Market Endorsement For 4 Artists
The New York art market is arguably the biggest in the world. Real estate in this city is also quite pricey. So, while New York galleries do show a variety of art, from emerging artists to established, they also need to support their high fixed costs by selling art above a certain price point. This translates to selling work by artists with a track record of shows, sales, and recognition in other markets, all of which justifies the relatively higher price point NY galleries need to set. Accordingly, having artwork shown at a New York gallery is often considered an important career endorsement for many artists.
Because we have offices and experience in other art markets, including Minneapolis, Toronto, Los Angeles and London, we gain exposure to a broad range of artists. Some may also be in New York. But when a New York gallery picks up an artist not previously shown in this city, we notice. There are increasingly more artists falling into this category, and it’s satisfying to have helped clients acquire the work before New York, then see their work peppered around Chelsea and Tribeca. Here are a few examples:
Azadeh Elmizadeh: Franz Kaka gallery in Toronto has shown Elmizadeh’s delicate, soft, layered works for years. They are a hybrid of abstraction and figurative work that we’ve consistently found to be alluring. We were thrilled to see a selection of her work is currently being shown at Tara Downs, a Tribeca gallery located on Broadway and Canal.
Kim Bartelt: We discovered Bartelt’s abstracts through Cadogan Gallery in London and Milan. Importantly, this gallery sends out an email monthly with a selection of available work that includes full details, pricing, and downloadable images. It’s a great discovery tool. Bartelt collages paper onto linen, and has just gained new representation at Arden & White, a fantastic gallery located just outside of the city in New Canaan, CT.
Per Adolfson: Adolfson’s intimate representational landscapes, done with simple materials such as graphite and colored pencils, captured our attention at an art fair years ago. The gallery was based in Belgium, where Adolfson is from. The works can feel simultaneously playful, haunting, and nostalgic. We have sold them individually and as a series to a few clients, and we were thrilled to see his latest show with landscapes covering the walls of Nino Mier gallery in Tribeca.
Sarah Anne Johnson: Johnson’s photographs of trees with areas of painted color and collage are readily identifiable as hers and we’ve seen them frequently at Blouin Division gallery’s art fair booths around the US. While viewing work by an alternative artist at Yossi Milo Gallery in Chelsea recently, our clients were immediately drawn to a pair of Johnsons on the wall. Her solo show with the gallery just opened and is on view through April 26th, and it is definitely a show to see.
A series of Per Adolfson’s in this Westhampton Beach family den.
It’s important to note that being shown in New York is not the be-all, end-all moment for artists; it’s simply often considered a step forward on the journey. When artists that are commonly shown in New York are then shown with galleries on the West Coast, in Europe, at Basel Hong Kong, it’s a similar type of career endorsement.
We hope this provides insight into our process of artist discovery, and one way we track the arc of artist careers. For details on how artist pricing increases as they move through their career, take a look at this popular post, and feel free to share any questions on the topic.