we focus on the practicalities of collecting, thereby increasing confidence in purchasing and overall collection management decisions of art lovers. Since content is offered online, collectors cannot only access the talks and courses for free, but they are able to watch at their convenience. Both live and archived content include interactive components, allowing participants to communicate with the experts, asking questions and sharing experiences in an anonymous setting. This is key for a lot of collectors, particularly those new to buying art. An unintimidating source of information was sought across the board.

Aside from online talks for collectors, most recently, we have received multiple requests from members to offer art market education for professionals. These are focused online curricula with an enrollment fee, such as Art Wealth Management and Art Advisory 101 and 201.  

ONE OF THE MOST BENEFICIAL PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS YOU PROVIDE IS AN ONLINE ART WEALTH MANAGEMENT CURRICULUM. WHAT DOES THIS INCLUDE?

The Program is an introductory course on the art market from an investment perspective.  You see, the art market has grown substantially. Sales in the global art market reached $63.7 billion in 2017, up 12% from the previous year, according to a 2018 study from Art Basel and UBS. The U.S. made up the largest share, accounting for 42% of the sales by value. Nonetheless, it’s a market that is opaque for most financial advisers. A 2017 art and finance report from Deloitte found that 88% of wealth managers felt their firms should offer art investing services, but most do not have the in-house expertise.

Therefore, we created the Art Wealth Management Program, which consists of a series of informative and interactive online courses that have been created to give wealth managers, private bankers, family offices and other financial advisors a true understanding of how the art world operates in comparison to the financial markets.

YOUR ART WEALTH MANAGEMENT COURSE COMES WITH CE CREDITS FROM WHICH INSTITUTIONS?

By meeting very specific criteria, the program has been accepted by the CFP Board for CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™certification, by the Financial Planning Standards Council (FPSC) for CE accreditation, and by CECAP for IIROC Professional Development CE.

It is the only active continuing education program that focuses solely on art wealth management, according to Mary Kay Svedberg, director of education at the CFP Board.

IN OUR NEXT LRFA BLOG POST, JULIA WILL EXPAND UPON THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS THAT ONE ART NATION OFFERS PROFESSIONALS IN THE ART WORLD. THEY ARE SO COMPLETE, THOROUGH AND INTERESTING AND CAN NOT ONLY GUIDE SOMEONE ASPIRING OR NEW TO THE FIELD BUT ALSO PROVIDE PHENOMENAL REFRESHER COURSES FOR THE SEASONED PROFESSIONAL.

EVERYONE IN THIS BUSINESS SHOULD HAVE A LOOK!

UNTIL THEN!

Introducing One Art Nation, a unique source for collectors and art professionals, with co-founder Julia Wehkamp

Julia Wehkamp & Amanda Dunn
Co-founders
One Art Nation

ONE ART NATION IS A UNIQUE WEBSITE PROVIDING VALUABLE INFORMATION TO COLLECTORS AND ART PROFESSIONALS AROUND THE WORLD. IT IS AN EXCEPTIONAL SOURCE FOR ART EDUCATION AS WELL AS ART MARKET NEWS, TRENDS AND EVENTS. AS THE CONTEMPORARY ART WORLD EXPANDS EXPONENTIALLY, ART FAIRS, AUCTIONS, SOCIAL MEDIA SITES, ARTIST COLLECTIVES, ADVISORS, PRIVATE DEALERS AND GALLERIES HAVE SPRUNG UP WORLDWIDE IN RESPONSE TO THE  EVER-GROWING INTERNATIONAL INTEREST IN CONTEMPORARY ART AND THE ART MARKET.

THROUGH EDUCATIONAL TALKS AND PROGRAMS, EXPERT INTERVIEWS AND ARTIST SHOWCASES, ONE ART NATION (1AN) IS DEMYSTIFYING THE PROCESS OF BUYING ART FROM START TO FINISH. ITS GOAL IS TO BRING TOGETHER PROMINENT ART EXPERTS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE TO ADDRESS TOPICS THAT RANGE FROM BUILDING, MAINTAINING AND PROTECTING A COLLECTION TO TAX AND FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF OWNING ART. THIS IS THE TYPE OF CONTENT THAT MATTERS MOST TO ART COLLECTORS AND PROFESSIONALS, BOTH EXPERIENCED AND NEW.

ONE ART NATION  OFFERS NUMEROUS VIDEOS THAT COVER A WIDE RANGE OF TOPICS  FROM THE HABITS OF SUCCESSFUL COLLECTORS TO EMERGING ARTISTS: A POPULAR ENTRY-LEVEL MARKET AND HOW TO APPROACH SELLING YOUR COLLECTION.  IT OFFERS AN ART ADVISORY 101 PROGRAM TO INFORM ASPIRING ART ADVISORS AND AN ART WEALTH MANAGEMENT PROGRAM: UNDERSTANDING ART AS AN ASSET CLASS FOR FINANCIAL ADVISORS, JUST TO HIGHLIGHT A FEW TOPICS THAT PROVIDE TRANSPARENCY IN A RELATIVELY UNREGULATED INDUSTRY.

THE LRFA BLOG IS DELIGHTED TO WELCOME JULIA WEHKAMP, A FOUNDING PARTNER OF ONE ART NATION, AN ONLINE PLATFORM OF BOTH DEPTH AND BREADTH IN ITS CONTRIBUTION TO THE ART COMMUNITY.

JULIA, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CONTRIBUTING TO THE LRFA BLOG

WHEN WAS ONE ART NATION FOUNDED AND BY WHOM?

One Art Nation (1AN) was founded by Amanda Dunn and I. We officially launched at Miami Art Week 2013. In bringing together our skills and experiences, we wanted to create an innovative and unique platform, separate from the conventional online art networks offered. Through extensively examining the market and listening to the needs of collectors and professionals, it became clear that accessible and relevant education was required. By combining our experience in fine arts and international marketing expertise with education-centric business skills, 1AN has become the trusted source of education for art enthusiasts, collectors and professionals across the globe.

Art Advisory
ONE ART NATION

WHAT IS ITS MISSION?

Ultimately, 1AN aims to create transparency in the art market, while securing its position as the leading online education platform, offering a complete solution for art enthusiasts, collectors and professionals. 1AN fulfills a growing need for new and innovative online art tools required to broaden the scope and depth of the art market. 

WAS YOUR BACKGROUND IN THE ARTS AND WHAT INSPIRED YOU BOTH TO CREATE ONE ART NATION?

Amanda previously worked for Christie’s Auction House in London on their marketing team. On the other hand, I have focused on developing and operating international continuing education programs using innovative and creative methods. Working in the art industry allows me to incorporate my passion for art and culture, while applying my experience and skills in education and event management.

In speaking with various auction houses and established galleries, we determined early on a common challenge: they were not connecting with the new generation of art collectors, whether they be young professionals looking to diversify their portfolios, those coming from emerging markets, etc. And it’s understandable… a gallery can be an intimidating space for a new collector, never mind an auction house! So we wanted to create a non-threatening environment where people can interact with art experts across the globe and learn the A-Z’s of collecting: from how to choose a gallery to the succession planning of an established collection. Organically, art market education for professionals followed based on demand.

IN OUR NEXT LRFA BLOG POST, JULIA WILL EXPAND ON THE MANY EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS THAT 1AN OFFERS.

PLEASE JOIN US!

Ellery Kurtz, dealer and appraiser of American Art, on the collector profile

Edward Hopper
Early Sunday Morning
Whitney Museum of American Art

IN JANUARY 2018, SEPH RODNEY, WRITING FOR HYPERALLERGIC.COM, ASKED AND ANSWERED “IS ART MUSEUM ATTENDANCE DECLINING IN MANY MUSEUMS ACROSS THE US?”  THERE ARE SIGNS THAT ATTENDANCE IN MANY MUSEUMS ACROSS THE COUNTRY IS SLOWLY FALLING BUT THE REASONS WHY ARE STILL TO BE DETERMINED. ART AND CULTURE MUSEUMS MAY BE IN TROUBLE. STATISTICAL EVIDENCE COMING OUT OF THE SCENE IN BALTIMORE, WHICH SEEMS TO BE FINDING CORROBORATION NATIONWIDE, CONVEYS A NARRATIVE OF MUSEUM VISITING BEING ON THE DOWNTREND.

THERE IS EVIDENCE THAT PEOPLE ARE BECOMING LESS INCLINED TO VISIT MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES, AND FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE INVESTED IN THESE INSTITUTIONS AS ONE OF THE KEY BULWARKS AGAINST THE ENCROACHING COLONIZATION OF CIVIC SPACE AND ENGAGEMENT BY THE RELENTLESS COMMODIFICATION OF EXPERIENCE,THIS IS DISPIRITING NEWS.

THE GALLERIES, EXCEPT FOR A HANDFUL OF “UBER-GALLERIES” SUCH AS DAVID ZWIRNER, PACE AND GAGOSIAN ARE EXPERIENCING A SIMILAR DECLINE OF VISITORS, AS REPORTED IN ARTNET IN JULY 2018 BY RACHEL CORBETT.

TODAY, DEALERS SAY THEY NO LONGER VIEW PHYSICAL GALLERIES AS THE PRIMARY SITE OF SALES AND NETWORKING. INSTEAD, THEY NAME ART FAIRS AS THE NUMBER ONE VENUE FOR MEETING NEW CLIENTS, FOLLOWED BY THE INTERNET, ACCORDING TO TEFAF’S 2017 ART MARKET REPORT. NEARLY A THIRD OF DEALERS EXPECT TO DO EVEN FEWER SALES AT GALLERIES IN THE FUTURE, THE REPORT SAYS—AND THEY EXPECT GREATER DROPS IN THIS AREA THAN IN ANY OTHER, INCLUDING PRIVATE SALES, AUCTIONS, ONLINE SALES, AND FAIRS.

https://hyperallergic.com/421968/is-art-museum-attendance-declining-across-the-us/

https://news.artnet.com/market/foot-traffic-galleries-new-york-1318769

IN TODAY’S LRFA BLOG POST, AMERICAN ART GALLERIST AND APPRAISER ELLERY KURTZ WILL ADD HIS INSIGHT TO THE CURRENT TREND AS IT APPLIES TO THE AMERICAN MARKET.

Robert Henri
Mary Fanton Roberts
Metropolitan Museum of Art

ELLERY, WELCOME BACK!

HOW DO YOU ACCOUNT FOR THE DOWNWARD TREND IN THE AMERICAN ART MARKET AND DO YOU SEE IT REBOUNDING AND WHY OR WHY NOT?

Younger generations want more modern material. Today’s younger generations of the Millennials, GenX are a sharing society.  They rent rather than own, whether it is a place to live or a car.  They enjoy without actually possessing.  Galleries and museums put their inventory and exhibitions online which stops people from actually going to see the artwork.  If you are looking for…say a Robert Henri painting, you don’t have to physically go from gallery to gallery anymore.  You only need to look at various websites to see who actually has something available.  This is, in my opinion, one of the things that affects the market most. It stops collectors from experiencing the true thrill of the treasure hunt.  Walking into a gallery and “discovering” a painting on the wall or in a back room stacked among others.  You may find your Henri on a website, but you miss seeing the amazing George Luks that the gallery has not yet put on its site or has held back for one reason or another. You miss seeing the texture, brushstrokes, true colors, and impact of size. It is a total disconnect from the paintings themselves.  The acquisition of a work of art should be purely personal and up close experience.

George Luks
Street Scene (Hester Street)
Brooklyn Museum

WHAT WOULD YOU ADVISE A YOUNG EMERGING COLLECTOR IN TERMS OF COLLECTING AMERICAN ART?

How do we get young collectors interested when it takes enormous amounts of money to buy works of quality?  That is a really tough question.  Let’s say you are old enough and have enough money to start a collection.  Upon leaving your local museum you are inspired to collect Hudson River School paintings.  But where do you find such quality anymore?  The one or two examples of a painting by say Bierstadt, or Gifford, or Heade, that come to market are not usually the quality you just saw at the museum.  Instead they are second or third-rate works. 

Stanford Gifford
Sunset on the Hudson
Wadsworth Atheneum

If you want a first-rate work you have to wait, sometimes years and if you are lucky enough to be notified by a dealer that such a work is for sale ahead of every other collector that the dealer has already established relationships with, then you will need to quickly marshal your finances to make the leap.  Where does the next painting for your collection come from?  You like modern work? You want an oil painting by Edward Hopper? Good luck. With less than a few dozen still in private hands, and some of those already promised to a museum, you may never get a chance.  What is a young or new collector going to do?  Turn their attention to some other field. 

So I do not see the market rebounding regardless of a return to more affluent times. Dealers in American Art will become like dealers in Old Master paintings with fewer and fewer as availability of great works lessens.

Martin Johnson Heade
Sunset, A Scene in Brazil
New Britain Museum of American Art

WHICH AMERICAN ARTISTS DO YOU FEEL ARE MARKET-PROOF AND WILL SURVIVE AND BE VALUABLE DESPITE A DOWNWARD TREND?

I’m not sure if I would say that any artist is market-proof.  I have never thought of value in that manner.  That would be tantamount to saying that I think the price of IBM will always stay the same or go up.  We all know how that goes.  But there are artists whose reputation is untouchable and in general have seen a remarkable rise in price over the almost fifty years I have been in the art world. For instance, large landscapes by Albert Bierstadt would hardly fetch $100,000 fifty years ago.  Today a large luminist painting by the artist would handily bring a million dollars or in some cases multi-millions.  The same could be said of Edward Hopper, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent. But I am talking about iconic paintings by the most famous artists America ever produced.

Winslow Homer
The Gale
Worcester Museum

What seems to be moving in a positive way are modernism, illustration and post-war paintings. But if I were to give any advice to any collector young or old, new to the game or an old hand, it would always be, provided you have fallen under the spell of the painting, to spend more than you think you can afford if the artwork is significant for the artist.  Stretch a little because those are the works that bring the greatest pleasure. 

IN OUR NEXT LRFA BLOG POST, ELLERY WILL SHARE HIS EXPERTISE ON THE ART OF THE APPRAISAL, A HIGHLY RESPECTED FIELD THAT, WHEN DONE WELL, RELIES ON A GREAT AMOUNT OF DILIGENCE AND RESEARCH AND AN ASTUTE EYE. ELLERY HAS ALL THREE.

THANKS FOR FOLLOWING THE LRFA BLOG!

The holiday season: a time for targeted giving, thanks to rare book specialist, Gagosian’s Doug Flamm

TWO ARTISTS OF DIFFERENT PERIODS WHO SHARE A PASSION FOR UNIQUE IDIOSYNCRATIC ARTISTS’ BOOKS ARE WILLIAM COPLEY, KNOWN AS CPLY, THE SURREALIST ARTIST, PATRON OF THE ARTS, GALLERIST AND HEIR TO DUCHAMP’S LEGACY AND ED RUSCHA, MASTER OF PUN, A CELEBRATED ARTIST OF THE TEXT AND IMAGE CATEGORY, USING UNTRADITIONAL MEDIUMS IN THE PRACTICE OF ART-MAKING. BOTH HAVE CONTRIBUTED THEIR BRILLIANT TALENTS TO THE WORLD OF ARTIST BOOK PUBLISHING AND GAGOSIAN GALLERY HAS ACQUIRED TWO RARE AND WONDERFUL EXAMPLES TO DELIGHT THE MOST DISCERNING RECIPIENTS ON YOUR HOLIDAY SHOPPING LIST.

THANK YOU, DOUG FLAMM, RARE BOOK SPECIALIST AT GAGOSIAN SHOP, 976 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK, FOR BEING SUCH A GREAT DETECTIVE!

William Copley

SMS

Published by the Letter Edged in Black Press, Inc., New York, 1968

Signed by artists and edition of 100

7 × 11 inches (17.8 × 27.9 cm)

$12,000

William Copley’s SMS (Shit Must Stop) is a six-issue periodical from 1968. Each issue, in the form of a mailed box, contains assorted materials, including etchings, tapes, booklets, diagrams, constructions, Xeroxes, mail art, assemblages, vinyl and mylar sheets, and more. The six issues are preserved in their original cardboard mailers. From an edition of 100 signed copies.

Founded in New York City by artist, collector and dealer William Copley, S.M.S. was an art collection in a box, filled with small-scale, often whimsical, artworks available by subscription. Delivering art through the post offered Copley, and his collaborator Dmitri Petrov, a way to circumvent the art market and make contemporary art accessible to nearly anyone. Inspired by Copley’s mentor and friend Marcel Duchamp’s Boîte-en-valise, S.M.S. was conceived as an inter-media and intergenerational publication that would present artworks by prominent and unknown artists side by side. The magazine gathered an impressive range including the Surrealist luminaries Man Ray and Meret Oppenheim, Pop artists Richard Hamilton and Roy Lichtenstein, composers Lamont Young and Terry Riley, and an up-and-coming generation of conceptual and post-studio artists such as Joseph Kosuth and Bruce Nauman. Regardless of stature, each was paid $100 for their contribution. This egalitarian spirit extended to the communal atmosphere of Copley’s upper west side Letter Edged in Black Press loft which functioned as an unofficial hangout for many of the participants.

The six issues of S.M.S. are composed of “original reproductions”—luxurious, exacting replicas of each artist’s work in an edition of approximately 2,000. The magazine spared no expense, seeking out, and even inventing, varied and obscure production methods including Lil Picard’s labor intensive Burned Bow Tie—each of which needed to be individually singed. The enormous edition size—and the affordable price of $125 per subscription—enabled a much broader swath of the public to collect the internationally recognized artists contained in the portfolios. Ultimately short-lived, S.M.S. portfolios were mailed bi-monthly between February and December of 1968 directly to subscribers, with each portfolio containing approximately a dozen works of art.

http://sms.sensatejournal.com/

ED RUSCHA

Ed Ruscha
Babycakes
Numbered edition

Ed Ruscha

Babycakes

Published by Multiples, Inc., New York, 1970

Numbered edition of 1200

7 1/2 × 6 1/4 inches (19.1 × 15.9 cm)

$3,000

———-

This playful book created by Ed Ruscha and published by Multiples, Inc., is part of the celebrated 1970 Artists & Photographs portfolio. This classic artist’s book is encased in robin’s-egg blue wrappers with green flocked lettering and bound with pink satin ribbon, reflecting its playful title. The pages contain photographs of small pastries and cakes—a pure delight for the holidays!

After graduation, Ruscha began to work for ad agencies, honing his skills in schematic design and considering questions of scale, abstraction, and viewpoint, which became integral to his painting and photography. He produced his first artist’s book, Twenty-Six Gasoline Stations—a series of deadpan photographs the artist took while driving on Route 66 from Los Angeles to Oklahoma City—in 1963. Ruscha since has gone on to create over a dozen artists’ books, including the 25-foot-long, accordion-folded Every Building on the Sunset Strip (1966) and his version of Kerouac’s iconic On the Road (2009). Ruscha also paints trompe-l’oeil bound volumes and alters book spines and interiors with painted words: books in all forms pervade his investigations of language and the distribution of art and information.

https://gagosian.com/artists/ed-ruscha/

BEFORE WE  ALL DEPART TO VISIT FAMILY AND FRIENDS FOR THE HOLIDAYS, OR SETTLE IN AT HOME TO ENJOY THIS SEASON, THE LRFA BLOG WOULD LIKE TO WISH EVERYONE THE HAPPIEST OF HOLIDAY SEASONS.  YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LRFA BLOG, YOUR COMMENTS, AND SUPPORT HAVE MADE THIS EFFORT A VERY REWARDING ONE.

I HOPE ALL YOUR ENDEAVORS ARE THE SAME.

 

APAA: best practices now and in the future

APAA

ACCREDITED COURSES ON BEING AN ART ADVISOR HAVE BEEN PROLIFERATING IN THE ART WORLD SINCE THE PROFESSION HAS BECOME AN  INCREASINGLY DEFINED AND LUCRATIVE CAREER. SOTHEBY’S INSTITUTE OF ART OFFERS A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM, CHRISTIE’S EDUCATION: NEW YORK IS ACCREDITED BY THE NEW YORK STATE BOARD OF REGENTS, AND PRESENTS A GLOBAL PLATFORM WITH PROGRAMS IN NEW YORK, LONDON AND HONG KONG. CHRISTIE’S EDUCATION SUPPORTS STUDENTS THROUGH CHRISTIE’S EDUCATION TRUST, A REGISTERED CHARITY THAT HAS DISTRIBUTED OVER $1m IN SCHOLARSHIPS, GRANTS AND AWARDS TO STUDENTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD, HELPING TO EDUCATE AND INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION. DISTINGUISHED BUSINESS SCHOOLS SUCH AS COLUMBIA AND WHARTON OFFER COURSES SUCH AS FINANCE AND THE ART MARKET. THIS HAS SERVED TO FORMALIZE A FAIRLY NON-REGULATED BUSINESS IN WHICH VASTLY VARYING LEVELS OF EDUCATION AND CONNOISSEURSHIP EXISTED.

THE ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL ART ADVISORS IS UNIQUE IN OFFERING A FORMAL REGULATORY BODY OF RULES FOR THEIR MEMBERS. THIS CODE OF ETHICS MAINTAINS THAT FIRST AND FOREMOST, AN ADVISOR SHOULD SERVE THE NEEDS OF THE CLIENT, NOT HOLD INVENTORY, OR ACCEPT ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION THAT COULD CREATE A CONFLICT OF INTEREST.

https://artadvisors.org

ON A PRACTICAL NOTE, THE EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE AN ADVISOR CAN DEMONSTRATE IN THE DAILY REQUIREMENTS OF THE JOB (SHIPPING, INSURANCE, FRAMING, CONSERVATION, ETC.)  REASSURE A CLIENT THAT THE ADVISOR KNOWS WHAT HE OR SHE IS DOING WITH THE DETAILS AS WELL AS THE BIGGER PICTURE OF THE MARKET, AUCTION AND BIDDING.  APAA PROVIDES A PHENOMENAL SUPPORT SYTEM, SENDING NEARLY DAILY EMAILS REQUESTING AND GIVING RECOMMENDATIONS OF SPECIALISTS IN THE ART WORLD’S FROM AROUND THE WORLD.

TODAY, WE WELCOME BACK WENDY CROMWELL, BOARD MEMBER OF APAA, FOUNDER AND PRINCIPAL OF CROMWELL ART, LLC. TO SPEAK ON THIS AND THE FUTURE OF APAA.

WENDY, HOW DOES THE APAA PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THE SERVICE INDUSTRY THAT IS CRUCIAL TO THE ROLE OF THE ART ADVISOR? WHAT ARE SOME CATEGORIES OF INFORMATION THAT ARE AVAILABLE?

One of the great aspects of membership is our ability to tap into each other’s expertise. If you need an installer in Shanghai or a framer in Dubai, an APAA member will have a suggestion for you. These contacts and resources – appraisers, framers, installers, insurance experts, lighting specialists, photographers, shipping/storage experts – are part of a database maintained by APAA that is accessible to APAA members.

APAA PROVIDES A CONNECTION TO BUSINESS THAT PROVIDE RESOURCES THAT ARE VITAL TO THE ART COMMUNITY, SUCH AS LICENSED APPRAISALS, MARKETING, LIGHTING, TRANSPORT AND STORAGE. HOW DID THIS LIST EVOLVE AND WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA FOR BEING INCLUDED?

APAA Affiliate members are industry experts who are recommended by current APAA members.  The criteria for Affiliates is similar to those for advisors – everyone has at least 10 years’ experience in the field.

APAA IS PREDOMINANTLY AMERICAN IN MEMBERSHIP BUT WHAT OTHER COUNTRIES ARE REPRESENTED AND WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS TO EXPAND THE MEMBERSHIP NOW THAT WE ARE LIVING IN A GLOBALIZED ART MARKET?

Many of APAA’s US members have been working internationally for decades. Over time, the business practices of our colleagues worldwide have begun to reflect APAA’s code of ethics and best practices, and there are a growing number of APAA members in London, Paris, the Netherlands and Switzerland.  We hope to see more growth in Asia and the Pacific Rim in the coming years.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FUTURE PLANS FOR APAA IN GENERAL AND FOR PANEL DISCUSSIONS, MEMBERSHIP EVENTS?

Technology makes it possible for APAA members to be in regular communication, but the opportunity to meet in person is always energizing. Our annual meeting is coming up on May 1, and we recently toured the Rockefeller collection at Christie’s in advance of those sales.  We’ll also focus on member programs in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC. The goal is to provide timely, smart information that supports APAA members in their work, and helps spread the philosophy of connoisseurship and best practices to the art field at large.

WENDY, AND THE TEAM AT APAA, THIS COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE INFORMATIVE OR BETTER RECEIVED. THE LRFA BLOG THANKS YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION AND SUPPORT!