5 Questions with Founder of Pursuits Inc., Marla Wasser

Nov 7, 2024

We had the pleasure of chatting with Marla Wasser, founder of Pursuits Inc. Marla is a highly respected art advisor with over three decades of experience in the art world. Here we share what we learned when we delved into Marla’s unique approach to art advisory, her insights on the future of art collecting, and how she connects her clients with exclusive opportunities from around the world.

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 1AN: With over 30 years of experience and a deep understanding of the art world, how do you guide your private clients in building art collections that are both personally meaningful and aligned with broader art market trends?

Marla Wasser: Collecting art is very personal, and we build collections that are tailored to our client’s unique interests and lifestyle. As an extension of their vision, I am the eyes and ears behind the scenes, with highly covetable international relationships that have been developed over many years. As my clients’ facilitator, connector, and bridge builder out to the global art world, I work with them to develop their dream collections–finding the art they love in a highly personal and confidential manner. As the art world has exhibited exponential growth over the last decade, an advisor is now considered an important part of a client’s trusted circle of experts, along with their lawyers and financial advisors. I work with my clients to demystify the art world and engage with them in real life experiences, such as visiting artist studios, art fairs, galleries, auction houses and museums, which ultimately helps shape and educate their future art collecting.

When looking at different artist opportunities with clients, and as part of the educational process, I share in-depth market research by meticulously analyzing auction databases, monitoring market trends, and consulting a wide range of private sector sales. This is critical because when you are looking at art market trends as part of the acquisition process, establishing market value is essential for our clients to understand their financial commitment, investment and risk. This pertains to middle-market, blue chip and the riskier emerging artists (5-10 years into their career).

1AN: Ah yes, the tricky task of monitoring art market trends. It would be interesting to share how market trends have evolved over the last two years and the resulting negative impact on the prospects of artists and collectors effected by the recent art market slowdown.

Marla Wasser: Well, for example, works created by ultra-contemporary artists (referred to as “wet paint”) that were sold through the primary and secondary markets multiple times have seen their market values escalate to 10 times their established values in an unprecedented short period of time. This past year, the market did not support these overvalued prices, and many saw their market value collapse. This created a difficult situation for both the artists and collectors. The downturn of the “wet paint” market demonstrated that unguided collectors who stepped into an overhyped market trend may unknowingly have become a victim of art market manipulation with potential high-risk investment losses.

Pursuits, is an agency that specifically does not follow fads or short lived market trends, but is passionate about supporting mid-career artists at an established value with a proven multi-year record in the secondary market (auction house sales). We also believe in the potential and talent of emerging artists, whose works reflect the zeitgeist of our time. And we always reflect back to the question - who is going to be around in 30 years - as a historical way of looking at art and assessing value and longevity.

Throughout history, important art is not defined by trends, but the values and meanings embodied by it. By connecting their works to the vision and interests of a client, we can create a meaningful relationship to the art world with a much deeper vision around storytelling and ultimately creating value.

Image credit: Private collection featured in DesignScapes, BB Publications (London/Dubai) featuring artists Tom Wesselmann (left); Yves Klein (center); and Maurizio Cattelan & Pier Paolo Ferrari (right).

 

1AN: That makes sense. In fact, your advisory firm has a reputation for providing access to significant works through your connections with international galleries and institutions. How do you leverage these relationships to secure unique opportunities for your clients?

Marla Wasser: Access is essential to sourcing high quality artworks but in addition to that, navigating such a vast, globalized art world successfully only comes with experience. To be a successful art advisor is to be a connector and bridge builder. We truly care about our clients and prioritize building meaningful relationships at every stage of their art collecting experience. By engaging and celebrating art in the real world with our collectors, we alert them to upcoming exhibitions in cities they’re travelling to, connect them with gallery owners abroad, and introduce them to artists that open the door for inspiring and meaningful studio visits.

These highly coveted personal relationships that are the foundation of my art business, allow for our clients to fully engage with many interesting people. They can ask questions and educate themselves; this organically creates a deeper level of knowledge and insights within their art focus. This education and outreach within the global art world nurtures and supports any future transaction allowing for our clients to make exciting and purposeful collecting decisions.

A key understanding that is deeply ingrained in our advisory’s practice is that art is meant to be shared, and it is important for our clients to feel the same way. We are all committed to supporting the artists in their collections. The relationships we have cultivated over the years with galleries and institutions enable us to extend our support of the artists and their programming by loaning artworks to major museum exhibitions. This is a crucial practice that is appreciated by both galleries and institutions as it enriches the variety of art being shown and shared with the public.

Image credit: Private collection featured in DesignScapes, BB Publications (London/Dubai) featuring artists Richard Pettibone (left); Tim Noble & Sue Webster (center); and Tom Wesselmann (right).

 

1AN:  “Art is meant to be shared.” How true! With the expansion of Pursuits into web3 and digital art through The Pursuits Beyond, Art Agency, how are you advising clients who are interested in exploring and collecting new media and digital art forms?

Marla Wasser: As an art advisory founded more than 17 years ago, we build exciting and relevant art collections consisting of works created by artists like Andy Warhol, and digital art pieces exhibiting them side by side. There are so many similarities between Pop art and digital art that are on the rise now. Pop artists like Warhol embraced and used popular culture as his inspirational content, be it painting, print or sculpture. Digital art today is its own ‘Pop Art‘ force - it is created using the technology of this generation celebrating the new way of expression using computer software, AI, XR and NFTs.

Digital art has established itself in today’s tech driven world as a medium comparable to any, an exciting realm enabled by the many new tools technologies offer to artists. We see in digital art, artists pushing boundaries of these technologies, and utilizing their tools in new, experimental and impactful ways.

These new technologies have created new styles of collecting - whether it’s purchasing online, visiting a virtual viewing space, or acquisitions on blockchains as NFTS. New systems are also offering ways to step in, buy and collect at more affordable entry levels. Digital art is such an exciting new realm that is developing and gaining its foothold. We understand that with new tech-driven art collecting opportunities, we must bring a robust research-backed approach introducing and educating our clients on all the risks and rewards of stepping into digital art.

1AN: Clearly, your expertise spans both traditional and cutting-edge art practices. How do you approach educating clients who are new to art collecting, especially when introducing them to such diverse genres and mediums?

Marla Wasser: It’s all about nurturing our relationships through education and outreach, having transparent communication through each part of a transaction process, and gaining our client’s trust. We love to share news and intrigue with our clients. We bring them artist introduction packages, art books, and recommend art tours locally as well as internationally. We prefer to take our time getting to know the interests of a new collector, and demonstrating a wide variety of works as they begin to develop their own preferences and tastes.

A new collector has so much to learn. Introducing a new collector to the global art industry, major galleries, the fairs, and the nuances within gives them the confidence they need to step into their first art transaction.

1AN: True, those informed purchasing decisions are key. But how do you help clients strike a balance between acquiring established works and investing in emerging artists, especially given the evolving nature of the art market?

Marla Wasser: Within our special relationships with our clients, the building of the art collection is not so much about creating a balance but more about creating a collection that is unique and reflects the client’s personality and life interests, always keeping in mind budget and artistic focus. Photography, painting, sculpture, media art, digital art - all mediums and approaches are integrated as we work with clients to develop a story - their personal story that extends to the artists/artworks they are bringing into their home. The art market is always evolving, so embracing all art from emerging to established artists is at the core of what we do.

We believe in creating collections that have personality and diversity, a mix of historically important works alongside emerging contemporary moments that speak to the ‘now' we are in. A mix of artists, styles and mediums evolve as a collection that encompasses a breadth of significance.

As a diverse team located in Toronto, LA and NYC, we bring decades of dedicated professional histories of working across the fine art + technology industries, building robust private collections and curating institutional exhibitions. We are a team of passionate art lovers, dedicated to art and culture and elevating the experiences of our clients.

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Connect with Marla Wasser here!

 

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