Art Advisers Roundtable

Photo by Michael Edwards

Site: Louise Blouin Media headquarters, New York City

Key Advice
for Collecting in These Uncertain Times

Mary Hoeveler

“There are opportunities in virtually every collecting field right now. If you want to play it safe, concentrate on established secondary-market artists, negotiate well, and take a long-term view.”

Abigail Asher

“Careful and selective buying of 20th- and 21st-century masterpieces is what I would focus on. That’s the area people felt priced out of in the past few years. This is actually an exciting time.”

Stefano Basilico

“Collectors should be selective and careful in their choices. Condition becomes paramount, especially if it’s an editioned work. Look at each piece with a jaundiced eye. It’s not worth a risk.”

Allan Schwartzman

“Look for undervalued areas in every price range. These are times when people crave art of profound beauty or meaning. The art that means the most holds its value— spiritually and financially.”

Richard Serra Yayoi Kusama Hans Hofmann Lucio Fontana Ad Reinhardt Jean Arp Hans Hofmann Piero Manzoni

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START: 01/09/09 10:05 P.M.

NAME OF THE GAME

SARAH DOUGLAS: What does an art adviser do? Are the terms art adviser and art consultant interchangeable?

ABIGAIL ASHER: When I hear art consultant I break out in hives. Don’t you?

ALLAN SCHWARTZMAN: At some point in the ’90s, the business cards went from interior decorator to art consultant.

MARY HOEVELER: As an art adviser, you establish a longer-term relationship. An art consultant is typically more project-oriented.

ALLAN SCHWARTZMAN: I think of myself more as a curator.

MARY HOEVELER: Curator isn’t exactly accurate either, because there’s a lot of knowledge about the market that enables me to do what I do.

ABIGAIL ASHER: Clients are looking for someone with curatorial expertise who is watching their back with investments.

STEFANO BASILICO: When I had a gallery, my clients were my artists. Now my job is to protect my collector clients. But the activity is the same: to make sense of art — in this case, to put together a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

ALLAN SCHWARTZMAN: Value in the marketplace is an essential part of the advice. Having said that, I don’t think any of us would ever work with somebody whose desire is to be an art investor.

MARY HOEVELER: They do want to make sure the price is appropriate and that we believe there is going to be some future for an artwork.

SARAH DOUGLAS: Mary, you started with the Citibank art advisory. Was there more of an expectation there that art would play an investment role with your clients?

MARY HOEVELER: The assumption was always that because it was within a bank, we were an art-investment advisory group. We weren’t. We made it very clear to prospective clients that this was not about putting together a diversified asset-allocation portfolio. We had clients who would come to us and say, "I’m allocating 2 percent of my portfolio to art. Just buy stuff." We shied away from that. Neither at Citibank nor in my present practice do I take on people with strictly investment mentalities.

SARAH DOUGLAS: In the recent boom, there seemed to be a glut of art advisers. Did this give the profession a bad name?

ALLAN SCHWARTZMAN: Most people who do this are gatekeepers. They know rich people, they have some access to art, and they provide people who may be interested in collecting art with access. Having said that, I believe that whether it’s art advisers, dealers, curators or critics, most people in the contemporary-art field are enthusiasts more than experts.

MARY HOEVELER: It’s a term people use loosely. I’ve seen freelance registrars who call themselves art advisers; really they do collection management.

STEFANO BASILICO: The problem with boom times is that you get the list of 10 artists that everyone should have.

TONY FREUND: Have clients come to you in the past decade and actually said, "This is my list. Let’s go shopping now?"

MARY HOEVELER: Absolutely not.

ALLAN SCHWARTZMAN: Any collection that was put together by a list, no matter how good the individual artworks, is not a good collection.

LIVING WITH IT

TONY FREUND: Take us through the ideal relationship with a particular client.

ALLAN SCHWARTZMAN: In 1996, Howard Rachofsky had this great house built in Dallas by Richard Meier. When he finished it, he realized it was more than a house; it was a work of art. He decided then that when he died, he wanted the house to become an adjunct facility of the Dallas Museum of Art. He wanted to be more thoughtful about collecting.

TONY FREUND: What did he collect before he built the house and before you started working with him in 1997?

ALLAN SCHWARTZMAN: Mostly it had been a handful of midcentury European masters. He had an Arp, a Hofmann, and he also had large-scale, colorful ‘80s paintings. But the house undermined large-scale painting. That led us into Minimalism, which was the language that had given birth to the architect. It just so happened that it was a moment when there were great opportunities to buy major Minimalist works. Because he loved American art of the ’50s, that naturally led us to Ad Reinhardt. This led us to Italian Art of the ’50s, principally to Fontana and Manzoni.