Art Space Talk: Christian M Benedetto, Jr. (art collector)

Christian M Benedetto, Jr. is the CEO of Hopkins Sampson & Brown Equities, LLC. Christian is an avid collector of art. Many of his art purchases are made online. As an online collector of art Christian has had great interest in the development of myartspace.com. He and his wife Suzy live in suburban Morris County, New Jersey with their son Christian III.

www.myartspace.com is a networking site for artists, gallerists, art collectors and others involved with visual art. The eCommerce platform for myartspace.com is the New York Art Exchange (NYAXE), www.nyaxe.com. The two sites were founded by Catherine McCormack-Skiba and Brian Skiba. The founders will soon open a brick & mortar gallery in Palo Alto, California. The gallery will feature artists from the myartspace.com community.

Winter Field 1 by Lois Foley. www.nyaxe.com/lois.foley

Brian Sherwin: Christian, you are an avid art collector with an interest in www.myartspace.com. Can you discuss what attracted you to the myartspace community and to viewing art online in general?

Christian M Benedetto Jr.: It is very practical and time saving to be able to view art online. Online I can comparison shop between emerging artists with ease. It is also a great way to save time. For example, my wife Suzy and I had a son last spring, so time has really become an issue. Going to brick & mortar galleries is a little tougher with a stroller.

It is nice to be able to visit the myartspace online galleries in the comfort of my own home. Myartspace has also been a way to have my young son participate in viewing art. My son will often sit on my lap as I scroll through art clicking away. He has a pretty good eye and is a huge Charlie Spears fan.

I look at a few hundred pieces of art per month online. I would not be able to achieve that if I had to physically visit galleries. The other great thing about looking at art online is that it allows the viewer to click over to Google and find out more about the artist. It is relatively easy to discover where an artist has exhibited and what they have accomplished by searching for them online.

Strangers, Friends, & Lovers by Ariane Bartosh. www.nyaxe.com/arianebartosh

BS: Do you mind giving our readers some insight into your personal collection? How many works of art do you own? Are there any specific pieces that stand out in your opinion?

CB: I have a few pieces that I really, really enjoy. I was very lucky to come across Shawn Barber in 1997 when he was still an undergraduate student at Ringling School of Art and Design. I bought a piece called “Coltrane in Blue” which won Best in Show for the school’s senior class art show. It was the first piece he ever sold.

Shawn went on to become the Illustrator of the Year for MTV in 2001, has done the US and Germany Grammy’s, countless works in Magazines and has a few books out and is a regular on TV. His shows always sell out in a day or two. I have been offered about 100 times the price I paid for the piece. I have about a dozen other pieces of his works and still stay in touch with him.

Then there is a painting which I bought through Myartspace.com by Charlie Spears called Topsy Turvey for my son, Christian III, before he was born. The painting hangs in his room and he looks at it all the time, smiles, and every time he does, it melts Suzy’s and my heart, so it is very special. I also have a very large Daniel Ferriss pencil drawing from the 1920s of a twenty-one story building I owned. It was given to me by the late Leona Helmsley. We sold the building years later, but I still have the drawing – the detail is unreal.

The Hopkins Sampson & Brown Equities, LLC collection is believed to be one of the largest, if not the largest, privately held art collections in New Jersey. We have never sold a piece; we have donated a few and have even taken pieces right off the wall to give to friends, clients and visitors who remarked about a piece. Our goal is to have 10,000 paintings over the next twenty five years.
Wedding Table by Alex Golden. www.nyaxe.com/alex.golden

BS: My understanding is that you purchase art online as well as in the Traditional method of visiting brick & mortar galleries. Traditionalists of the art market will often mention that viewing art online will never replace viewing art in person-- which suggests that viewing and buying art online is inferior to the traditional model of art business. What is your stance on this issue?

CB: I say to them, go to a high end Auction house for a live auction and see how many bidders are bidding via the Phone and have never seen the piece up close and personal or who sent representative to bid for them. The quality of digital photos, slides, and other media have improved greatly in the last few years.

Sometimes a collector can actually inspect a piece better using these methods than he or she could accomplish viewing a work of art on hanging on the wall at a brick & mortar gallery. Best of all the art can be viewed with your schedule in mind instead of the galleries schedule.

Pollen by Kalliope Amorphous. www.nyaxe.com/kalliope

BS: So do you tend to buy from artists that you are aware of when buying art online? Or do you also buy from emerging artists who are unknown to you? Is it a mix?

CB: I would say emerging artists who are unknown to me, as well as Journeymen artist who are also unknown to me. People recommend artist to me all the time and I am involved fairly heavily in the New Jersey Art Scene.

In New Jersey I’ve helped several galleries obtain free space and we do more than our fair share of pro bono real estate work for Artist and Artist housing. Needless to say, I get a lot of pitches, so it is nice to be able to surf myartspace and the New York Art Exchange.

ChangAn Club, Beijing, China by Beatrix Reinhardt. www.nyaxe.com/beatrix.reinhardt

BS: You have mentioned that you have bought art off of artists that you have met on myartspace. Can you tell us more about that?

CB: On myartspace I have purchased art from Charlie Spears and Adrienne Outlaw. Both are wonderful artists who stayed in touch with us. They have kept in contact by sending notes, e-mails and cards. Adrienne even sent our son a teddy bear when he was born. Charlie checks in with me and gives me advice about being a dad and such. I share a lot of the poems I write for my son and wife with him. I have purchased other works off of the site by artists I had in my collection earlier.

Summer's End by Lee Ables. www.nyaxe.com/leeables

BS: As an avid collector of art I assume that you have many associates who also collect art. What sort of feedback have you obtained from fellow art collectors concerning www.myartspace.com?

CB: Its all been very positive, the site allows artists to price their works much more competitively and still make more money, as they are not paying 35-50% to the gallery, so you can really find some fantastic art at all price points. What a great deal of people hate to admit is that Art is a business. I’m happy if I can buy three paintings online for the price I would pay for two at a gallery with the end result of putting more money into the artist’s pocket. It is really a win-win situation for the artist and the buyer.

Galleries can also do well online because every gallery has the same issue-- space. For example, it would not be hard for a gallery to represent 100 artists online and maintain an online store of 800 paintings. So if the gallerist is really in it to help the artist why would he or she not want to have a store on the New York Art Exchange? Maintaining a store on NYAXE is very practical and efficient.

Whitley Heights, LA by Alysia Kaplan. www.nyaxe.com/alysia.kaplan

BS: You are very open about the fact that you are an art collector on Myartspace-- I assume that you receive many inquiries from artists interested in showing you examples of their work. Do you have any advice for artists as far as contacting known collectors online?

CB: I would suggest that they be very exact in their e-mails, letters or calls. There is nothing worse than to be contacted by someone who is not really sure why they are calling or if they are looking for an unrealistic jump in their price point. For example, MFA students looking to sell me pieces for $30,000 when they have never sold a piece for more than $4,000 makes no sense to me. I’m also annoyed by people looking for funding for a project without providing me a written plan. Those are two of my pet peeves.

So here is some advice: Have a plan, be organized and assertive, don’t come off as aggressive. I have had more than a few artists send me paintings for free so they could say they were in our collection and we have ended up buying several pieces from them since. Show me your passion for your craft.

I bought a wonderful piece by Brian Guidry. When it arrived Janet (our registrar) started to unpack it, she called me over saying, “You have to see this!”. I was thinking oh great it was damaged being shipped up from Louisiana. However, when I got into the conference room I found the most amazing hand made carry case/crate. It was custom made with a handle and neatly burned into the wood was the painting name and our name. Brian must have spent 10 hours making it, his passion for his work showed.

The same is true with Sharon Shapiro, she always tells me her paintings are like her children and when she ships her work she goes the extra mile. Let the passion and love of your work carry throughout, Art is a business, treat it like such. I cannot tell you the number of times we get things shipped to us that are packed in a hurry and it shows. If it appears that you do not care about your art a collector may very well lose interest.

I'll Let You Be In My Dreams If I Can Be In Yours by Herbert Murrie. www.nyaxe.com/herbertmurrie

BS: Do you have any suggestions for how artists should present themselves online? For example, do you pay more attention to art community profiles and personal websites that contain detailed information about the artist compared to profiles or personal websites that offer little biographical information? In other words, do you like to know about who you are planning to buy from or does it matter?

CB: If I like something I will know instantly. I do however like to see some biographical information, other shows they have been in, if they have a list of collectors-- it is nice to know who owns some of their works. Sometimes I’ll know one of their old professors or another collector and reach out for them to find out a little bit more. So yes, the more information the better.

Wrinkled 24 by Christina Massey. www.nyaxe.com/cmasseyart

BS: As you know, many art collectors are wary about buying art online. There is always great concern with transaction involving large sums of money. Do you have any advice for art collectors who have yet to take the leap as far as buying art online is concerned?

CB: Anthony Benedetto (no relation, who is better known as Tony Bennett) original works sell for $6000 to $60,000 and as far as I know, he has no gallery you can visit – it’s all done via the internet and phone. However, my advice would be to go slow and take some precautions. If it seems too good to be true it most likely is. For example, I do not think I would buy a Picasso off Ebay for $10,000 it would just seem too cheap.
Faunagraphic Parrots by Fauna Graphic. www.nyaxe.com/faunagraphic
BS: Any predictions on how sites like myartspace will change the direction of the art world-- or at least offer galleries an alternative to the traditional art market? Do you think that the traditional art market will be more apt to mesh with new technology and methods of marketing-- such as eCommerce-- as time goes on?

CB: There are few things that compare in the Art world with walking into your favorite gallery in Rome, Venice, San Francisco or New York (you get the idea) having some refreshments and looking at art while being wooed. But the internet travels at the speed of light, so I can be in Rome, Venice, San Francisco and New York all within the same hour looking at all the artists the gallery has-- not just the one showing that day, plus a wider view of the work.

We all love going into an actual bookstore on a rainy day and getting lost for hours wandering through the aisle and forgetting what we were looking for, but how many times have we left with nothing only to go home and order a few books-- the same products-- on amazon.com because it was cheaper? What I’m saying is that Myartspace.com will not replace galleries. However, it does give us more options and better pricing. People like to save time and money when they shop-- art is no different.
Six Pomegranate Seeds by Jenevieve Hubbard. www.nyaxe.com/jenevievehubbard

BS: In your opinion, why have certain circles of the art world scoffed at the idea of buying and selling art online aside from the reasons I've already mentioned?

CB: I think buying at a gallery, especially a higher end gallery, is a status symbol to some people. It is kind of like buying high end brand name clothes. I am fond of saying “just how cold does your ice need to be” If you want to support the artist, buying online is a fantastic way to get more money in their pocket, while saving yourself some along the way.

Many Galleries are embarrassed selling online and have neglected to develop an Internet strategy and marketing plan. What galleries need to remember is that there is not much difference between myartspace and the New York Art Exchange than an overseas buyer calling in his bids at an auction in NY or London. Many brick & mortar galleries are losing profit because they have failed to adapt to these changes.
Bend #1 by Chadwick Gibson. www.nyaxe.com/chadwickgibson

BS: Finally, are you considering any purchases at this time on the myartspace platform for eCommerce, the New York Art Exchange (NYAXE)?

CB: I am a huge Arielle Sandler fan, I own over a half dozen or more of her works, and I used one of her painting as the cover of my third book. She had a great piece in the New York Times Magazine not to long ago, recently her work was featured on the TV shows Brothers & Sisters and Eli Stone. I stop by her myartspace.com page all the time to see what she has put up. Same with Charlie Spears, Jill Moser, Sharon Shapiro, Eric Brown and David X Levine.

I would really like to add a few pieces of Eric Foxs’, he is an artist from Long Beach, NY who does fantastic work using lobster traps as canvas with beach themes, and bright vibrant colors. Having grown up surfing on the New Jersey Shore his art takes me back.

Christian is currently a member of the myartspace.com community-- www.myartspace.com/christianbenedetto. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews. For further information about myartspace.com or nyaxe.com please write, info at catmacart.com

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Senior Editor

myartspace.com

www.myartspace.com

New York Art Exchange

www.nyaxe.com

London Calling

www.myartspace.com/londoncalling

Red Rag To a Bull vs. Other Criteria?

Cha-Ching!

A report from Bloomberg explains that Damien Hirst has opened a second Other Criteria (www.othercriteria.com) store in London. Some may recall from past Myartspace Blog articles that Other Criteria is Hirst’s publishing and merchandising venture. Of the store Hirst has stated, “I don’t think art has ever been as popular as it is today and Other Criteria aims to sell affordable art of the highest quality to everyone who wants it.” . Apparently the price for Other Criteria art and merchandise ranges from $5 to $5,800.

Some art world insiders view Other Criteria as a jab at the traditional art market. After all, the first Other Criteria store was opened next to Sotheby’s shortly after Hirst’s “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever.” which took place at the auction house. Hirst’s break from the traditional brick & mortar art market stirred shock waves of criticism from gallery owners throughout the world. Needless to say, many gallerists feared that top billed artists would decide to take their art and career into their own hands by following Hirst’s independent lead. You can’t blame Hirst for being an entrepreneur .

On the other side of the UK art spectrum, the Stuckists-- as reported by Bloomberg-- have opened up their own online ‘store’ at www.redragtoabull.com. The site states, “Red Rag To A Bull is a radical institution dedicated to the pursuit of "FREEDOM, TRUTH and JUSTICE in the art world and BEYOND". And also overblown statements.”. The purpose of the site is “for CREATIVE CRITICAL REVIEW and should be treated as such“. The sites goes on to state that, “ALL images and any proposed sale of these images is designed to create critical dialogue and may or may not be what they first appear to be.”

In a sense the site is a conceptual anti-conceptual work in progress-- if there is such a thing. Needless to say, if it had been created by anyone else it would have probably been reviewed in a art magazine or two by now. On a side note: Readers of the Myartspace Blog may recall my interview with Charles Thomson -- Co-Founder of the Stuckists -- which was posted in October of 2006.

A collage by Cartrain involving Damien Hirst's 'For the Love of God'. Cha-Ching with an extra Cha.

Viewing the Red Rag To a Bull online store I noticed that one of its directives is to support CarTrain , the 16 year old street artist who was recently threatened by Damien Hirst’s legal team on allegations of copyright infringement. CarTrain, had created, distributed, and sold prints involving a parody of Hirst’s ‘For the Love of God’. It seems that Hirst was not thrilled to discover that a young graffiti artist had profited from prints involving his copyright protected works-- nevermind the fact that he himself has infringed on copyright in the past (reminds one of the Shepard Fairey vs. Baxter Orr issue).

That said, due to the fame of ‘For the Love of God’ I’m sure CarTrain’s Hirst parodies would be considered “fair use”-- at least in the United States. After all, the images by CarTrain served as a social comment about Hirst’s status in UK society as well as the art world in general. I don’t think there was any confusion as to who created what. CarTrain established dialogue with his parody.

Cartrain has some strong support-- Stuckists James Cauty, Jamie Reid, and Billy Childish have created various prints and other products that parody Damien Hirst’s artwork. Parodies of works by D*Face and the Chapman Brothers can also be found on the site.

Links of Interest:

Hirst Opens Second Shop, Defies Slump With 3.50 Pound Keychains -- Bloomberg

www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aaThCKzrdQ_w

www.stuckism.com

www.othercriteria.com

www.redragtoabull.com

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Senior Editor

myartspace.com

www.myartspace.com

New York Art Exchange

www.nyaxe.com

London Calling

www.myartspace.com/londoncalling

Buy Art and Sell Art Online: The New York Art Exchange (NYAXE)

www.nyaxe.com connects art buyers to art sellers.

The New York Art Exchange (NYAXE) continues to grow as new features are implemented. The New York Art Exchange, an online marketplace for buying and selling contemporary fine art, enables the art community to capitalize on new digital mediums through technology by connecting artists, gallerists and collectors via the World Wide Web. NYAXE is brought to you by www.myartspace.com, the premier networking site for artists, art collectors, gallerists and other involved in the global arts community. With over 50,000 members myartspace is a concentrated social art site for the art world.

NYAXE connects collectors, artists and gallerists together, allowing buyers to quickly search through thousands of works of fine art on the site and navigate through numerous curated pieces of works. Gallerists and artists can create a personal and customized branded online gallery storefront to begin selling on the NYAXE marketplace. Storefronts can be organized into categories such as watercolors, original works, sculptures, to make it easy for art collectors to find what they are looking for.
Create a NYAXE storefront and sell your art, photography, and fashion to the world. Mark Enger’s store on the New York Art Exchange -- www.nyaxe.com/MarkE

Currently there are five different levels to choose from in building a NYAXE gallery storefront. A basic storefront is free for the first five listings, and each level provides more advanced features and marketing capabilities and cost effective pricing structures. The various tiers of service are designed to enable artists and gallerists to try their hand at ecommerce to build a basic store at a low cost. Artists and gallerists subsequently can upgrade to higher tiers if they wish to expand their offerings. NYAXE is a an affordable solution for exploring what eCommerce has to offer.

The New York Art Exchange (NYAXE) was officially launched on December 2nd at the Bridge Art Fair in Miami. Catherine McCormack-Skiba, CEO and founder of NYAXE, stated, "It's been my vision for years to make great art accessible to a broader audience through technology and the internet. I'm excited that we can empower gallerists and artists to expand the awareness of their fine art and help them connect with a new audience of buyers on a global level."

Browse the New York Art Exchange

Buying and selling art on the New York Art Exchange is easy. Browse NYAXE stores quickly. Browse by medium or by category. Use ‘Jump to page’ to go to specific browse pages or simply view each page one page at a time. Use the NYAXE search field to search by artist name, tag, location, medium, style or price. Sort by Featured stores, date added, and price.

Links of Interest:

www.catmacart.com
www.myartspace.com
www.nyaxe.com
www.nyaxe.com/storeSellerSignUp.do

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Senior Editor

myartspace.com

www.myartspace.com

New York Art Exchange

www.nyaxe.com

Art Space Talk: Alan Bamberger

Alan Bamberger is an art consultant, advisor, author, and independent appraiser specializing in research, appraisal, and all business and market aspects of original works of art, artist manuscript materials, art-related documents, and art reference books. He has been selling art since 1979 and rare and scholarly art reference books since 1982, and has been consulting and appraising for artists, galleries, businesses, organizations and collectors since 1985.

Bamberger has appeared live on CNN's Daywatch, KTLA's Making It (Los Angeles), and KRON-TV in San Francisco, and answered art business questions on New York City Cable TV's Project Art Show. He's been quoted in numerous media including the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Great Britain's Guardian Unlimited, Marketplace (National Public Radio), the Los Angeles Times, New York Newsday, the San Francisco Chronicle, Esquire, ESPN Magazine, Real Simple, ARTnews, The Arizona Republic and Wired and has been featured in the Chicago Tribune, the San Francisco Examiner, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Your Money, and other publications.

Bamberger is the founder of ArtBusiness.com-- a website that provides complete art services, art appraisals, art price data, news, articles, and market information to art collectors, artists, and fine arts professionals

Brian Sherwin: Alan, you are an art consultant, author, advisor, and independent appraiser. You specialize in appraisal, research, and the business and marketing aspects of original works of art. You also have extensive knowledge of artist manuscript materials, art-related documents, and art reference books. Can you give us a brief history of your background in this field?

Alan Bamberger: I began in the art business around 1980 selling old paintings and other original works of art. During that time, I would purchase reference books for my library. That gradually evolved into purchasing duplicate reference books and selling them to other dealers and collectors. After a while, I moved almost entirely into selling rare and hard-to-find reference books on the fine and decorative arts.

My education around art comes not only from books and catalogues, but also from artists, art gallery owners, and other fine arts professionals. During this time, I also became a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers.

BS: You maintain www.artbusiness.com. Can you give us a brief history of the site? Why did you decide to create it?

AB: My original idea for www.artbusiness.com back in the late 1990s was to use it as an online portfolio of sorts-- to show samples of my writing-- in hopes of getting more writing jobs. Putting the writing samples online was easier than sending them in the mail (how writers used to query publications back in the good old days). Anyway, I realized when viewing my website statistics that quite a few people were finding the site and reading my writings, so I started putting more and more of my articles online. That's pretty much how things started.

BS: You have written about the art business since 1983. How has the art market changed in your opinion since that time? Would you say that it is easier to be successful as an artist today due to the advent of the Internet?

AB: I think the main ways the art business has changed are that knowledge is easier to come by and, more significantly, that artists can expose their work internationally with little or no effort. This is particularly advantageous for artists who do not live in major national or international art centers, but have talent. And some artists manage to get known simply by establishing online presences. This was not possible just a few short years ago.

BS: What advice do you have for artists who strive to gain exposure online? Do you have any marketing tips for artists who are focused on selling art online?

AB: A few quick tips-- price your art, have plenty of contact information, make your art easy to buy (accept credit cards, Paypal, etc), don't show a lot of sold work, show your most recent work, don't show a lot of old work (particularly if your current art is very different). I have several articles for artists online about how to approach internet selling like this one for example-- www.artbusiness.com/webworks.html.

BS: What about art collectors? Do you have any general advice for art collectors concerning buying art online?

AB: Know what you're buying, know who you're buying from, don't buy big name art at online auctions like eBay unless you are an expert in whatever artists you're shopping for, make sure you can return whatever you buy if it turns out to look different than it looked online, read and get informed about what you're buying before you buy-- not after.

BS: Can you point our readers to any specific online articles that they may find of interest concerning these topics?

AB: I have plenty of articles for collectors online here-- www.artbusiness.com/collectors.html. And my book, The Art of Buying Art, covers everything collectors need to know about how to buy art. It's easy to understand and anyone who buys art can benefit from it.

BS: Giving the state of the economy… do you have any general advice for artists, gallerists, and others who are focused on the business of art?

AB: Selling art is more challenging now than it's been in quite some time. It's important for anyone selling art to demonstrate the value of that art-- not necessarily in terms of dollars, but also in terms of meaning, significance, and similar intangibles. People buy art because it enriches, beautifies, and enhances their lives. Be able to show how your art (or art that you're selling) does that. Here's an article that kind of sums it all up-- www.artbusiness.com/osoquunewec.html.

BS: Speaking of the economy, there has been some debate online concerning the potential for brick & mortar galleries embracing the internet for an alternative way of selling art. Many traditional art sellers scoffed at the idea of selling art online during the 1990s. Have you observed a change in opinion concerning this as far as gallerists are concered?

AB: Yes. The large majority of galleries have online presences. In fact, some galleries and dealers sell almost as much and sometimes even more art online than they do out of their physical galleries. An online presence is particularly beneficial to galleries that sell art by artists with national or international followings-- avid collectors scour the market for the art they collect, and the internet is one of the best ways to get a quick overview of who's selling what.

BS: Speaking of the art world in general, do you have any concerns about the art world at this time? For example, there has been a lot of debate concerning the potential of orphan works legislation being passed. What are your thoughts on that issue?

AB: I can understand both sides on this one, but I am for the legislation because of the incredible difficulties entailed in figuring who, if anybody, holds the rights to reproduce so many works of art from all nationalities and all time periods. Of course, the person reproducing these works must do due diligence in this regard before reproducing them. That must be made very clear in any such legislation-- and the penalties should be significant for those who don't.

BS: I understand that you are a member of the Association of Online Appraisers. Can you give our readers some insight into the goal of that organization?

AB: The goal of this or any appraiser organization is to educate, promote uniform standards of appraisal, and to give everyone access to professional appraisers, not only for art, but for all forms of personal property, and not only for purposes of insurance, inheritance, donation, and the like, but also for buying and selling. For example, a gallery might represent a work of art as being a bargain when in fact it is overpriced.

When you don't know that much about what you're buying, it's always a good idea to consult an appraiser first-- for a no-conflict-of-interest second opinion. Likewise, private parties who are considering selling art need professional opinions as to how much it's worth before offering it for sale.

BS: What about other organizations and projects that you are involved with. Would you like mention anything about them?

AB: My main project these days is comprehensively documenting the San Francisco art scene with exhaustive coverage of gallery shows. It not only helps artists and collectors now, but I also intend it to be an archive for the future. This May will mark the sixth anniversary of this project which I began in 2003. Over the years, I have also volunteered my time and knowledge to help several local non-profit organizations.

BS: Where can our readers purchase your books online?

AB: You can read brief chapter summaries of The Art of Buying Art here-- www.artbusiness.com/basynop.html
You can order a signed copy of the book here-- www.artbusiness.com/bookorder.html

BS: Finally, is there anything else you would like to say about your profession? Any closing advice for buying or selling art online?

AB: As someone who knows a lot about art and how the art business operates, I can't stress enough that when you're just starting out as a buyer (or seller), talk to professionals, educate yourself, and get second opinions as required before going ahead with purchases or putting art up for sale in the marketplace. It is simply too easy to make very expensive mistakes when you don't have that much experience.

In closing, I'd like to say that it is my great privilege and pleasure to work with as well as serve artists, dealers, collectors, and creative people everywhere. My main goals in life are to make art more accessible to everyone, and to help everyone-- buyers, sellers, and artists alike-- to do whatever it is that they want to do.... better.

You can learn more about Alan Bamberger by visiting the Artbusiness.com website-- www.artbusiness.com. You can read more of my interviews by visiting the following page-- www.myartspace.com/interviews

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin
Senior Editor
myartspace.com
www.myartspace.com
New York Art Exchange
www.nyaxe.com