MY LOVE OF ART AND THE ART WORLD

In 2012 I met my first advisory partner - a former critic/curator/gallerist from Paris with a PhD in art history.  That was my first official jump into the art world in a capacity other than as a lawyer.  It was the beginning of me being certain where I truly belong professionally.

Opportunities to work on authentication, title and insurance issues made use of my legal acumen and experience and I knew all of the art lawyers in New York if I didn’t want to do the work myself.   I started doing regular business with galleries and dealers and could tell who to trust from years as a lawyer.  My circle grew and people trusted me with major works.  I had solid background in three realms – the law (which gave me an understanding of how to govern transactions and resolve disputes); the art-making (which enabled me to develop a deep appreciation for and knowledge of materials); my participation in the art world for more than a decade and my connections to people and institutions (which gave me enough initial street cred).

Other dealers and advisors started to offer me works being deaccessioned or traded privately and I started to have some success in trading.  Sellers somehow began to find me.  It was all by word of mouth.  I bought and sold Chagall, Indiana, Nitsch, Salle, Schwitters, Wesley, Twombly, Calder, Fontana.  Each transaction provided an opportunity to delve into the work at hand - it’s place in art history, and in the particular artist’s oeuvre. 

The art world is infinite.  So much to know and keep abreast of.  Nobody can really master everything.  As a dealer/advisor I have concluded that it is better to be a jack of all trades and master of some.  Regardless of the things you don’t know, the more you pay attention, observe, read and do …the more expert you become.  The more people you know and have access to the more your internal library grows.  Fascinating, intellectual, inter-personal, stimulating, never-ending, youth-endowing, world-enhancing, beauty-revering . . . just some of the adjectives I could use to describe my involvement in the art world and what I do.