Patty Carroll, Red Red Wine, 2021
One of our favorite New York based designers, Madelaine Mayer, founder of ADROIT, recently interviewed Catherine as part of her ADROIT INTERVIEWS series. Read below for some excerpts, and check out @designbyadroit on Instagram!
...
Tell us a bit about your process and how you work with both your artist and your collecting clients.
While I treat all my artists the same from a business perspective, everyone has their own unique styles and quirks when it comes to communicating and planning. Same goes for collectors! I like to meet people where they are, so if you’re really active on socials, let’s chat on socials. If emails aren’t your thing, we’ll text. Want to send memes back and forth all day? I’m your girl on that front too! I think you have to be malleable in any business where you deal with people because we’re all different. I’m lucky, though, in that I genuinely like everyone. Well. Almost everyone!
What makes a good gallerist?
I don’t think you can be a good gallerist without being honest or without being able to play well with others. The honest part is pretty self explanatory, but you’d be shocked to learn how many people in the art world aren’t (or maybe you wouldn’t be as you’re in it). And honesty doesn’t just mean telling the truth vs lying. It means being brave enough to tell the truth at all times, even if it’s embarrassing. Even if you screw up. We had a collector who asked us to send a photograph on approval. We sent it, she opened it, and she emailed us that she had to send it back because it was a similar but incorrect image. No problem! We’re sorry! Mistakes happen! She sent it back, we sent her the correct image. Except it wasn’t. We packed up and sent the exact same wrong piece. How embarrassing! But I had to be honest and tell her that we were just disorganized and rushing and made a mistake. I could give you so many examples of times someone has messed up, which we all do, and then lied about it, which we all don’t. Be honest in all ways. In what you think, in how you conduct business, and it how you deal with people. Lying is easy. It takes some real guts to tell the truth.
As for playing well with others, this business is all about relationships. You need to be able to work with your artists, collectors, curators, designers, consultants, and a whole myriad of other people. You can’t own a gallery without them. If you can’t get along with people, you’re sunk.
What advice would you give for those looking to start collecting fine art?
Oh, I have so much! One, and most importantly, buy what you love. Don’t worry about which artist will gain the most in value or what piece might be about to sell out. Let’s say you buy a piece for $1,000. It’s a clever little piece that you pass every day on your way out the door. Ten years later you sell it for $1,000. But how much happiness did you get in that ten years? How many times did it make you giggle or start a conversation with a visitor? At least at the beginning, you live with everything you buy, and it should enhance your life. It should bring beauty to your life or make you think or just put a smile on your face for whatever reason. That’s the most important part.
After that, there’s all the basics. If you want to really build a collection, find a dealer you like and who’s eye you like who has a good reputation. There really are no stupid questions, so ask away. Always be looking so you can train your eye and find out what you like. Don’t worry about making mistakes because the only one you can make, really, is buying from someone unethical, but even then that’s really their mistake, not yours. Most importantly, have fun! Sure, your hand may shake as you write the check for that first piece, but after you get started, there is nothing more fun that searching and finding those treasures that become yours all yours.
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Patty Carroll, Red Red Wine, 2021
One of our favorite New York based designers, Madelaine Mayer, founder of ADROIT, recently interviewed Catherine as part of her ADROIT INTERVIEWS series. Read below for some excerpts, and check out @designbyadroit on Instagram!
...
Tell us a bit about your process and how you work with both your artist and your collecting clients.
While I treat all my artists the same from a business perspective, everyone has their own unique styles and quirks when it comes to communicating and planning. Same goes for collectors! I like to meet people where they are, so if you’re really active on socials, let’s chat on socials. If emails aren’t your thing, we’ll text. Want to send memes back and forth all day? I’m your girl on that front too! I think you have to be malleable in any business where you deal with people because we’re all different. I’m lucky, though, in that I genuinely like everyone. Well. Almost everyone!
What makes a good gallerist?
I don’t think you can be a good gallerist without being honest or without being able to play well with others. The honest part is pretty self explanatory, but you’d be shocked to learn how many people in the art world aren’t (or maybe you wouldn’t be as you’re in it). And honesty doesn’t just mean telling the truth vs lying. It means being brave enough to tell the truth at all times, even if it’s embarrassing. Even if you screw up. We had a collector who asked us to send a photograph on approval. We sent it, she opened it, and she emailed us that she had to send it back because it was a similar but incorrect image. No problem! We’re sorry! Mistakes happen! She sent it back, we sent her the correct image. Except it wasn’t. We packed up and sent the exact same wrong piece. How embarrassing! But I had to be honest and tell her that we were just disorganized and rushing and made a mistake. I could give you so many examples of times someone has messed up, which we all do, and then lied about it, which we all don’t. Be honest in all ways. In what you think, in how you conduct business, and it how you deal with people. Lying is easy. It takes some real guts to tell the truth.
As for playing well with others, this business is all about relationships. You need to be able to work with your artists, collectors, curators, designers, consultants, and a whole myriad of other people. You can’t own a gallery without them. If you can’t get along with people, you’re sunk.
What advice would you give for those looking to start collecting fine art?
Oh, I have so much! One, and most importantly, buy what you love. Don’t worry about which artist will gain the most in value or what piece might be about to sell out. Let’s say you buy a piece for $1,000. It’s a clever little piece that you pass every day on your way out the door. Ten years later you sell it for $1,000. But how much happiness did you get in that ten years? How many times did it make you giggle or start a conversation with a visitor? At least at the beginning, you live with everything you buy, and it should enhance your life. It should bring beauty to your life or make you think or just put a smile on your face for whatever reason. That’s the most important part.
After that, there’s all the basics. If you want to really build a collection, find a dealer you like and who’s eye you like who has a good reputation. There really are no stupid questions, so ask away. Always be looking so you can train your eye and find out what you like. Don’t worry about making mistakes because the only one you can make, really, is buying from someone unethical, but even then that’s really their mistake, not yours. Most importantly, have fun! Sure, your hand may shake as you write the check for that first piece, but after you get started, there is nothing more fun that searching and finding those treasures that become yours all yours.
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