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Sure there will always be a place for the old masters and impressionist painters but as Laura Doyle of Chubb National Fine Art Specialists points out, younger collectors are choosing new and innovative art forms like never before. But these newer forms of art also pose challenges involving storing, shipping, and displaying.

Next gen collectors are increasingly opting for contemporary paintings as well as photography and design from emerging artists.

One of the challenges with this trend is that unlike more traditional paintings, contemporary works are sometimes crafted with everything from bubblegum to bodily fluids. Preserving these works is therefore more difficult and requires specialized care from the help of conservators.

Laura highlights the unique challenge of preserving work with an example by Marc Quinn. His works are created using his own blood and can take years to produce. Each piece by Marc has to be displayed in a custom refrigerated case (and no you can’t store your wine in it). So, if a collector wants to preserve the work they really should consider a backup power supply in the event of a disruption.

An interesting stat she highlights is a recent Merrill Lunch study that found 64% of millennials are more comfortable investing in physical assets than in stocks.

Increasingly this generation is fully comfortable viewing their art collections as part of an investment portfolio. Because of this they are not only storing more of their work for preservation but also lending it to museums and galleries at a higher frequency. This generosity has its rewards as greater exposure of the work can lead to an increase in value.

Whether you’re a millennial or a seasoned collector this webinar on Trends Among Next Gen Collectors will get you thinking about new trends and various ways to protect your assets. Watch Now!

Artists are emotional, irrational and completely unhinged from reality. At least that’s what some people would have you believe. This same criticism is often placed on the art market when talking about pricing. Evan Beard, National Art & Exotic Assets Executive, dispels this notion by showing us tangible aspects of the market that can drive prices.

Evan starts with a story of a famous work by Johannes Vermeer in the 20th century. The painting, considered a masterpiece, was supposed to have been created while Vermeer was studying in Italy. It was so highly regarded that the renowned Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam had it on showcase. But after WWII it was discovered that the Vermeer was actually forged by Han van Meegeren. And so it was that the masterpiece so highly prized at Boijmans was no longer so cherished.

This is an interesting paradox. As Evan says ‘how does a piece that one day was considered an important work of art, a day later become totally irrelevant?’ The painting hadn’t changed. But the perception of it had.

The first thing a collector has to get over when investing in art is that value has little to do with aesthetics. You can have both but more than anything, the importance of work is measured by the influence that it has on future art and culture in general.

Evan uses Piet Mondrian as an example. Mondrian’s early work is much more detailed in comparison to his later geometric compositions. Yet in 2014, Mondrian’s compositions sold for far more. The reason is that the compositions were innovative and original. No one had seen anything like this before and it went on to influence everything from fashion to architecture.

By now it’s clearer that what drives price is not only the work but also the artist who created it. What is the artist’s worldview? What is the artist trying to say? Sometimes the best way to discover this is to take an artist out for tea or schedule a studio visit. Many artists spend so much time alone it can be refreshing to have visitors. Getting to know what makes the artist tick can help guide your decisions when searching for the next piece to invest in. And who knows, you may even find that artists can have a rational side after all – just like the art market.

For more insights into What Drives the Price of Great Paintings, check out the entire video. Watch Now!

Even the best picture frames won’t make you want to put your investment statements on display. This is one of the reasons why art is so compelling; as it ascends in value, you get to enjoy it on your walls.

These days we take for granted that paintings can be used as a store of value. In fact in the last twenty-five years, contemporary art in particular has returned the largest profit percentage of almost any other commodity.

Yet less than 50 years ago, the majority of art in New York was collected by a small group of people such as the Guggenheims and the Whitneys. Back then art wasn’t necessarily purchased as a store of wealth. Bruce Helander’s recalling of a story involving Pollock and de Kooning illustrates this change. A struggling Pollock once convinced a landlord to show his work in a building lobby. Despite his efforts the work didn’t sell. The landlord was implored by Pollock to purchase a large piece but the landlord passed on the offer. And what a mistake that was. Thirty years later the same piece sold to the Australian Museum for $30 million.

Current Trends

If you’re new to collecting, navigating the current trends in the art market isn’t always straightforward. But after listening to One Art Nation’s expert panel on Contemporary Art Market Predications, the forces behind the scenes of this seemingly opaque world became clearer and easier to understand.

The first aspect is supply. Unless you have the ability to time travel or bring an artist back from the dead, non-contemporary art is in finite supply.

But here’s the twist. Only the most eccentric collectors will opt to be buried with their works of art. So as the baby boomer cohort downsizes there will be more work from private collections available to purchase.

Price also plays a huge roll in the world of art. Currently a lot of contemporary art by a living artist is (gulp) overpriced. No one likes to overpay for anything – art included. Like any market, there is always the possibility of volatility and this is especially true with contemporary art. Learning about these trends and past crashes in the market is the best way to build a collection while keeping an eye on the bottom line.

One way dealers can create price stability is by controlling supply. By keeping some of an artist’s work out of the market, dealers can prevent oversupply while increasing demand. This in turn prevents prices from dropping; essentially killing two birds with one stone. And with these two birds you get collectors who are hungrier than ever for some artists’ work. The take away from this panel discussion is that your appetite for art collecting should be well planned.

Disclaimer: No birds were harmed in the writing of this blog.

For more insights into current trends in the art market check out the entire video featuring One Art Nation’s expert panel. Watch Now!

For much of the country, the winter months are just something people put up with, as there is little hope of warm weather during that season. As a boy growing up in Minnesota, I experienced a climate that reminds me of the TV programs “Life Below Zero” and “Deadly Catch,” where the floating, freezing cast is thrown about in miserable storms, with bone chilling rain and no end in sight. When my family moved to rural Minnesota, I remember wondering out loud in the autumn why so many people were surrounding their houses with bales of hay up to the roof line, until it dawned on us that it was another layer of necessary protection from a cold wave guaranteed to descend on the state by November and stay put until May. Surreal as this may sound to my South Florida readers, my sister and brother would wait with me by our front door, bundled up to the max, as we listened to the school bus changing gears as it crawled up the hill towards our house. If you plan to go out early in the morning when it’s 30 below zero (or colder), you better dash in a flash, and that’s exactly what we did as the bus driver shifted between second and third gears, arriving next to the mailbox on the road as the bus opened its doors.

You would think I had learned my lesson about living in a cold climate when it became time to choose a college, but contrary to warmer alternatives, I decided to attend the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, which, of course, is in New England and can brutal in the winter months. While I was in graduate school there, a blizzard came through right at the afternoon rush hour. The storm closed I-95 for twelve days, with no city streets passable and most businesses closed. Dale Chihuly and I hiked to a small grocery store miles away for provisions, and carried our groceries home in a big garbage bag that we dragged along on the frozen ice.

So when I first got a call a few years later to manage an art gallery on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, I jumped at the opportunity, figuring it would be fun in the sun for a few years and I could finally have a studio with the doors open as I worked into the night. I’m still here thirty-five years later, and now that the spring has arrived and the coast is clear, ironically, I’m off to New York as an exhibitor in Art New York, as well as delivering several lectures. I understand that after a challenging winter the tulips have sprouted on Park Avenue and the bees, they are a-buzzing.

The real buzz in Manhattan these days is the abundance of art connected activities that are concentrated in early May, from the celebrated Frieze art fair on Randall’s Island to the mighty Art New York and CONTEXT New York at Pier 94 on the West Side. Not to mention the new, improved Whitney Museum of American Art on Gansevoort Street, downtown design by Renzo Piano, which is a magical showplace to visit, especially for the first time. Not far away the neighborhood called Chelsea, the largest concentration of commercial galleries in America. Below that is SoHo (South of Houston) and Tribeca (triangle below Canal Street), home to thousands of artists and art dealers that survive by a magnetic strength of numbers. The new neighborhood that’s getting all the attention is the Lower East Side, especially an area called NoLita, whose epicenter is on Prince Street and Bowery. Gone are the blocks of restaurant equipment out on the sidewalks, replaced by snappy little art galleries that are experiencing a huge draw. The New Museum is right in the center of attention in this vicinity as well, and when their new location finally was unveiled, the ripple effect changed the dynamics of this decrepit spot nearly overnight.

Manhattan is a pedestrian’s town, and now that the meteorological conditions are absolutely ideal, it’s great to stroll around the Museum of Modern Art’s outdoor sculpture garden, and then head uptown along Fifth Avenue towards The Met, where if you have the energy, you can go all the way to their roof to see British artist Cornelia Parker’s newly installed and re-created “Psycho” house, a replica of the home made famous in the Hitchcock movie; Parker also was inspired by the artist Edward Hopper. If you walk another ten blocks under the shade trees of Central Park, you will find yourself in front of Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece, the Guggenheim, where Maurizio Cattelan has installed a solid gold toilet that becomes an artwork only with someone sitting on it or standing over it while answering nature’s call. This artwork is nothing to poo-poo, as Cattelan is following a modern version of the first “readymade” by Marcel Duchamp, signed “R.Mutt.” While you a hiking Uptown, you will no doubt enjoy exploring 57th Street, which as some of the best galleries in New York, such as Marlborough, or Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side (my old haunt on 69th and Lexington), where Gagosian has his headquarters in between some of the finest stores in the city.

So if you are reading this in North Dakota or Maine, you may want to venture outside as June approaches and get on the bus, Gus, to the big Apple, the cultural crossroads of America. If you reside in South Florida, which is my nest, please be assured that you may find similar pleasant weather in Manhattan and that you will not have to pack a parka, gloves and a pair of insulated boots.

The month of May, for all the above reasons above, is the ideal time to get an eyeful and then some of the most innovative work being created by some of the best and most interesting artists in the world, and plenty of them. In the 1940s, the epicenter of the art world shifted to New York from Paris with the advent of the “New York School” and the gang of abstract expressionists like de Kooning and Pollock, and it still is. This is a friendly reminder that it’s time to visit and enjoy America’s most exciting city. Oh, and by the way, the next time you may want to visit Brooklyn, which is even more full of surprises. It’s now the biggest collection of artists in the metropolitan area, and one hot spot, now gentrified, is called DUMBO, which stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.

Don’t forget to pack your walking shoes!

Wendy Partridge, a Paintings Conservator at ICA Art Conservation, shares her expertise and experience by answering some frequently asked questions.

When should one consult a conservator and what services can a conservator provide?
Conservators are experts in the long-term preservation of cultural property. Their activities include examination, documentation, treatment, and preventative care. If you are an individual collector, you might want to consult a conservator about having a piece examined for condition issues and possible conservation treatment. As a paintings conservator, I examine paintings that have structural problems (i.e. lifting paint or torn canvas) and aesthetic issues (i.e. discolored varnish). You might also want to consult a conservator about preventive conservation measures such the proper way to display and store your collection.

An excellent source of information on art conservation is the website of the national professional organization for art conservators, the American Institute for the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC). On the AIC website you will find information on how to choose a conservator, how to find a conservator in your area, and resource guides written by the various AIC specialty groups on how to care for your treasures.

What is the process in having a piece evaluated?
You may begin the process over the phone or via email. Sometimes digital images can be very helpful. However, if a piece requires treatment, the conservator will need to examine it in person. As part of an initial consultation, the conservators will often look at the piece with you and give you some idea of treatment possibilities and cost.

If the piece needs treatment, you would leave it with the conservator. The conservator will spend time looking at the work sometimes with different light sources or low tech tools. As a paintings conservator, in addition to good bright light, I usually use ultraviolet light and magnification in my examinations. Conservators might also perform small tests on the piece to determine, for example, if there is a grime layer or how the canvas responds to humidity. Any information that you have about the history of the piece or the artist often can be very helpful in the assessment. At the end of the examination, the conservator will write a formal condition report, treatment proposal, and cost estimate.

How does one decide on what approach to take when conserving a piece or art?
The treatment approach is determined in consultation with the owner or custodian of the piece. The conservator can present various options and will explain what to expect as the result of a particular treatment. For example, the conservator might strongly urge that lifting paint be secured to prevent losing part of the paint layer. However, depending on the piece, areas of loss might not necessarily need to be filled and inpainted to match the surrounding original.

What will be included in a condition report?
A key element of professional art conservation is written and photographic documentation. The condition report is a record of the construction of a piece and its current condition. It will contain information about the materials and techniques used by the artist. It will also have information concerning what has happened to the piece over time including evidence of damage, modifications, previous repairs, or past restoration.

If conservation treatment is recommended, there will be a written treatment proposal associated with the condition report. The treatment proposal will outline the steps of the treatment. Additionally, if there are risks associated with a treatment, these should be indicated in the report. Finally, any limitations to treatment should be noted. For example, a conservator might be able to repair a tear and significantly improve the appearance of a painting, but he or she might not be able to eliminate all evidence of damage.

After a piece has been conserved, the conservator will write a treatment report, documenting what was done to the piece and what materials were used. Any additional information discovered during the course of treatment will also be recorded in the treatment report.

How should one protect art over time?
There are a number of preventive conservation measures concerning proper display, storage, and handling that will help protect works of art. Information about caring for particular types of objects can be found on the AIC website at the Caring for Your Treasures (i.e. metal objects, books, textiles, photographs, etc).

Proper environmental conditions are a very important factor in contributing to any art work’s longevity. For example, all paintings consists of various components and materials which expand and contract at different rates as temperature and relative humidity fluctuate. Therefore, the best thing you can do for your paintings is to maintain as stable an environment as possible. While slow seasonal environmental changes are usually acceptable, try to avoid large fluctuations within shorts periods of time. It is best to avoid hanging paintings on outside walls or over heat vents or fireplaces.

Wendy Partridge, Paintings Conservator
Wendy Partridge is a Paintings Conservator at ICA Art Conservation in Cleveland. She has a graduate degree in Paintings Conservation with an M.A. in art history from the Conservation Center, Institute of Fine Arts, NYU. Prior to working for the ICA, she had internships and fellowships at the National Gallery, Washington, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She is a professional associate of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and served for two years as chair of the AIC Paintings Specialty Group. Contact: wpartridge@ica-artconservation.org

The headline on the editorial page of the March 27, 2016 edition of The New York Times, “Who has the Candidate’s Ear?,” got me to thinking, just for a moment, which presidential candidate might bring the most positive influence and support to the art world. JFK and Obama had first class art in the Oval Office. Nixon couldn’t comprehend contemporary art, but, ironically, initiated the National Endowment for the Arts. Hillary and Bernie show some evidence of understanding art, as opposed to the “under-educated” base, who, like their favorite candidate Donald Trump, don’t have a clue about appreciating art, unless you consider NASCAR as some form of culture. Artists Shepard Fairey, who produced a legendary Obama cover poster for TIME, and Andy Warhol, who created an anti-Nixon print in 1972, made their political opinions known through their art; these works are now worth a bundle. Future campaigns will tell artists to support those enlightened candidates who are progressive enough to champion art and make a difference.

Speaking of Andy, I seem to hear evidence of Andy Warhol’s legacy almost every day. It’s hard to believe that nearly thirty years after his untimely death, the work of this Pop Art master continues to be compelling evidence that his revolutionary approach to art making basically changed the way we look at contemporary art. And with that, we seem to be still hungry for bits and pieces about Warhol’s exciting life, both in and out of the studio he called “The Factory.” Warhol, who would have been 88 years old this coming summer, continues to be one of the few artists in history whose work remains an ongoing influence and a great investment, guaranteed at auction by a small group of elite collectors who own hundreds of his paintings and prints and have a personal stake in making sure auction records remain strong and high, thus building a de facto insurance policy that protects them all.

When Andy first jumped from his highly successful career as an illustrator to making fine art paintings, there were few buyers. Considering the controversial imagery, it’s not surprising; Warhol was mocked and misunderstood. Even though asking prices were low at his first few shows, it was a challenge to find someone with the courage to acquire his work. It’s hard to believe now that his first show in Los Angeles at Irving Blum’s Ferus Gallery of the Campbell soup can images in 1962 was a total flop, except for the sale of a single painting bought by Dennis Hopper. It was determined by Blum, his courageous and supportive dealer, that the time just wasn’t right, so he made Warhol an offer to purchase all thirty-two soup “varieties” for $1,000, which was sent the artist in ten monthly payments of $100 each. Mr. Blum promised never to break up the entire set of canvases, and bought back the only soup can that hadn’t been sold originally. (In 1996, it was a very different story: the complete set of soup cans was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art for $15 million.)

I remember the very first show I presented on Warhol’s early works in my Worth Avenue gallery. It was in 1983, and it was a group of “Dollar Sign” images with an asking price of $6,500 for each small silkscreened painting. I was able to sell just a couple of these works over a month’s time, sending the rest back to Leo Castelli on West Broadway after failing to persuade my friends and clients to buy just one painting. Thirty years later, I noticed one of the same “Dollar Sign” images for sale recently at the Art Miami fair, listed for $850,000. Had someone listened to my advice on purchasing all the “Dollar Sign” works, they could have enjoyed a net profit of about $5 million if they were to cash in today. His 1963 canvas Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster), unsaleable at the time, sold a few years ago for $105 million, breaking the record for sales of Warhol’s work.

The Boca Raton Museum of Art, celebrating in its fifteenth year with an impressive new building, is commemorating this milestone with not one Warhol survey show, but three exhibitions that explore the depth and variety of the world of Andy Warhol. The first, Warhol on Vinyl: The Record Covers, 1949–1987+, turns a unique lens on this artist’s career, from his early years as a graphic designer to the cultural phenomenon he later became. This is a remarkable show of over 100 album covers, all taking advantage of Warhol’s LP spin. The second concurrent exhibit is a collection of classic prints from the collection of Marc Bell, which presents Andy’s iconic images, such as Campbell’s soup cans, Dollar Signs, Flowers, and even Chairman Mao, who would be delighted to know, if he were alive, that China has overtaken Britain and America as the leading consumer of contemporary art.

The third leg of this trifecta is an amazing presentation of candid photographs by Bob Colacello, titled In and Out with Andy. Colacello was in the right place at the right time, when as a degree candidate in film criticism from Columbia University he wrote a review for the Village Voice on Warhol’s early film “Trash,” which Bob hailed as a “great Roman Catholic masterpiece.” As luck would have it, Andy read the review and invited Colacello to contribute to Interview, and just a few months later he became the editor for the next decade. The magazine flourished under Colacello’s direction, and also became an important instrument in the continuing success of Warhol’s career. This exhibition consists of images Bob took with his small black Minolta camera, given to him by the art dealer Thomas Ammann, which could be hidden in his jacket pocket. Bob was with Andy constantly as one-half of their dynamic duo, and that meant going out every night to an endless array of cocktail parties, dinner parties, art openings, film premieres and after hours clubs. This is the first museum show of these intimate portraits of Andy and friends, which includes snapshots of Mick Jagger, Liza Minnelli and Truman Capote, among dozens of others on display. I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Colacello during the exhibition, which continues through May 1, and it gave me personal insights that I never had before and reinforced my long standing conviction that Andy Warhol was one of the most inventive artists of all time.

Another creative dynamic duo currently setting Fifth Avenue on its ear is Elmgreen & Dragset, with their large-scale sculpture placed outside of Rockefeller Center. The reaction to their latest installation will be similar to first viewing an original Warhol, meaning, it is the most talked about object in town due to its wit, novel juxtaposition and inventiveness. These two artists have pooled their creative resources and dove right into yet another astounding installation by transforming a familiar object, like Andy and his soup cans or Brillo boxes, in this case a large swimming pool on its side, placing it into a grand public space and converting the ordinary into a surreal object taken out of context. The title of the work is Van Gogh’s Ear. An oblique reference to the tortured artist’s self-inflicted razor slice after an argument with his friend, Gauguin, while painting in Arles, France. Certainly from a distance it takes on the curvaceous shape of an large, dismembered, surrealistic albeit powder blue, abstract ear shape. In this case, it looks uprooted from an altogether incongruous setting, where a new context gives the work, like all of these two men’s efforts, an often hilarious but oddly handsome and unforgettable platform that is unique in contemporary art. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the pool shape has a distant connection to Duchamp’s most famous “ready-made” sculpture, titled Fountain and signed by ‘R. Mutt,’ of a found urinal designed to hold water but was as useless as an empty pool, complete with drain. Like one of Elmgreen & Dragset’s most memorable works, Prada Marfa (2005), where they built a full-scale, one-story facsimile of the famous luxury store out on a lonely highway in the West Texas desert, these guys are virtual masters of unforgettable irony. Like Bob Colacello’s documentary images that became iconic and have lasted long after many of his subjects have passed on, the vision of Elmgreen & Dragset’s three-story lima bean-shape in Midtown Manhattan with a limited performance (through June 3) will live on in perpetuity with photographs. The installation is organized by Public Art Fund and Tishman Speyer.

For more information: Boca Raton Museum of Art; Public Art Fund, Elmgreen & Dragset project.

Sharks seem to be everywhere these days, and one of the most extraordinary sightings is the annual blacktip shark migration off the southeast coast of Florida, with more than 10,000 of these creatures taking advantage of warmer waters during the winter months. Not surprisingly, it keeps one on the beach and out of the Atlantic. Another impressive discovery was when I spotted photographer Chris Leidy’s mysterious, haunting image, Silhouette, shot on a night dive in French Polynesia, on display during his recent exhibition at a gallery in Chelsea.

I was reminded the other day of one of the great “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” moments in the history of contemporary art when I unearthed a first edition copy of Don Thompson’s The $12 Million Stuffed Shark from my studio library. This book has become a de facto bible of sorts for thousands of people as they attempt to understand the curious economics of art. The first chapter describes the astonishing initial asking price for a two-ton, fifteen-foot tiger shark “sculpture” by British artist Damien Hirst, which was mounted in a giant glass vitrine and creatively titled The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living. According to Thompson, the shark had been caught in 1991 in Australia, and prepared and mounted in England by technicians working under the direction of Hirst. At the time, many in the art world were uncertain whether or not there was something fishy going on, and if this floating specimen actually qualified as art. The $12 million price tag and subsequent sale by Gagosian Gallery was the highest price ever paid for a work by a living artist at that time, other than Jasper Johns, and it was more than had been paid for a Richter, Rauschenberg or a Lucian Freud before that year. The real question should have been, why would anyone even consider paying this much money for a floating fish? Part of the answer, according to Thompson, is that in the world of contemporary art, branding can substitute for critical judgment, and lots of branding was involved here. But there was another concern, and in fact, a certain deterrent to a potential buyer, as the shark had deteriorated dramatically since it was first unveiled in 1991 at Saatchi’s private London gallery. So the long and short of this fabulous tale with sharp teeth to it was that the techniques used to preserve the shark had been inadequate, and the liquid started to turn green (like the investor’s face) and a fin had fallen off, so the intended illusion of a giant Galeocerdo cuvier swimming directly towards the viewer as it hunted for a snack was murky. In the end, the same kind of creature that made the movie “Jaws” a famously terrifying experience was replaced by a stand-in that Hirst found after posting a “Shark Wanted” announcement in Australia. The rest is history, and the last that I heard, it was floating in a tank on a sculpture stand at the Museum of Modern Art.

There is another “Shark Tank” that is not a work of art and is not in hot water, but is the cool title of the hit TV program that showcases aspiring entrepreneurs, who as contestants make presentations to a panel of “shark” investors, hoping to persuade them to finance their products. The panel of businesspersons is an fascinating group, but it is Kevin O’Leary who takes the cake with his directness, piercing questions and hard-line approach, which has made him a star of the program—where he’s known as “Mr. Wonderful”—and a big ratings success.

What I find so interesting about O’Leary is that unlike a lot of corporate people, he has had a lifelong interest in high-end photography and art, and is a respected photographer. I recently met him during Presidents Day Weekend at the Art Wynwood fair in Miami, introduced by Nick Korniloff, producer of the fair, where O’Leary was showcasing his photography, which revealed his sharp, intelligent eye and a clear perspective on inventive composition. Sales from the exhibition, which were substantial, benefited the Perry J. Cohen Foundation and Teenage Entrepreneurs. Based on the success of this first show, Arcature Fine Art in Palm Beach presented an exhibition in March titled “Irreconcilable Images,” which also benefited the same causes, donating 100% of the profits from sales of the photographs. “Shark Tank has been a lightning rod for entrepreneurial culture in this country, and I’m lucky to be a part of that. Every day, I meet bright, motivated young people who want to become entrepreneurs. I want to do something to encourage them, “ said O’Leary. “Partnering with the Perry J. Cohen Foundation was a natural after I got a chance to meet Perry’s parents, Pamela Cohen and Nick Korniloff, and understand what an amazing and passionate life that this young entrepreneur and art lover lived.”

So, a noteworthy marriage of images, ideas and charity has come together with dignity and compassion, along with a first class show of idiosyncratic photographs.

For more information about the Perry J. Cohen Foundation, including how to make a donation (www.pjcf.org); for more information about Kevin O’Leary’s exhibition at Arcature Fine Art (www.arcaturefineart.com); and for more information about Chris Leidy’s work (www.leidyimages.com).

Although I was aware that Mother Nature had initiated one of the biggest blizzards in the New York weather record books, as a Florida resident it was still pretty shocking to see the perpetual white blanket of snow covering everything in sight as I looked out the window of the JetBlue aircraft began its descent to a just-cleared landing strip at LaGuardia Airport. I was in town to cover on behalf of The Huffington Post the Picasso Sculpture exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (that The New York Times called “…a once-in-a-lifetime event.”) and the Frank Stella retrospective at the new downtown location of the Whitney, as well as attend a reception for “Open This End: Contemporary Art from the Collection of Blake Byrne” at Columbia University. I was proud to have several vintage collages of mine included in this exhibition, as Byrne is considered one of America’s top collectors. He resides in Los Angeles, where recently he made the largest donation of contemporary art to the permanent collection of the MOCA, LA. It was a fascinating event, and included works by Vito Acconci, John Baldessari, Mark Bradford, Marlene Dumas, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Mike Kelly, Martin Kippenberger, Louise Lawler, Sherrie Levine, Agnes Martin, Paul McCarthy, Juan Muñoz, Albert Oehlen, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter, Ed Ruscha, Cindy Sherman, Andy Warhol and Kehinde Wiley, among others.

Rubbing shoulders with curators, critics and the other artists in attendance, I was reminded of the famous lyrics from “Once in a Lifetime” by my friend and fellow RISD classmate, David Byrne of the Talking Heads, who poses the question: “And you may ask yourself—Well …How did I get here? …And you may ask yourself, how do I work this?” And then I did indeed ask myself, how did I get here, and how did all these hotshots make it to the top to become household names in the art world? I once asked Robert Rauschenberg as I was curating a show of his work out of his Captiva Island studio for my gallery, what he considered to be the secret of success for an artist. His reply was that there was no secret, as he and everyone he knew who became famous, worked harder than anyone else, seven days a week, to achieve the polish, maturity, singularity and distinctive voice that are the necessary ingredients for a flourishing career.

I am reminded of the incredible but true story of abstract expressionist Harold Shapinsky, who had the good fortune to study with Motherwell and de Kooning and was included in a show titled “Fifteen Unknowns” at the celebrated Kootz Gallery in New York in 1950. Well-known artists of the gallery, including William Baziotes, Adolph Gottlieb, Hans Hofmann, and Robert Motherwell (who picked Shapinsky), all had their favorites, but of the fifteen emerging artists in the show, only Helen Frankenthaler and Shapinsky would eventually make a name for themselves. After this historic exhibition, Harold Shapinsky simply dropped out of sight, finding the art world to be superficial and competitive and he preferred to work alone in his studio every day, listening to jazz and smoking his pipe while his wife made ends meet by knitting sweaters for Bonwit Teller. But his seven-day work week commitment to his art-making in isolation for the next thirty years finally paid off, when the prominent London dealer James Mayor discovered him by chance, which led to a BBC one hour documentary about his life and his first one-man show at Mayor’s London gallery, which sold 22 works including a painting acquired by the Tate. There also was an article in The Observer by Salman Rushdie, which revealed Shapinsky’s background and extraordinary abstract expressionist painting to the world. Next came a special tribute evening at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in 1985, an ARTnews and Newsday feature that brought even more fame, including a twenty-page story in The New Yorker. When I heard the story, I immediately invited him to have his first one-man show in the U.S. at my Worth Avenue gallery, which was attended by Peter Brant, mega art collector and owner of Art in America, and Henry Ford, to whom I made the first sale of Shapinsky’s work. Obviously, decades of devotion to his craft paid off like so many of the artists listed above.

As the former editor-in-chief of The Art Economist, I established a column titled “Artists to Watch,” which predicted success based on the overall quality of their work, its uniqueness, the artist’s education and dedication, and the opinion of others. It was the most popular section in the magazine and many of our predictions of financial achievement and fame not only came true, but went through the roof. One of those early picks was Jacob Kassay, who created dynamic silver paintings that later were “cooked,” resulting in shimmering idiosyncratic surfaces. His first show sold out before it opened, and a long waiting list was established due to the buzz on the street. Then one of his paintings went to auction and sold over ten times the low estimate of $8,000. I’ve noticed the same kind of success with Cuban artist Kadir López Nieves, who a few years ago starting getting attention from visiting collectors for his adaptive reuse of classic 1950s American advertising tin signs, which are embellished with photographs and are battered, tattered and on occasion even riddled with bullet holes. The unique vintage imagery somehow caught the notice of The New York Times last year, and the rest is history. The work of Rebecca Warren, the British artist who stuck to her guns by aggressively producing remarkable, exaggerated, figurative, abstracted, oddball clay sculptures preposterously out of proportion but handsomely confident, seems to take a cue from some of the sculptures currently on display at MoMA’s Picasso exhibition. Another remarkable young talent is Kurt Knobelsdorf, to whom my pal the art dealer Gary Blakeslee introduced me. Knobelsdorf has the same genuine and uncommon charismatic imagery that has made stars of most of the artists in the Blake Byrne collection, and won several awards while at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. The same winning combination is true with Greg Haberny and Steven Manolis, who I discovered during Art Miami this past December. The work of these artists had an immediate magnetic attraction to me, and I’d bet the farm that each of them soon will become well known. Haberny constructs gritty, spontaneous, obsessive abstract paintings that often have a slight narrative. His art is among the most unusual that I have seen in many moons, and I had my first chance to meet him during this New York visit, and I’m now convinced without a doubt of his eventual fame and fortune. His work, recently discovered and displayed by Banksy in London, cements his rising star. Manolis, who, like Shapinsky, has been refining his painting style over the last thirty years, is about to jump into the big time with his exquisite, large-scale abstract expressionist works that can hold their own next to any brand name non-narrative painter. With a stellar career as a former investment banker, he now has the necessary drive and ambition coupled with an innate aptitude for generating beautiful flowing pictures that have a delightful visual aroma reminiscent of Pollock, de Kooning and Kenneth Noland combined, with an unexpected twist. He was fortunate to study with Wolf Kahn, who had been taught by Hans Hoffmann. Not surprisingly, this studio workaholic already has been invited by a notable museum for a solo show opening later this year, and his paintings are selling like hotcakes. All of the artists mentioned above have experienced the ‘once in a lifetime’ syndrome and seem to share the same characteristics of natural talent and drive, which answers the question: “How did I get here?!”

With his extensive experience in curating public art projects, Marc Pottier shares his insights on the role public art plays in shaping culturally vibrant communities and what must be considered.

What is the process for proposing public art in a location, and what kind of restrictions do you encounter?
With Public Art, creation starts from the pedestal, opening new dialogues and situations, creating a museum without walls or a new artistic vision in the open air. Contemporary creation in public spaces establishes a new and rich conversation between town planners, architects, landscape gardeners, artists, designers, sociologists and the public at large; creation in the open air is done with and for everyone, concerned or not by Art. Today, Public Art is no more an art of statuary put in squares, gardens or parks. Public Art is done site specifically and cannot be sold, becoming, when not linked to a temporary event, part of an indefectible patrimony. Today main restrictions are linked to security and budget.

How long can it take to install a public work of art and how long does it stay on site?
This depends on the scale of the project. It depends on the location. Diversity and openness are also key aspects of this adventure. Artists can work on sidewalks or street lamps; in airports, railway or subway stations; parking lots or rivers; use sounds, lights or video projections; paint on different buildings; create an ephemeral or permanent work. Almost anything is possible or at least imaginable with Public Art.

How are artists advised when creating art in terms of conservation and longevity due to external factors such as weather?
More and more, artists like and want to interact differently, looking for new challenges with nothing to do with “objects” of the art market. With Bauhaus, De Stijl, Land Art and Earth Art, they are regularly concerned with the city and the landscape; they even claim the right of Art to be integrated to the day-to-day life, participating to the urban conception, re-qualification of a site or conception of public’s equipment. All works with Public Art today are dialogues with the client, neighbors, engineers… with the artist. Weather does not appear to be a major problem.

Who is responsible for maintaining the work of art – cleaning / removing dirt and graffiti, repairs, etc. – and how are preservation techniques used?
The client is responsible for maintaining the work. Projects have directions and precise supporting documents, guaranteeing the art’s quality in the future, even after the artists’ death. Nonetheless, this is rarely respected. For example, Daniel Buren wanted to dismantle his famous “Les Deux Plateaux / Colonnes de Buren” at Palais Royal in Paris after 20 years because the work has been 50% destroyed by the state due to a lack of maintenance. This is a key problem, which also exists with architecture. Maintenance techniques depend on the projects.

Why are public art collections important to a city?
When well-done, public art collections become symbols of a city. For example, in Chicago, the Millennium Park is now part of the personality of the city with Anish Kapoor’s “Cloud Gate” or the Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa. The famous “Christ” by Landowski symbolizes Rio de Janeiro. A lot of people are going to Wynwood in Miami to see the Street Art. This attracts a lot of people happy to discover culture. Today, Public Art is a process of thoughts and unlimited experimentation, which is in favor of putting citizens face to face with the art from their generation without any hierarchy between Art and its environment. Participation of the public is more and more often asked, and opportunities of amazing treasure hunting exists at Biennales and events offering temporary installations and experiences.

Marc Pottier, curator and author
Trained as an auctioneer in Paris (Etude Briest, today Artcurial), Marc joined Urban, a Japanese modern and contemporary art collection based both in Nagoya, Tokyo, New-York and Paris. He then spent six years in New York as an independent curator organizing exhibitions in the USA, Europe and Brazil. He joined the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Cultural Attaché in Rio de Janeiro and then Lisbon where he also organized and curated exhibitions and events, such as Picasso’s ceramics or Luzboa the first Biennale of the Art of Light. In 2007, he started his own company developing international curatorship with a focus on community culture and gardens between Europe, Brazil and Middle East. He opened a branch of his company in Rio de Janeiro in 2012 where he is now based. Marc is the author of  “Made by Brazilians” (Enrico Navarra Publishers), which includes accounts by 230 people who represent the Brazilian Contemporary art world, and the curator of various exhibitions, including www.feitoporbrasileiros.com.br 2014. He was the guest curator for the 3a Bienal da Bahia 2014. Today he creates and hosts a weekly TV program on Arte1, the Brazilian cultural channel: ‘Olhar Estrangeiro, cidade Rio de Janeiro’. Contact: marc.pottier.art@gmail.com

Nobody seems to know exactly when the very first murals came about, but there is sound evidence that around 30,000 BC in southern France primitive man began to draw images on cave walls, creatively documenting their lives and aspirations. Many ancient murals in Egyptian tombs from around 3000 BC have survived, as well as Pompeian walls unearthed in nearly mint condition after being hidden for hundreds of years by the eruptive ash of Mount Vesuvius, which allowed scholars and anthropologists a literal field day of exploration. Once humankind realized the communicative power of non-verbal, large-scale painted surfaces, the art of the mural became deeply embedded into our history and ongoing culture of public art statements. In modern times, the term became more well-known with the development of the Mexican muralism art movement of the 1930s, spearheaded by renowned artist Diego Rivera and later by a host of American artists hired by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), which spread public art (and money to artists) into urban communities across the United States.

Today, murals are important in that they bring art into the public sphere and generate excitement and visual appeal. Perhaps initiated by the graffiti artists, whose heyday was in the mid-1980s, murals have become a valuable and welcome addition to the metropolitan environment. Street art, fast and furious (and often illegal), played a key role in the acceptability of art on walls, whether commissioned or produced on the fly. Successful and respected artists like Keith Haring or Shepard Fairey started out by transferring their creativity from studio to subway. Due to the size, cost and effort involved in creating a mural, muralists often must be commissioned by a sponsor. Often it’s the local government or a business, but many murals have been paid for by grants of patronage from modern day Medicis. For muralists, their work gets a wide audience that otherwise might not visit an art gallery or museum.

More recently, CANVAS, an event billed as the nation’s largest outdoor museum exhibition, has taken the history and popularity of public art to an entirely different level. Artists from across the globe were invited by West Palm Beach gallerist Nicole Henry to create twenty dramatic, inspiring installations and murals on selected buildings’ bare walls, enhancing the infrastructure throughout the downtown arts district as well as a fascinating mural located under the Royal Park Bridge to Palm Beach. World-renowned artists participating in CANVAS include 2Alas, Bik-Ismo, Case, Cheryl Maeder, Greg Mike, Herakut, Jean-Luc Moerman, Jeremy Penn, José Bedia, Kai, Katja Loher, Kobra; Michael Dweck; Pastel, Registered Artist, Ron English, Sean Yoro (aka Hula), WRDSMTH and Zeus. Nicole Henry’s ambitions and challenging undertaking also was supported by some modern day Medicis, including the West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority and Arts & Entertainment District, Community Redevelopment Agency, Discover the Palm Beaches, Lamborghini Palm Beach, Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, and CANVAS Art Charities, as well as numerous other community-minded sponsors.

The two week experience in mid-November was attended by thousands of visitors, and although the major events are over, the murals are here to stay for you to experience throughout the winter season and hopefully beyond. A chart of the handsomely embellished wall locations can be found at https://canvaswpb.org/, if you wish to go to a specific mural, but if you want a serendipitous scavenger hunt-like adventure you can start at the epicenter of CANVAS, Nicole Henry Fine Art (501 Fern Street, West Palm Beach, 561.714.4262, http://nicolehenryfineart.com/), grab a map and start meandering around downtown block by block on a memorable pictorial treasure hunt. These semi-permanent installations have brought an exciting and new contemporary art experience to the south Florida community as a kind of alfresco museum show, a de facto drive-in movie with 20 wide screens, or huge painted billboards without a commercial message that you can drive by or walk around. As you will see, these striking murals permanently have transformed the look of downtown with no admission ticket needed to boot, and have super-charged the entire inner-city atmosphere into an exciting environment of creativity that continues to enhance the vitality and growth of the West Palm Beach corridor.

A sampling of websites that have featured the CANVAS murals include – Palm Beach Post, Sun Sentinel, WPTV and WPBF.

Upon reports of his ‘passing’ Mark Twain famously announced, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.” This observation also might be utilized in reaction to perpetual news items and reviews that contemporary painting, suffering from a lack of quality and uniqueness, is on its way out. This honored craft is thought by many as basically dead in the water. Perhaps the main villain that has smeared the reputation of new narrative painting is the declaration that the time-honored discipline of mastering the basics of academic drawing and classical composition has been pushed aside to make way for alternative “innovation.” At the same time, the desperate search for overnight success pushed one young artist at Gagosian Gallery to cover an entire canvas with chewed up bubble gum. The pressure to attain commercial achievement demands that emerging artists try anything new, even though they may be seriously lacking in a foundation of skills that allows a real visionary artist to achieve an earned measure of success. Abstract painters like Picasso and de Kooning were natural talents at an early age, but both went through rigorous training. Warhol also showed early signs of significant talent and attended Carnegie Institute of Technology before leaving for Manhattan, where his acquired drawing skills made him the most sought after fashion illustrator in the city and was a natural springboard to his ultimate artistic ‘sainthood.’ It’s no accident that some of the most respected and thriving artists of our generation have come out of prestigious institutions like Yale Graduate School or the Rhode Island School of Design, where genuine talent and a strong academic background are prerequisites for admission and graduation. In the last twenty years it’s been alarming to see that many new artists on the scene, naturally talented or not, are producing work with a total lack of elementary expertise. This unfortunate circumstance might label them as a “flash in the pan,” since reality in the art market eventually sets in and thankfully takes its toll.

I recently was encouraged about my position on a proper visual education with the discovery of Italian artist Matteo Massagrande and his superb picture-making, and as my interest in his work got the best of me, I started to do some research on his obvious professional and academic background. To my delight but not my surprise, I learned that he was academically trained and influenced by the Renaissance masters. The artist will open a survey of his recent small-scale paintings at Shine Artists London in December, and from what I could gather these are exceptionally competent works that mix an unusual combination of skills to create magical fictional interior spaces that are not only believable, but possess a charismatic and undeniable handsomeness. In this series, Massagrande cleverly invites the viewer to become an unexpected voyeur, glancing down hallways that lead to more entrances and obscure spaces that are completely empty except for the distant memories and aging secrets they might hold. Literally seduced by the unexpected starkness of bare walls and floors, one is drawn inside, tempted by multiple perspectives that are accented with his remarkable use of light drifting through often open windows, exposing glimpses of lush gardens. His work is reassuring evidence that great narrative painting is alive and well.

These paintings are unusual for their obvious illusionistic invention and enjoyable common denominator of empty, convincingly three-dimensional spaces that take on the challenge of creating complexity from simplicity. Here the artist is a master at articulating illumination where none actually exists and creating authentic textural repeat patterns worn down over time; a formula that works brilliantly. Massagrande’s artwork reassures us that great painting is still here to stay, even though it may take an effort to seek it out.

For more information on Massagrande go to: http://www.shineartists.com/artists/matteo-massagrande

OPEN THIS END is the title of an amazing traveling exhibition of artworks from the renowned Blake Byrne collection, which was inaugurated at the Nasher Museum of Art in North Carolina earlier this year and just opened at its second venue, the Ohio State University Urban Arts Space. The show continues on the road during the next two years, stopping at the Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University (Manhattan) and finishing up at the Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art at Lewis & Clark College in Portland (Oregon). Mr. Byrne recently was labeled by Blouin Artinfo as “The Good Collector,” and there’s an excellent reason for that: Byrne’s serendipitous journey towards building one of America’s great private art collections began in Providence, near the campus of the Rhode Island School of Design, which may have been his first introduction to art and artists. Eventually, he arrived in New York City, where he started collecting seriously in 1988, and with what little money he had he would peruse the galleries of 57^th Street, where he met Jack Tilton, the influential dealer who talked Blake into attending Art Basel in Switzerland, and the rest is history. After selling his broadcasting company, Byrne had the ability to pursue collecting art, and with a modest amount of professional advice he set off on his own, responding to objects that he liked personally, and before long he had built a museum worthy-collection that he felt was incredibly rewarding.

As a graduate student at RISD, I naturally became interested in saving found items that had an anonymous aesthetic quality after being introduced to the joys of flea markets by my colleague, glass artist Dale Chihuly, who went on to amass abundant, fascinating collections of utilitarian objects that surpassed those of Andy Warhol. This type of activity was a normal extension of an artist’s curiosity in a variety of things, begun initially without knowing much about them. This passion developed into an interest in collecting small works of art, which most of my fellow artists felt was a valuable intuitive activity that brought wonderful, non-monetary rewards on a regular basis. Ironically, some of those early works originally purchased for a few hundred dollars became worth much more, and were donated to museums decades later. I always had a particularly strong opinion about collecting, appreciating and understanding art, figuring that an artist knows best and has the eye and incentive to make decisions without advice. When I was first introduced to Martin Margulies in Miami by the late Ivan Karp, Leo Castelli’s former gallery director and founder of O.K. Harris, I wondered just how a real estate developer would have an accurate idea about how to evaluate a work of art, much less be able to talk about it. Boy, was I wrong. I will never forget the first time I heard him speak about his collection, and I had never heard such an insightful, intelligent overview presented with such passion and descriptive analysis. Listening to Blake Byrne’s in-depth recorded interview (http://theskylarkfoundation.org) about his current show offered the same conclusive evidence that if you are serious about what you collect, this addiction becomes a pleasant part of your life, and with any measure of aptitude, research and analytical skills you also can become an enthusiastic expert with a polished, informed perspective.

So the moral of this short story and perspective on collecting is that anyone who takes up the challenge of accumulating contemporary art, with the right attitude, intelligence, motivation and some good advice from the get-go can assemble a terrific collection that can continue to expand and appreciate in value (although Byrne generally does not “de-acquisition” works from his collection). Those who do buy just to flip the artworks as soon as possible are just as interested in potential profits of pork belly futures as the art that is often just hidden away in storage, just waiting for the right opportunity to be sold. This is one negative side to the art world, especially now that financial advisors are recommending a portion of one’s investment portfolio be devoted to contemporary art as an exotic commodity, which has outdistanced many other conventional investment commodities.

Space limitations here preclude me from elaborating on the extent of the Byrne collection or details of his current traveling show, but you can get a very accurate perspective by looking it up here: http://theskylarkfoundation.org/#open-end-exhibition-preview, as well as making a note of the upcoming venues that shouldn’t be missed. Despite his remarkable donations to institutions like MOCA LA (which received about 123 artworks, the largest private gift ever for that institution) and works out on loan to “Open This End,” Byrne’s home is packed with art, including recent purchases that he always is proud to talk about. Like many great collectors, he likes to keep his art in constant rotation so that he has the opportunity for a constant, personal dialogue with them. “They are always speaking to me,” Byrne said, and that is the best example of a thoughtful collector who truly loves living with art. For one thing, even if you’re alone, there always is ‘someone’ with whom to strike up a stimulating conversation!

Of all the many wonders to be beheld at the inaugural Art Silicon Valley/San Francisco, the symposia programming put together by the great good folks from One Art Nation has gotta be one of the most comprehensively wondrous. ASV/SF got 1AN’s Julia Wehkamp and Amanda Dunn to give us the lowdown. 

For those who don’t yet know just what is One Art Nation?

Well, please allow us to introduce ourselves. We’re an online art community where collectors, enthusiasts, professionals and experts from across the globe can connect through live art symposia, online education, social discussions, exhibitions and fairs, and art services.

If you had but a single sentence to sum up 1AN’s mission, what would it be?

To develop the emerging, as well as stimulate the established art market through new and innovative online art education.

What’s your role at 1AN?

I’m Julia Wehkamp and I head up the educational component at 1AN, including curating the Symposia programs and creating our online education. I co-founded the company with Amanda Dunn.

What other principal players need we cite?

Amanda heads up our marketing initiatives and develops strategic partnerships, while supporting me in creating our educational content.

Who’s bright idea was it to team with Art Silicon Valley/San Francisco?

We actually started our relationship with Art Miami Productions at CONTEXT in 2013. We were looking for a partner who was forward thinking and had a keen interest in educating the art market. The fairs put on by Art Miami Productions are a great meeting place for collectors, enthusiasts, and professionals seeking and representing some of the most important works at the forefront of the international art movement. The team were open to the idea of bringing together industry experts to speak on a range of topics as an additional benefit for fair attendees and to strengthen the market.

What’s the name and main thrust of the programming you’re bringing to the Fair?

The 1AN Symposium offers a program that is both diverse and engaging, equally for first time buyers, established collectors, industry professional and generally, those with a passion for art. At Art Silicon Valley, visitors can learn about everything from Building an Art Collection Like a Pro to Art and Cross-Border Taxes to Art Appraisal: Why, When and How?

Of all the many splendors, are there any particular highlights you’d care to cite?

Seeing as we are in Silicon Valley where the digital revolution took place, we have included tech leaders eBay, Google, Facebook, Autodesk and Innovation Endeavors in the program to share their art expertise.

Do you see the collaboration expanding 1AN’s presence throughout the entire Art Miami Family of Fairs?

We are working with Art Miami LLC Productions at all of their fairs and are already well on the way to developing a “cannot miss” program at Art Miami in December.

For the full program of One Art Nation’s offerings at the inaugural Art Silicon Valley/San Francisco log on here.

by Art Silicon Valley

Article source.

If you thought art collectors were intimidating professors with white sofas and inherited wealth, you haven’t met Amanda Dunn and Julia Wehkamp.

“There is a whole new generation of collectors. Whether they’re coming from emerging markets in the Middle East, Asia, or whether they’re young professionals looking to invest,” explains Wehkamp.

And with good reason. The art market is strong and growing as an investment option.

The pair – who have been best friends since bonding over horses on the first day of Grade 9 – have made it their mission to bring art collection to a chequebook near you. They are demystifying the process through talks and webinars that make global experts accessible to laypeople.

One Art Nation has accomplished a lot in just under a year.

They have hosted symposia at Art Miami, Art Southampton and Art Silicon Valley, built a comprehensive website and have developed partnerships with experts around the world to provide free webinars. Also on the site are event listings and marketplace news.

The pair’s journey has been a long one. Their original ambitions couldn’t contrast more with their work today: Dunn, to go to medical school and Wehkamp, to become a lawyer. Instead, Wehkamp completed an MBA in Germany and was working in Zurich in healthcare before moving to Toronto for love (it worked out).

Dunn, on the other hand, was recruited out of university with an ad agency that took her around the world, training her on marketing and sales. She spent five years in Dubai before moving to London to work with Christie’s Auction House as global marketing manager.

While at Christie’s, Dunn said she noticed that the art world was not speaking to the new generation of collectors. “They’re very intimidated to ask basic questions like ‘What should I be investing in right now? If I like a piece is it worth buying just ‘cause I like it? … Can I take a piece off the wall and try it in my house?’”

The pair met to brainstorm and two bottles of wine later, they were starting a business, applying a web platform Wehkamp was familiar with to art collection. Conscious of the impact a business could have on a friendship, they outlined expectations around time, financing, risk and exit strategies.

“We balance each other out,” says Wehkamp. “We’re friends for a reason; we have the same taste … we’re on the same page.”

Recognizing they could use help on developing their business plan, they visited Enterprise Toronto. They say their consultant, Sandi, was “very open, never intimidating…. She had a genuine interest.”

Sandi suggested they create two business plans – one for investors, one for grants – and helped “seal the deal” with a silent partner in Berlin. Dunn says they will likely continue to seek advice as they develop.

And how are the pair’s own collections coming along? They are inviting the public to find out, as they undergo the process of purchasing their very own, and their very first, art investment.

If they had it their way, Wehkamp’s would be a Lawren Harris and Dunn’s, a Kandinksy or Vlaminick.

By Deena Douara

Photo taken at Katzman Contemporary

Article source.

Online art network One Art Nation (1AN), and Art Southampton, a contemporary art fair taking place at the peak of the social and cultural season in the Hamptons, are partnering to present the 1AN Art Symposium. This can’t-miss educational event offers an expertly curated program for emerging and established collectors, enthusiasts and professionals. From July 25-27, fair visitors can attend daily education sessions offered by leading industry experts covering a range of art topics.

Jointly developed and designed by 1AN and Art Southampton, the 1AN Art Symposium has assembled a team of world-class professionals, including Deloitte Art & Finance, Dewitt Stern, Berkley Asset Protection, Winston Art Group, Crozier Fine Arts, Ross School, Appraisers Association of America, Artdex, and Skate’s Art Market Research. Highlights include a panel discussion on mediums used by artists and how they affect aspects of valuation, security, shipping, storage, restoration, and authenticity, and sessions on the importance of integrated arts education programs, the current structure of global art market and an overview of the current statistics of online art sales.

“With the vibrant development of the North American art market, more and more people are collecting and investing in art. As a result, there is an increasing need for art education. The Art Symposium will provide attendees with the skills required to improve their reputation as serious art collectors, maximize the efficiency of their overall asset portfolio and cultivate their taste for the finer things in life,” Pamela Cohen, Head of VIP Relations, Marketing, Sponsorships and Partnerships of Art Miami LLC Productions.

Julia Wehkamp, Managing Director of 1AN, expressed her excitement around the collaboration, “We are thrilled to be working with Art Southampton and combining our expertise to offer the 1AN Art Symposium. We understand that it can be intimidating approaching established galleries and auction houses. Therefore, we’re providing education so buyers can make confident purchasing decisions, whether at the fair or in the future.”

The event will take place July 25-27 at Art Southampton, located in Southampton, NY, and is free for attendees.  The sessions will be recorded by Workshop Media Inc., a full-service creative video production company, and can be viewed on www.oneartnation.com following the event.

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About One Art Nation

One Art Nation (1AN) is an online international art network connecting galleries and art businesses with art enthusiast, collectors and professionals through a focused, fresh and interactive education, marketing and events platform. The online art industry is experiencing rapid growth due to new collectors and enthusiasts who are more tech savvy and pragmatic. Through modern technology, 1AN is eliminating borders and, along with its network, aims to be the single most influential source of information for this new generation of art collectors, the most desirable yet difficult to reach art buyer today. For more information, visit www.oneartnation.com .

Press and Media Contacts:
Amanda Dunn
T: + 1 647 972 7977
E: amanda@oneartnation.com

ONE ART NATION AND ART MIAMI LLC PRODUCTIONS COLLABORATE TO EVOLVE THE ART MARKET THROUGH EXPERT EDUCATION

Online art network One Art Nation (1AN), and Art Miami LLC Productions, one of the leading organizers of contemporary art fairs in the US, have partnered for the North American Art Symposia series including Art Southampton, July 24 – 28; Art Silicon Valley, October 9 – 12; and Art Miami, December 3 – 8.

1AN has scoured North America to find world-class Art Fairs that focus on the latest trends and topics affecting the art world globally. In our quest for specific meeting places for motivated collectors, curators, museum professionals and art enthusiasts, we selected those with a proven platform for showcasing the most important artworks in collaboration with a selection of the world’s most respected galleries.

Jointly developed and designed by 1AN and Art Miami LLC Productions, a team of world-class professionals have been assembled to present on varying art-related topics. Sessions focus on topics that will help build confidence in purchasing decisions and are free for fair visitors. “With the vibrant development of the North American art market, more and more people are collecting and investing in art. As a result, there is an increasing need for art education,” Pamela Cohen, Head of VIP Relations, Marketing, Sponsorships & Partnerships of Art Miami LLC Productions.

This was proven by the fantastic turn out at the inaugural 1AN Art Symposium at CONTEXT, with the audience seeking the skills required to improve their reputation as serious art collectors, maximize the efficiency of their overall asset portfolio and cultivate their taste for the finer things in life. “The Art Symposium was interesting, timely and a great way to find out what is trending in the art market, not just in the United States, but across the globe”, claims J.R., 1AN Symposium at CONTEXT attendee.

For details on how you can participate, contact Julia Wehkamp at julia@oneartnation.com or fill in the form below.